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Blog 3 Columns

  • College Enrollment is Decreasing… Is That a Good Thing?

    College Enrollment is Decreasing… Is That a Good Thing?0

    College enrollment is down for the fourth straight year, even though high school graduation rates are up. For an education system that pushes every child toward college, that may be bad news. But as an article in yesterday’s Atlantic claims, it may actually be a good thing. For one, declining college enrollment could be a

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  • Are Family Divisions Contributing to National Disunity?

    Are Family Divisions Contributing to National Disunity?0

    Ever had a painful rift in your family? If a new study from the University of Cambridge is any indication, there’s a good chance you have. Of the over 1,629 invitees in the University’s survey on family estrangement, roughly half admitted to being “estranged from their family or a key family member.” Unfortunately, such estrangement

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  • 8 Quotes on Public Speaking for Tonight’s State of the Union Address

    8 Quotes on Public Speaking for Tonight’s State of the Union Address0

    Every year about this time, the President of the United States makes his appearance at the lectern in the House of Representatives with great pomp and circumstance – and often great political theater. In light of this expected tableau, we’ve compiled the following 8 quotes on oratory to bear in mind. “An orator without judgment

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  • Child Brides, Boy Rape, and Exploding Children: Morally Relative, or Just Plain Evil?

    Child Brides, Boy Rape, and Exploding Children: Morally Relative, or Just Plain Evil?0

    Yesterday, The Foreign Desk reported that Syrian families are increasingly being forced to give their daughters as brides for ISIS fighters. Young women of “marriageable” age they are not: “According to a report from AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA News), an activist belonging to the ‘Deir ez-Zor Is Being Slaughtered Silently’ campaign, said more than 30

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  • Can Thinking About Death Make You Happier?

    Can Thinking About Death Make You Happier?0

    It seems paradoxical, but it may be true: regularly thinking about your own death can make you happier. At least, that’s what Arthur Brooks of the American Enterprise Institute claims. In an op-ed for the New York Times he writes, “[T]his meditation on death is intended as a key to better living. It makes disciples aware

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  • Are Computers Contributing to the Decline of Writing Skills?

    Are Computers Contributing to the Decline of Writing Skills?0

    According to new research from the Department of Education, the switch to computer-based writing tests shows a decided decline in the writing ability of fourth–grade students, particularly for low or average performing students. As Jill Barshay from the Hechinger Report explains, “Last year, more than half of U.S. states gave computer-based writing tests to children

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  • Why Do Some People Lose Their S**T Over Bad ‘Star Wars’ Reviews?

    Why Do Some People Lose Their S**T Over Bad ‘Star Wars’ Reviews?0

    93% of reviewers on Rotten Tomatoes have given the new Star Wars movie a positive review. Those few reviewers out there who gave a negative review? Holy Crap… They experienced impassioned wrath from commenters of all different backgrounds. Andrew O’Hehir received “a barrage of hatemail” over his negative review. Some critics were even told to

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  • Very Cool! New York Public Library Releases 180,000 Historical Images into the Public Domain

    Very Cool! New York Public Library Releases 180,000 Historical Images into the Public Domain0

    NPR reports that the New York Public Library has released 180,000 public domain items as high resolution downloads available for free. This means that the public now has unprecedented access to historical images in high quality: “The documents include literary manuscripts, Farm Security Administration photographs, sheet music, papers from Founding Fathers, WPA-era art by African-American

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  • There’s No Such Thing as a ‘Fact’

    There’s No Such Thing as a ‘Fact’0

    • January 8, 2016

    It’s commonplace today for people to loosely use the term “fact.” When invoked, it’s used as a predicate for something that simply is and therefore not open to question or debate. For instance, when President Obama said in his 2014 State of the Union Address that “The debate is settled. Climate change is a fact.”

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