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Are Computers Contributing to the Decline of Writing Skills?0
- Education
- January 11, 2016
According to new research from the Department of Education, the switch to computer-based writing tests shows a decided decline in the writing ability of fourth–grade students, particularly for low or average performing students. As Jill Barshay from the Hechinger Report explains, “Last year, more than half of U.S. states gave computer-based writing tests to children
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Child Brides, Boy Rape, and Exploding Children: Morally Relative, or Just Plain Evil?0
- Culture
- January 11, 2016
Yesterday, The Foreign Desk reported that Syrian families are increasingly being forced to give their daughters as brides for ISIS fighters. Young women of “marriageable” age they are not: “According to a report from AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA News), an activist belonging to the ‘Deir ez-Zor Is Being Slaughtered Silently’ campaign, said more than 30
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9 Timeless Strategies from Sun-tzu’s ‘Art of War’0
- History
- January 8, 2016
Sun-tzu’s Art of War is a highly influential text from the 5th century B.C. Its lessons have been applied in both the East and West not only to war, but also to business, politics, law, sports, and even life. After all, as Plato reminds us in the Gorgias, life is the “great combat… greater than
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Keynes in 1930: Americans Will Have 15-Hour Work Week by 2030 (Ha!)0
- Economics
- January 8, 2016
In 1930, economist John Maynard Keynes predicted that by 2030 the American economy would be so productive as to allow for a 15-hour work week, according to a recent story in The Atlantic. As The Atlantic reminds us, three quarters of the way there, we’re not even close. For a while it appeared that Keynes’s
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Very Cool! New York Public Library Releases 180,000 Historical Images into the Public Domain 0
- History
- January 8, 2016
NPR reports that the New York Public Library has released 180,000 public domain items as high resolution downloads available for free. This means that the public now has unprecedented access to historical images in high quality: “The documents include literary manuscripts, Farm Security Administration photographs, sheet music, papers from Founding Fathers, WPA-era art by African-American
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Why Do Some People Lose Their S**T Over Bad ‘Star Wars’ Reviews?0
- Culture
- January 8, 2016
93% of reviewers on Rotten Tomatoes have given the new Star Wars movie a positive review. Those few reviewers out there who gave a negative review? Holy Crap… They experienced impassioned wrath from commenters of all different backgrounds. Andrew O’Hehir received “a barrage of hatemail” over his negative review. Some critics were even told to
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