As summer hits its halfway point, many of you may be eagerly awaiting your upcoming beach vacations. And with the beach comes “beach reading,” from Tom Clancy to Danielle Steele and everything in between. To many educated people, the phrase “beach reading” represents the quickest way to dismiss a book without attacking it outright. Just
READ MOREMany people regard Magna Carta as the first constitutional guarantee of the basic liberties of the English-speaking world. Fewer people know that Magna Carta wasn’t imposed on King John just because he abused his power (which, after all, has been true of most kings and governments throughout history) but because he had handed away the
READ MOREThe beautification of life, the highest “household art” of making people happy and places pretty, also encompasses the adornment of the soul. Because life is more than work, economics, and money, the life of the heart and spirit need constant replenishment… What do decorating a room, wearing tasteful clothes, expressing cheerfulness, offering friendship, enjoying Mayday,
READ MOREIn the latest move in what Politico has dubbed the “Nomenclature Wars,” a St. Paul school is considering scrubbing its namesake, President James Monroe, due to his slave-owning past. Matching similar trends around the country, this change is motivated by concern that the school name might not reflect the values of the community. In a
READ MOREDesigner babies are looking more and more like a reality whose time is imminent. Piggybacking on recent research which allows scientists “to rewrite the DNA bound up in living cells,” an ethics panel in the U.K. just released a report which suggests this maneuvering of genetics is “morally permissible.” The announcement does not come without
READ MOREElon Musk is one of the most admired men in America. He founded Tesla, SpaceX, and numerous other entrepreneurial ventures that have captured the public’s hearts and imaginations. Who wouldn’t get excited about spaceships and the possibility of colonizing Mars? But people look to Musk for far more than just his technological vision. The internet
READ MORENoncitizens can vote in San Francisco’s Board of Education elections after the city’s Department of Elections ruled Monday to do away with citizenship requirements. Noncitizens seeking to vote in San Francisco’s Board of Education elections must be at least 18 years old and residents of the city, CBS SF Bay Area reported Monday. They must also
READ MOREThere is something absolutely beautiful about a tight labor market. It seems to shift decision-making from the boss to the employee. The jobs report is better than we’ve seen since the 2008 financial crisis, and perhaps in decades, and wages are on the rise. It’s a matter of supply and demand. Employers now are begging for talent, and ready
READ MOREMoney has been around for most of human history. From Mesopotamia (or even earlier), all civilizations have employed some kind of medium of exchange to facilitate transactions regardless of their geographical locations, legal and economic systems, religious beliefs or political structures. Have you ever wondered why? In a brief essay entitled “On the Origins of
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