Blog 3 Columns

How My Unschooled Child Learned to Read Financial Statements (It Started with Silly YouTube Videos)1
- Culture
- July 2, 2018
It started with a “Dude Perfect” video on YouTube. A couple of years ago, when Jack was very interested in basketball, he found these guys who create fun videos about making baskets with all sorts of twists and turns. He continued to watch these videos, even after his interest in basketball waned; and when his interest in
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Do America’s Reading Habits Explain Today’s Lack of Clear Thinking? (See Chart)0
- Culture
- July 2, 2018
Ah! It’s a lovely Friday evening. You’ve had a successful work week and now it’s time to have some quiet relaxation. You have a book on the coffee table you’ve been wanting to delve into – but first, a quick glance at social media is in order. Several hours and several videos later, you realize
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YouTube Refuses to Take Down ‘Baby Raping’ Video—As It Cracks Down on Instructional Gun Videos 0
- Entertainment
- June 29, 2018
A federal judge recently pushed back on Twitter’s legal assertion that the company can ban any user any time for any reason. The case raises interesting practical questions about censorship and social media. Twitter, after all, is hardly the only social media giant using questionable judgment in how it censors users. In Sweden, uproar is
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Why the Dutch ‘Burqa Ban’ is a Good Thing 0
- International
- June 29, 2018
On Tuesday, the Netherlands joined a growing number of European nations to issue what is referred to as a “Burqa Ban”—a ban on clothing that covers all or part of the face. Various efforts to implement these bans have been met with criticism because of their effect on Muslims who choose to wear either a
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Why People in Hong Kong Have Incomes 5x Higher Than People in China’s Richest Province 0
- Economics
- June 29, 2018
For two decades, prosperity has followed economic freedom for the most economically free territory in the world: Hong Kong. An island lacking natural resources, Hong Kong was added to the British Empire after the Opium Wars and eventually transformed into a hub of Britain’s China trade. Britain’s 99-year lease on Hong Kong expired in 1997,
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Pope Affirms Freedom of Press While Myanmar Journalists Remain Jailed 0
- Politics
- June 29, 2018
Freedom of the press is a crucial component to a virtuous, flourishing society, as Pope Francis affirmed on June 20 when he called for greater liberty for the press. The pope’s comments come six months into the detention of two Reuters reporters by the Myanmar government. Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were investigating a
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Miss Manners Rescues Civilization: A Forlorn Hope 0
- Culture
- June 29, 2018
By now, unless you have spent the past two decades living as a Venusian, you are aware that good manners in the public square and in social media are at rock bottom. In addition to the kooks attacking speakers in colleges, mobs surrounding and screaming at members of Donald Trump’s cabinet when they appear in
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British Physician Accused of ‘Shortening the Lives’ of Hundreds of Patients Resigns 0
- International
- June 29, 2018
What do you think? Am I naïve, or what? When I hear that without a good medical reason the life of a hospital patient “was shortened”, it sounds an awful lot like murder. Even if we downgrade it to “unlawful killing”, even if it happened once, unlawful killing is a crime that shouldn’t ever happen in
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Ban Burqas? Don’t be Too Hasty 0
- Culture
- June 29, 2018
The Netherlands parliament recently banned facial coverings (including burqas and niqabs) in some public place. But isn’t such a ban a direct attack on Muslims and their religious freedom? That depends on which side you talk to. As one German news outlet puts it: “Proponents of the law argue it was necessary for security
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How My Unschooled Child Learned to Read Financial Statements (It Started with Silly YouTube Videos)1