In 1836, at the Young Men’s Lyceum in Springfield, Illinois, a 28-year-old lawyer named Abraham Lincoln delivered one of his finest addresses. Lincoln condemned the sharp increase of mobs in America, which had exploded in number as the debate over slavery and regional animosity intensified. “Accounts of outrages committed by mobs, form the every-day news
READ MOREGovernment agencies and researchers produce endless reams of statistics. While statistics can be valuable, they can be easily misrepresented. A 2017 study on the use of statistics in news characterized the problem as such: “The constant supply of data produced by think tanks, government agencies, independent researchers, academics and others is a significant and a
READ MOREIt seems like every week there’s a new Permit Patty (a grown woman who called the police on an eight-year-old selling water without a permit), BBQ Becky (another grown woman who called the police on a man BBQing without a permit), or someone who calls the police on a lemonade stand. Beyond being an irritant and
READ MOREHere in America, Starbucks’ shut down all of its stores for nearly a half day on May 29 to conduct racial bias training in response to a much-publicized incident in one of its stores. The program encouraged employees to speak their truth, honor other people’s truth and be “color brave”. Reading through the 68-page team
READ MOREIf you are looking for “rules for life,” then you might want to start with Alcuin of York, an 8th century cleric. Never heard of him? You should have. Alcuin was Charlemagne’s secretary of education and the driving force behind the “Carolingian Renaissance.” Charlemagne, the First Holy Roman Emperor (815), was convinced that a revival
READ MOREIt’s a common occurrence: a math teacher stands at the front of the classroom, struggling to keep the student’s attention. One student is on the phone. Another stares straight ahead into the distance. And the kid in the back row is asleep. Again. However, as the teacher moves to the next topic, one student blurts:
READ MOREA few years ago, my cousin sent me a video clip that inspired me to do something my mom had been telling me to do for as long as I can remember: make my bed. It was entitled “If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed.” The clip was part
READ MORESuggesting that many of the world’s most grave problems have been solved, experts in women’s rights from around the world rank the United States among the 10 most dangerous countries for women. Sadly, however, issues such as female genital mutilation, arranged marriage, rape as a weapon of war, honor killings, and maternal mortality haven’t stopped. Rather,
READ MOREThe Supreme Court ruled 5-4 Wednesday that nonunion government workers can’t be forced to pay dues or other fees to support a union, further diminishing the power of organized labor and setting up what right-to-work proponents called the “hard work” of protecting free speech rights for the nation’s government employees. Right-to-work advocates also expressed concern
READ MORE