Blog 3 Columns

How One Teacher Completely Avoids Using Textbooks 0
- Education
- October 9, 2019
A teacher dramatically strumming his guitar, singing a song to giggling high school students, recently graced a Washington Post article by Jay Mathews. While the guitar serenade is a unique feature of Mark Ingerson’s AP history course, the more intriguing thing about his classroom is that it doesn’t rely on traditional textbooks. Ingerson, Mathews reports,
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About That Che Guevara T-Shirt 2
- Education
- October 9, 2019
[Read this article in Spanish here.] Let’s say that all you knew about Adolf Hitler was that he painted scenic pictures, postcards, and houses in Vienna, loved dogs and named his adorable German Shepard “Blondie,” and frequently expressed solidarity with “the people.” You might sport a T-shirt adorned with his image if you thought
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What Brandt Jean Taught About Forgiveness 0
- Culture
- October 8, 2019
Some weren’t satisfied with the ten-year sentence Amber Guyger received for killing Botham Jean. Law professor Kami Chavis saw the sentence as “inadequate.” Chavis said, “People are angry, and I would think understandably so. Because in our community, we have seen people spend more time in prison for nonviolent offenses than she will spend after
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The Media Must Stop Playing Armchair CEO 0
- Culture
- October 8, 2019
A friend recently confided to me his concern that Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos is going to “rule the world. We need to cap his compensation.” I confess; this doesn’t worry me, and it never has. It bothers social justice warriors though, and when they get agitated, the press seems to take notice. What’s
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Teens With Strong Family Ties Can Ward Off Depression 0
- Culture
- October 8, 2019
Depression is a leading cause of disability and disease for people around the world. It often begins during adolescence, especially for females, may continue or recur in adulthood and tends to become a lifetime chronic health condition. More than 300 million people suffer from this mental health disorder worldwide. Depression is not only about feeling
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Reactions to My Tweet Reveal the Ignorant Brutality of Young Socialists and Communists 0
- Education
- October 8, 2019
An eye-opening social experiment unfolded on my Twitter feed over the past several days that reveals a lot about America’s new brand of young communists and socialists. Not to bury the lede: Yes, they are still as repugnantly brutal as their predecessors in St. Petersburg and Phnom Penh – but today they add ignorance and infantilism to the
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How Cronyism Created New York City’s Taxi Medallion Bubble 0
- Culture
- October 8, 2019
If one wanted to study the difference between an industry that exists in a very free market and its exact counterpart in a system of extreme government regulation, then you don’t need to look further than the New York City taxi industry. New York City yellow cabs entered government regulation in 1937 when city officials
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Why Families With Children Should Consider Owning a Pet 1
- Family
- October 7, 2019
We live in an era where pets are increasingly substituted for children. Each year, it’s becoming more common to wish a Happy Mother’s Day or Father’s Day to “parents” of “fur babies.” As a mother of human babies, I find this a bit insulting. Animals can never compare with children. Putting aside the question of pets versus children, let
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Why a ‘Billionaire’ Wealth Tax Would Hurt the Working Poor and the Middle Class 0
- Economics
- October 7, 2019
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders wants to tax billionaires out of existence, or at least make them an endangered species. His proposed wealth tax of up to eight percent per year would mean “the wealth of billionaires would be cut in half over 15 years,” he says. The progressive tax would start at one percent on
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How One Teacher Completely Avoids Using Textbooks 0