Unfortunately, even in education systems considered to be high performing, there is no guarantee of access to high-level schooling for everyone. According to the U.S. News and World Report, South Carolina and Nevada have some of the worst school systems in the United States, while Maryland and Massachusetts have some of the best. But the … Read more
Most people have experienced firsthand the futility of trying to convince someone to change their political beliefs. It may often seem like these beliefs are held largely outside the realm of evidence and logic. In the case of climate change, that may be because they are. According to a 2016 study by the Pew Research … Read more
Two months after being ousted as the Hawaii House minority leader for her criticism of President Trump, State Representative Beth Fukumoto resigned from the Republican Party and joined the Democratic Party. In a state where Republicans control only six of the 51 seats in the State Legislature and 80 percent of elected officials are Democrats, … Read more
Updated: April 8, 2017, at 4:15 p.m. In May 2016, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell published his memoir The Long Game, a personal reflection on his three decades in the upper house of Congress. Just months earlier, McConnell set into motion another long game, which finally ended today, and whose resolution will have an impact on … Read more
Before he became the longest-tenured heavyweight champion of the world and, according to many, the first African American to achieve the status of national hero, Joe Louis was an average 15-year-old teenager growing up on the east side of Detroit. In the midst of the Great Depression, Louis found himself—like many of his peers—seeking solace … Read more
The Russian populace demonstrated a rare show of dissent in late March, gathering in various cities in large numbers for anti-government protests. With 20,000 people in Moscow, 10,000 in St. Petersburg, and 2,000 in Novosibirsk, the protests were large in both scale and scope. However, the large turnout translated into chaos, as even the leader of … Read more
Many people are familiar with Einstein’s remark, “Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.” The comment came when the philosopher Bertrand Russell was met with opposition, ultimately successful, to his teaching a class at the City College of New York, his prior remarks on sexual morality having disqualified him in the eyes … Read more
The rise of new cities in China has become commonplace In the last several years years. China’s rapid economic growth has become synonymous with its equally rapid urbanization. From the time Deng Xiaoping ascended to power in China in 1978, GDP has grown from $149.5 Billion USD to $11 Trillion USD. As Deng’s policies transformed … Read more
Sometime as early as August or September 2016, a few teenagers in the small town of Veles, Macedonia, released the first articles of what would become a campaign of misinformation. These hoaxers weren’t concerned with the veracity of their write-ups. Theirs was a language of sensation and virality, not accuracy and ethics. Nor were these … Read more
On June 5, 1947, United States Secretary of State George Marshall delivered the commencement address to the graduating class of Harvard University. From the steps of Memorial Church, Marshall laid out a vision where America would “assist in the return of normal economic health to the world, without which there can be no political … Read more