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    Articles by Richard Elfers
    ‘Realpolitik’ strategy becoming clear | Rich Elfers
    ‘Realpolitik’ strategy becoming clear | Rich Elfers
    By Richard Elfers • February 24, 2016 5:11 pm

    President Obama is seriously underestimating Putin’s strategy in Syria, according to Reva Bahalia in a recent Stratfor article, “Ruthless and Sober in Syria.” “Back in October 2015, the president dismissed Russia’s involvement in Syria: ‘Mr. Putin is devoting his own troops, his own military, just to barely hold together by a thread his sole ally. The fact that they had to do this is not an indication of strength; it’s an indication that their strategy did not work.'”

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    Solutions neither loving nor smart | Rich Elfers
    Solutions neither loving nor smart | Rich Elfers
    By Richard Elfers • February 16, 2016 5:10 pm

    Sex before marriage was frowned upon in the 1950s. It was considered shameful for a woman to be pregnant and not married. Parents sometimes sent their daughters off to isolated places away from curious and critical neighbors and friends to avoid the stigma that accompanied premarital pregnancies.

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    Solutions neither loving nor smart | Rich Elfers
    Solutions neither loving nor smart | Rich Elfers
    By Richard Elfers • February 16, 2016 5:09 pm

    Sex before marriage was frowned upon in the 1950s. It was considered shameful for a woman to be pregnant and not married. Parents sometimes sent their daughters off to isolated places away from curious and critical neighbors and friends to avoid the stigma that accompanied premarital pregnancies.

    Read Story

    European Union to United States of Europe? | Rich Elfers
    European Union to United States of Europe? |...
    By Richard Elfers • February 12, 2016 5:21 pm

    The European Union has been shaken to its very foundation. The euro is straining relationships between the wealthy northern nations, especially Germany, and the southern nations, Greece in particular. Syrian, Iraqi, Libyan and Afghani refugees are fleeing the civil wars that plague their nations for a better life in Europe.

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    European Union to United States of Europe? | Rich Elfers
    European Union to United States of Europe? |...
    By Richard Elfers • February 12, 2016 5:20 pm

    The European Union has been shaken to its very foundation. The euro is straining relationships between the wealthy northern nations, especially Germany, and the southern nations, Greece in particular. Syrian, Iraqi, Libyan and Afghani refugees are fleeing the civil wars that plague their nations for a better life in Europe.

    Read Story

    Admit mistakes and take responsibility | Rich Elfers
    Admit mistakes and take responsibility | Rich Elfers
    By Richard Elfers • February 4, 2016 2:02 pm

    Do you know people who stay in the same rut their whole lives? They never change; in fact, as they age they seem to get worse. If you listen to them speak, their mantra is always that someone else was to blame for failures – the government, their political opponent, their spouse, their children’s teachers, the boss, God, whoever.

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    Admit mistakes and take responsibility | Rich Elfers
    Admit mistakes and take responsibility | Rich Elfers
    By Richard Elfers • February 4, 2016 2:01 pm

    Do you know people who stay in the same rut their whole lives? They never change; in fact, as they age they seem to get worse. If you listen to them speak, their mantra is always that someone else was to blame for failures – the government, their political opponent, their spouse, their children’s teachers, the boss, God, whoever.

    Read Story

    Each side has strengths and weaknesses | Rich Elfers
    Each side has strengths and weaknesses | Rich...
    By Richard Elfers • January 28, 2016 6:23 pm

    President Ronald Reagan was a master politician. He created a conservative narrative about government that resonates with conservatives to this day. The problem with Democrats, according to Drew Westen in his book, “The Political Brain”, is that they have no competing narrative; in fact, they have no narrative at all.

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    Each side has strengths and weaknesses | Rich Elfers
    Each side has strengths and weaknesses | Rich...
    By Richard Elfers • January 28, 2016 6:22 pm

    President Ronald Reagan was a master politician. He created a conservative narrative about government that resonates with conservatives to this day. The problem with Democrats, according to Drew Westen in his book, “The Political Mind”, is that they have no competing narrative; in fact, they have no narrative at all.

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    The last freedom is the choice of one’s attitude | Rich Elfers
    The last freedom is the choice of one’s...
    By Richard Elfers • January 13, 2016 3:20 pm

    Recently one of my courses at Green River College was dropped due to lack of enrollment. I wasn’t happy about it but there was nothing I could do. That left me with a choice: to mourn the loss, or to appreciate that I had enjoyed the benefit for five years. I chose to appreciate what I had.

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    Thoughts of death shape our politics | Rich Elfers
    Thoughts of death shape our politics | Rich...
    By Richard Elfers • January 7, 2016 1:37 pm

    Does this apply to you? “More than 250 experiments in more than a dozen countries have demonstrated that reminding people of their mortality – activating networks about the fear of death – tends to tilt our brains to the right” (Drew Westen, “The Political Brain”).

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    Thoughts of death shape our politics | Rich Elfers
    Thoughts of death shape our politics | Rich...
    By Richard Elfers • January 7, 2016 1:32 pm

    Does this apply to you? “More than 250 experiments in more than a dozen countries have demonstrated that reminding people of their mortality – activating networks about the fear of death – tends to tilt our brains to the right” (Drew Westen, “The Political Brain”).

    Read Story

    The pursuit of happiness | Rich Elfers
    The pursuit of happiness | Rich Elfers
    By Richard Elfers • December 31, 2015 1:36 pm

    “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness….” These words make up the heart of who and what America is as a nation. But what is this pursuit of happiness? What does it mean?

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