Blog 3 Columns

Beyond Raising Chickens: Survival Techniques You Should Try 0
- Culture
- March 31, 2020
Counting one’s chickens before they’re hatched is taking on new meaning in the age of the coronavirus. Baby chicks are the new toilet paper, The New York Times explained over the weekend. Chicken-suppliers have been cleared out as Americans adjust to quarantine and their minds switch to survivalist mode. I can’t say that I blame
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A Nation’s True Test Comes After the Crisis 0
- Culture
- March 31, 2020
Perhaps it’s natural and understandable for most people to think that things like “leadership” and “character” are forged and evidenced in response to crisis. It’s quite apparent in the present moment that judgments about public figures are being shaped by how they’re handling the virus pandemic. Around the world, people are generally, if grudgingly, embracing
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Teaching Humane Literature in High Schools 0
- Culture
- March 30, 2020
In many American high schools, the teaching of literature is in the sere and yellow leaf. One reason for this decay is the unsatisfactory quality of many programs of reading; another is the limited knowledge of humane letters possessed by some well-intentioned teachers, uncertain of what books they ought to select for their students to
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Stimulus Goodies, Good Souls, and Grifters 0
- Culture
- March 30, 2020
On March 29, I spoke with a loan agent for a bank in a medium-sized city who wishes to remain anonymous. Her desire for anonymity will become clear after you read what she told me. Her bank, like many others, often works with the Small Business Administration (SBA) in making loans. The SBA guarantees a
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School’s Out Forever?0
- Education
- March 30, 2020
With just about every public school in the country closed at this time, the only way for kids to get an education is at home. Many see this as nothing less than tragic. Writing in Education Week, Stephen Sawchuk claims that schools are an “absolute necessity for the functioning of civic culture, and even more
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Plague Humor Is Good for You 0
- Culture
- March 30, 2020
My older sister took great pleasure in telling a younger-me the dark history behind the nursery rhyme, “Ring-around-the-Rosies.” She told me that the cheerful tune was written about the Black Death: the “pocket full of posies,” refers to small bouquets of sweet-smelling herbs the healthy would carry close to their noses in order to protect
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Netflix’s Messiah: A Snapshot of Our Times 0
- Culture
- March 30, 2020
The anticipation for Netflix’s new show Messiah was significant. Media coverage described the show as “controversial,” and The Royal Film Commission of Jordan asked Netflix not to stream it, fearing the show would “infringe… on the sanctity of religion. However, when Messiah was actually released it quickly fell flat. Reviews were mixed, and the fact that
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Five Things Americans Should Know About South Korea’s Handling of Coronavirus 0
- Culture
- March 30, 2020
This week in South Korea, a 97-year-old woman – well into the age group most susceptible to the coronavirus – fully recovered from COVID-19. This was one more victory for South Korea, a U.S. ally that is viewed as a success story to the world in combating the coronavirus pandemic. The small country of South
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Senators Are Urging Trump to Nationalize the Medical Equipment Supply Chain. That Would Be Lethal 0
- Politics
- March 27, 2020
U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) on Wednesday urged the president to nationalize the medical equipment supply chain “immediately” to improve distribution of equipment in the wake of the novel coronavirus pandemic. The topic of nationalization came up in a conference call organized by U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar that included healthcare industry leaders from around the
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Beyond Raising Chickens: Survival Techniques You Should Try 0