Blog 3 Columns

Boys Don’t Need Books That ‘Put Them in Touch with Their Feelings’0
- Literature
- April 11, 2017
If you listen to cultural authorities on the question of why boys aren’t readings books, you will quickly discover the problem: the politically correct experts themselves and the Children’s Literature/Industrial Complex with which they are allied. Boys, they proclaim, need books that put them in touch with their feelings. Robert Lipsyte, writing in The New York
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Are Rights Anything More Than Legal Conventions?0
- Education
- April 11, 2017
We live in an age of human rights. The language of human rights has become ubiquitous, a lingua franca used for expressing the most basic demands of justice. Some are old demands, such as the prohibition of torture and slavery. Others are newer, such as claims to internet access or same-sex marriage. But what are
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The 21-Year Drinking Age is Dumb and Should be Repealed 0
- Culture
- April 10, 2017
The national discussion on prohibition has centered almost exclusively on pot, and whether states will or should be allowed to proceed with legalization. Largely forgotten is federal legislation that incentivizes states to make it illegal for young adults—those aged 18, 19, and 20—to drink alcohol. The U.S. has one of the most stringent drinking
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Techniques of 19th-century fake news reporter teach us why we are suckers for it 0
- Culture
- April 10, 2017
Donald Trump appears to have a straightforward definition of fake news: Stories that are critical of him or his presidency are “fake,” while those that praise him are “real.” On the surface, the logic doesn’t hold up. But at the same time, the way Trump thinks about fake news points to a key reason why
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Student Achievement: Only as Good as the Books Read in English Class?0
- Education
- April 10, 2017
When it comes to improving education, a lot of emphasis is placed upon the STEM subjects: science, math, and the like. Proficiency in such areas, it is argued, is necessary if the U.S. wants its students to be successful on a global scale. Such a supposition may be true; however, new evidence suggests that student
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Pioneer Feminist: Feminism Didn’t Turn Out as Well as We Thought 0
- Culture
- April 10, 2017
A few weeks ago, we brought attention to the recent comments of Fay Weldon, a pioneer in the modern feminist movement. In Weldon’s eyes, today’s women have taken their claim to victimhood a little too far. Weldon has reappeared in the news with more startling statements on her outlook on feminism in retrospect. In an
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Has America’s Middle Class Been Fleeced?0
- Economics
- April 10, 2017
Noah Smith, writing in Bloomberg, says that middle class America has indeed been fleeced by our national economic policies. We agree. But which policies have been responsible? Smith mentions and immediately dismisses trade, immigration, economic regulation, and welfare policies. The real villain in his view is an alleged turn toward managing the economy on free market
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5 Attributes of Thought Leaders 0
- Philosophy
- April 10, 2017
Have you ever asked yourself, what makes someone an entrepreneur of ideas, a so-called thought leader? The ability to invent and spread the word about newfangled concepts? A master of the TED Talk? A magnetic Steve Jobs-like personality? The Marketing Insider Group defines a ‘thought leader’ as someone who “tap[s] into the talent, experience, and
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Why Is War Such a Seductive Illusion?0
- History
- April 7, 2017
Today the US appears to stand on the brink of launching yet another major war, ostensibly out of moral outrage at what is happening in Syria, and allegedly for the sake of human rights, conducted with a completely unjustified sense of certainty that war will produce a better result than diplomacy, trade, and caution. Today
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Boys Don’t Need Books That ‘Put Them in Touch with Their Feelings’0