Blog 3 Columns

Five Famous Shakespeare Quotes You’re Probably Taking Out of Context 0
- Culture
- February 5, 2019
Shakespeare is often quoted in a way that makes him sound like his works were incredibly serious and philosophical. While it is true that Shakespeare interacts with deep and compelling themes, and some of his plays do have a very somber tone, it’s interesting to see how many of his oft-quoted lines actually appear in
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Are Plastic Straws the New Smoking?0
- Culture
- February 5, 2019
Plastic straw bans are taking America by storm. Local governments across the country are jumping on the band wagon. Last week, the Washington Post shadowed a health inspector visiting D.C. restaurants to see if they were complying with the city’s new ban. The most revealing quote in the article came from Julie Lawson, director of
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Why Does the Federal Government Fail So Miserably Most of the Time?0
- Economics
- February 4, 2019
6.5 M people with active social security numbers are 112 or older. When I spotted this headline in the Washington Times, and misinterpreted it, my heart took a bounce. First came astonishment and joy. With that many men and women living to be 112 or older, and surely many more living at least
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The Rise and Fall of the American Girl Doll Company?0
- Culture
- February 4, 2019
The other day the American Girl doll store at Minnesota’s Mall of America announced it would be closing its doors. It’s been years since I walked through the store looking for gifts for some young relatives; nevertheless, I still felt a twinge of sadness over the news. Even more disheartening, however, was the reason why
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Modern Men in the City 0
- Culture
- February 4, 2019
What does it mean to be masculine? It’s a question I posed recently to a young man at a coffee shop—let’s call him “Adam.” Adam, about 20, was intensely fixated on a Green Lantern graphic novel at the time. I noticed the book before I noticed Adam. It was a thick black hard covered book furnishing fleshed
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Cheesecake Factory’s Free Cheesecake Disaster Is a Lesson in Scarcity and Prices 0
- Economics
- February 4, 2019
It sounded like a great idea. To celebrate its 40th anniversary, in November Cheesecake Factory announced it was giving away 40,000 pieces of cheesecake to customers who used the DoorDash app to place orders. Giving away, as in free. What could possibly go wrong by giving away 40,000 slices of the most delicious cake on
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9 Big Questions About Democratic Socialism 0
- Economics
- February 4, 2019
Democratic socialism is hot in the United States right now. Both the American media and young people seem to be enamored of the thought of steeply progressive, redistributive tax rates designed to achieve some vision of justice. As with most public policy ideas, we tend to get pretty far down the road before we ask
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Why Johnny Still Can’t Read 1
- Education
- February 1, 2019
In 1955, prompted by the reading problems experience by the child of a friend, Rudolf Flesch wrote the book Why Johnny Can’t Read. The book became a huge bestseller and is still in print today. Flesch realized that the reason many children were not learning to read was because of method of reading instruction
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Toxic Masculinity: The Alpha Straw-Man 0
- Culture
- February 1, 2019
According to the intelligentsia, many, if not most, males today are diseased. The etiology of this illness is prolonged exposure to the toxic substance of traditional masculinity. No one is safe. The substance is everywhere, embedded in our traditions and media, and has been for generations. There is an epidemic of emotionally stunted barbarians contaminating
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Five Famous Shakespeare Quotes You’re Probably Taking Out of Context 0