We’ve come to a place in our political discourse when government action often is perceived as more important than respecting the traditions and institutions upon which that very government derives its authority. Many Americans are impatient with the process required by our system of checks and balances. The recent announcement by President Obama regarding his
READ MOREFor many people today, waking up in the middle of the night is incredibly frustrating, stressful, and is often labeled as insomnia. But apparently, for people in the past, it was part of their normal routine. As Business Insider reports (using excerpts from Dreamland: Adventures in the Strange Science of Sleep), Virginia Tech historian Roger Ekrich
READ MOREThe Pew Research Center studies the trends that shape our world. They took a look back at 2015 and compiled their most striking findings. Here’s a list of 10 of their findings we think you may find interesting: 1. “Just 19% of Americans say they can trust the federal government always or most of
READ MOREWith the arrival of January 1st, many Americans are experiencing more than the turn of the New Year; they’re also experiencing major hikes in their insurance premiums. As Slate’s Helaine Olen puts it, “The bill for the health care expansion is coming due … [and] more than a few are likely to be annoyed.” But
READ MOREThe period of the “Dark Ages” is synonymous with cultural deterioration in the West. It is typically applied to those centuries following the fall of the Roman Empire at the end of the 5th century, and is regarded as a time when education dramatically declined. In his classic Education and Culture in the Barbarian West,
READ MOREMany of us assume that the world is increasingly secular and decreasingly religious. But according to sociologist Rodney Stark, that’s just not true. His latest book, The Triumph of Faith: Why the World Is More Religious than Ever, begins with the following claim: “The world is more religious than it has ever been. Around the
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