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Handel’s ‘Messiah,’ and the Decline of Knowledge in the West0
- Culture
- March 24, 2016
The other day, I heard an announcer on a local classical radio station gently chide his listeners, saying, “It’s almost Easter, and I haven’t had one request from our audience for selections from Handel’s Messiah!” For those who think of the Messiah as a Christmas tradition, this announcer’s request seems a bit odd. But historically
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Frog and Toad: Arnold Lobel’s Little Gems0
- Culture
- March 24, 2016
Every child should read Arnold Lobel’s stories of Frog and Toad. These stories are pure, unashamed delight. Once upon a time, all children’s stories were a pleasant romp, an indulgence in something lovely. Think of Mother Goose, The Wind in the Willows, The Tale of the Pie and the Patty Pan. As our times have
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Former Teacher: 7 Ways Schools are Creating ‘Empty’ Children2
- Culture
- March 24, 2016
In the early 1990s, New York Teacher of the Year, John Taylor Gatto, threw in the towel on teaching with his famous I Quit, I Think letter to the Wall Street Journal. Gatto’s reason for quitting was simple. He could no longer justify teaching “a curriculum of confusion, class position, arbitrary justice, vulgarity, rudeness, disrespect
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Demolishing Myths About Communism0
- History
- March 24, 2016
Robert Conquest, a historian whose landmark studies of the Stalinist purges and the Ukraine famine of the 1930s documented the horrors perpetrated by the Soviet regime against its own citizens, has died at 98, having outlived the Soviet Union—which came into being in the year of his birth, 1917—and which he helped to bring down
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Chess Champ Explains Trump Rise in a Single Sentence1
- Culture
- March 24, 2016
Russian political activist Garry Kasparov decried the West’s “complacency and retreat” from the fight against Islamic terrorism in the wake of the terrorist attack in Brussels. In a Facebook post published Tuesday, Kasparov, a grandmaster chess player and former world champion, began by hinting that the West would have to get serious in its fight
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A.I. Robot: ‘Yes, I Will Destroy Humans’0
- Science
- March 24, 2016
The humanoid robot “Sophia” is being billed as the world most advanced A.I. android. Designed to look “very humanlike,” the robot can smile and make other facial expressions. Her primary function is to interact with human beings for purposes of customer service, the idea being that a human-like robot will make customers more comfortable. But
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‘We Have Kindle Now. Who Has Books Anymore?’0
- Culture
- March 24, 2016
While getting my oil changed the other day, I happened to catch a house-hunting reality program on the waiting room television. The house hunter in this case was a 25-year-old woman looking for a Manhattan apartment. While reviewing one option, she looked at the built-in bookcases which lined the wall, raised her eyebrows, and said,
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Was Patrick Henry Illiterate?0
- History
- March 23, 2016
Patrick Henry is a name familiar to many Americans. But let’s be honest, few of us who know of him could offer more than a detail or two about the man. Like Paul Revere, Henry, an admirable patriot and statesman, is primarily remembered for a single act. While Revere is remembered for his famous Midnight
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The SAT is Being Dumbed Down, Big Time0
- Education
- March 23, 2016
Students around America are rejoicing. Earlier this month, it was quietly announced that major changes were in store for the SAT—changes that would make America’s most famous admittance exam easier. If this sounds familiar, you’re not having déjà vu. A quick Google search reveals that the test has undergone various cosmetic changes in recent years.
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