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How ‘The Simpsons’ Predicted Trump0
- Politics
- March 21, 2016
On March 19, 2000, The Simpsons alluded to a future Donald Trump presidency in an episode titled “Bart to the Future.” Newsday puts it thus: “Bart sees his future in a vision where his band plays a gig for popcorn shrimp and Lisa becomes the first ‘straight female’ president of the United States. In a clip
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Do Americans Need a Weekly Day of Rest?0
- Culture
- March 21, 2016
For many who work in the world of desks and offices, the idea of going to work on a Sunday is rather incomprehensible, except perhaps when under the pressure of an urgent deadline. But for those who work in industries such as retail or service, Sunday has become just another day. Nowhere is this more
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Academics are Horribly Unprofessional… Here’s Why0
- Education
- March 21, 2016
In a recent article for The Chronicle of Higher Education Rob Jenkins asks, “Why Are Some Academics So Unprofessional?”. One might well ask the same about any other profession, of course; doubtless many of you could give examples. But it does seem worse in academia, and that suggests a lesson both important and easily absorbed.
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A History Joke0
- Education
- March 21, 2016
Question: How many historians does it take to change a light bulb? Answer: There is a great deal of debate on this issue. Up until the mid-20th century, the accepted answer was ‘one’: and this Whiggish narrative underpinned a number of works that celebrated electrification and the march of progress in light-bulb changing. Beginning in
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5 ‘Lincoln’ Quotes Old Abe Never Said1
- History
- March 21, 2016
If you’ve visited Ford’s Theatre, you’ve likely seen the 34-foot tower of books on Abraham Lincoln. The tower, designed to symbolize that the final word on America’s 16th president will never be written, was constructed with some 6,800 books – just a fraction of the 15,000 titles written on Lincoln. (An admitted Lincolnphile, my personal
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Who actually is intolerant, violent and wants to suppress speech?0
- Culture
- March 18, 2016
On Friday, March 11, America was treated to the mass disruption of a Donald Trump Rally in Chicago. Based on the celebration by the protesters, the goal was to shut down political speech. There is no other way to describe the actions of the protesters other than intolerant, violent, and hateful. Such actions aren’t limited
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Uh-Oh… This is What Happens When There are Too Many Young People in the World0
- Economics
- March 18, 2016
According to the headline of an article this month by Somini Sengupta in the New York Times Sunday Review, “The world has a problem: too many young people.” As soon as I saw that I wanted to ask: Too many for whom and for what? It’s easier to cluck about demographic imbalances then to explain
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Serious Students of History Should Watch Out for These 5 Prejudices0
- History
- March 18, 2016
No one can completely avoid bringing prejudices to his or her study of history. Nevertheless, some prejudices are more insidious than others, and can be an obstacle to a fruitful use of historical learning. Drawing from the work of Giambattista Vico, philosopher of history R.G. Collingwood (1889-1943) names and describes the following 5 prejudices that
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Schools are Teaching Kids to Have Emotional “Meta-Moments”?!?0
- Education
- March 18, 2016
One of the hottest topics in modern education is the need to teach kids emotional skills. This year, as the Seattle Times reports, several Seattle school districts are adopting a Yale-developed program called “RULER” (“Recognize, Understand, Label, Express and Regulate emotions”) to teach kids “emotional smarts alongside academics.” The program is predictably bizarre-sounding and touchy-feely. Students
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