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Learning from the Federalists

The Federalist party sprung up out of those who agreed with the Federalist Papers, largely written by the first Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton. Federalism became one of the first two major political parties in the United States, standing in stark opposition to the Democratic-Republicans. In the most general terms, the Federalists were those inside of Washington's administration who argued that the national government should have power over the state governments.

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What false assumptions mean for politics

The thing about politics is that it affects all of us. Because we all have a stake in the outcome but not a stake in the day to day decision-making process, we all talk about it. Pundits make an entire career out of commenting on politics, often as if it were a football game. But there's an entire generation of people growing up with the Internet that have a big voice outside of their living room to talk about politics as well. That includes bloggers, social media and everything in between.

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Buying your way onto the NYT bestseller list

It's an open secret in the publishing industry that it's not too difficult to game the New York Times bestseller numbers, at least for one or two weeks at a time. The "NYT Bestselling Author" is not just a prestigious badge of honor, it can also be a self-fulfilling prophecy. All you have to do is crack the list once, and you can use that title forever. This can generate untold revenue in the form of future book sales, contracts and consulting gigs.

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Traveling to the Academy Awards from overseas?

In a few short days shiny statues will be handed out in front of millions of viewers at the world’s largest celebration of cinematic brilliance, the Academy Awards. One nominee almost missed the party.

On the evening of February 20, Emad Burnat was detained at LAX by U.S. Customs and Immigration officers. They didn't believe that the Palestinian film maker was really on his way to a nominee dinner being hosted by filmmaker Michael Moore, Governor of the Documentary Branch of the Academy Awards.

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It isn't summer without shave ice

Shave Ice. No, I did not mis-type that, it's not "shaved ice," it's shave ice. Every area of the world has regional food specialties that, even in today's Internet-connected world, most of the rest of the world hasn't heard of. I'm heading to Hawaii in a few weeks, and one of my favorite things to get there that I have never seen anywhere else in the world is this treat.

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Traveling safely

Exploring the world is something that most people want to do but, due to circumstances beyond our control, most of us rarely get a chance to indulge in this desire.  When we do get that chance, however, it’s important to make sure we know some of the basic safety issues surrounding international travel.  Some places we may visit aren't necessarily the safest and even the most developed of countries still has its share of crime.  So, with the help of some informed people, I thought I’d put together a list of some things to think about when heading out on an adventure.

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