If you’re a parent, you’ve probably pondered the question of whether to give your child an allowance at some time or another. Should it be given freely with no responsibilities attached? Should it be in return for basic chores? Or should it be earned for more challenging jobs, such as mowing the lawn or cleaning
READ MOREFrom Franklin D. Roosevelt’s fireside chats to Ronald Reagan’s reputation as the “great communicator” to Barack Obama’s soaring oratory to Donald Trump’s Twitter use, styles of presidential communication have varied over time. But what is similar across all presidents is their ability to create persuasive messages that resonate with large segments of the U.S. population.
READ MORENew York City residents may now change their birth certificates to reflect a neutral gender identity after an October bill took effect after the new year. The New York City Council first passed the bill in September allowing any adult living in the city to change his or her gender to “X” on their birth certificate. The
READ MOREIt’s the end of the year, that time when most political prognosticators have to eat crow and admit that their predictions were wildly off the mark. I’ve had to mournfully admit fault myself: my biggest recent error was my dismissive attitude toward Senator Bernie Sanders when he announced his presidential candidacy. Still, such prognosticating is pretty
READ MOREThe hot new thing for dictionary companies is picking the “Word of the Year.” Merriam-Webster has picked the word ‘justice’ for 2018. You can quibble over whether that is really the most significant word for the year, but the dictionary bases its pick on how often the word was looked up during the year and
READ MOREOkay, so with the holiday season coming to a close, we’ve now been through the entire dialectical sequence for the song “Baby, It’s Cold Outside.” Featured in the film Neptune’s Daughter, the song won an Oscar in 1950 and remained a popular standard for decades. That was the dialectical thesis. Then came the antithesis. More recently, “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” has been judged to be
READ MOREAmericans have just celebrated Christmas and we’re about to celebrate New Year’s Eve. But did you know there’s an unofficial holiday coming up on January 7? It’s called Divorce Monday. That’s the first Monday after New Year’s, and every year it has the dubious distinction of seeing a spike in the number of divorce filings.
READ MOREThe New Year’s Eve celebration at Times Square will again this year feature John Lennon’s song “Imagine.” We thought this article, first published in 2017, would be worth revisiting today. Republishing it also affords us an opportunity to wish you a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year. Thank you for all of your support in 2018. We look
READ MOREJanuary 1 will mark 60 years since Fidel Castro’s seizure of power. How are we to assess this long period, especially from the perspective of the average Cuban citizen? The fact that Cuba used to be one of the richest countries of Latin America at the time of Castro’s revolution and is now one of its poorestought to
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