Blog 3 Columns

The Opioid Epidemic in 6 Charts 0
- Culture
- October 5, 2017
Drug overdose deaths, once rare, are now the leading cause of accidental death in the U.S., surpassing peak annual deaths caused by motor vehicle accidents, guns and HIV infection. As a former public health official, clinician and researcher, I’ve been engaged in efforts to control the opioid addiction epidemic for the past 15 years. The
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Surgeon: More People Requesting Sex Change Reversals (But No One’s Talking About It)0
- Science
- October 5, 2017
Professor Miroslav Djordjevic, “the world-leading genital reconstructive surgeon,” has helped many people “transition” from living as a member of one sex to living as a member of the other. But now he finds that he’s getting more and more requests to reverse the procedure. It’s called “detransitioning,” and is a growing and controversial phenomenon. So
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Sexual Harassment and Absolution of Sin in 21st-Century America 0
- Culture
- October 5, 2017
The New York Times published a damning report that contained decades of sexual harassment claims against Harvey Weinstein, one of the most powerful and celebrated film producers in Hollywood. The details in the report are, frankly, nauseating and pathetic. According to the Times, Weinstein routinely invited female employees to his hotel room, where he would
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Mass Shooters and Broken Families: The Overlooked Link Connecting these 6 Killers 0
- Family
- October 5, 2017
In describing the horror of the 59 people murdered in Las Vegas, President Trump got it right: “It was an act of pure evil.” What leads someone to meticulously plan and execute a massacre? From his room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, Stephen Paddock could see the packed crowd.
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Homeschool Slow-Down? Not So Fast 0
- Education
- October 5, 2017
The Washington Post reported last week that after years of rapid growth, homeschooling rates seem to be leveling off. Between 1999 and 2012, the homeschooling population surged from 1.7 percent of the overall K-12 school-age population, to 3.4 percent—or approximately two million homeschoolers. Updated homeschooling data from the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) indicate that
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Catalonia’s Road to Secession: Why it could mean the end of the European Union 0
- Culture
- October 5, 2017
For about a year, in the period 1966-67, I lived in Spain while it was still under the Franco dictatorship. I arrived in August 1966 and enrolled in the University of Madrid. The falangista (extreme right wing) government had been in power for 30 years, and were celebrating the anniversary under the slogan “treinta anos
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Catalonia Shows the Danger of Disarming Civilians 0
- Politics
- October 5, 2017
Since the tragic murder of 59 peaceful concertgoers in Las Vegas, I’ve heard well-intentioned Americans from all political corners echoing heartbroken and tempting refrains: Can’t we just ban guns? Surely we can all get together on the rocket launchers. Things like this would happen less often. We have enough military. While victims were still in
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Barzun in 1999: The Internet Will Lead to Isolation and Chaos 1
- Culture
- October 5, 2017
Jacques Barzun (1907-2012) was one of the preeminent historians of his day. His magnum opus, From Dawn to Decadence, traces the history of Western culture from 1500 to 2000. The book is required reading for anyone serious about understanding Western history, thought, and culture. It’s been more than a decade since I read From Dawn
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‘The Hobbit’ Turns 80 0
- History
- October 5, 2017
“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.” When Tolkien wrote these words, which would become one of the most famous and most memorable opening sentences in all of literature, he could not have known what literary power would be unleashed by his creation of the diminutive hole-dwelling creature, Bilbo Baggins. This year,
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The Opioid Epidemic in 6 Charts 0