For decades Detroit was North America’s poster child for brutal crime, urban decay and corruption. But as Aaron Renn reveals in Commonplace, the Michigan municipality has been rebuilding and even beautifying. Detroit’s crawl back towards proud city-hood began after officials declared bankruptcy in 2013, enabling risk-taking business leaders to resolve the financial crisis, demolish 45,000 vacant eyesore houses and begin anew.

Palestinian Culture: Unique in its Own Destructive Way
Although the Palestinian Authority enjoys an array of cultural departments and programs, A.J. Caschetta in Jewish World Review finds that all of it – art, education, literature, poetry, music, education and film – is oriented to two goals: the vilification of Jews and the destruction of Israel. Caschetta notes this is in sharp contrast to Arab and Muslim traditions, which include myriad aesthetically normal cultural works. Palestinianism, Caschetta finds, is “a very sick culture”, driven by resentment and fuelled by hate.


