By Michael E. Norris “Fear is the main source of superstition.” Bertand Russell/Unpopular Essays (1950) In the spring of 1844, almost 17 years to the day before the opening shots of the Civil War would be fired upon U.S. troops stationed in South Carolina, the New York Sun reported on page one the “astounding … Continue reading Are We The World’s Most Gullible People?
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The Space Program We Never Knew
By Dennis Myers Los Angeles Times/July 20, 2019: “The Apollo program’s stunning technical success depended on a culture of strong government leadership, industrial organization, a tolerance for risk and a political environment that do not exist today — even as NASA has insisted it will land humans on the moon in the next five years. … Continue reading The Space Program We Never Knew
Preserving Worthy History: Our National Trails
By Bill Martin Ours is a transient society. We move from place to place, job to job, knowing that home and family are only a phone call or a plane flight or a Facebook post or text message away. It hasn’t always been like that, of course. Until midway through the 19th Century, Americans settled … Continue reading Preserving Worthy History: Our National Trails
10 Ways That Trump Is Like Hitler
By Michael E. Norris Former South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, a Republican, drew attention recently when, echoing comments made by others, he made the comparison of the governance of President Donald Trump to that of the German dictator and mass murderer Adolph Hitler. Sanford explicitly told Newsweek magazine that he was not "likening Trump to … Continue reading 10 Ways That Trump Is Like Hitler
Cataclysm: A New World Emerges
John Conlee discusses his latest novel CataclysmPale Horse Books300 pages$13.95 CATACLYSM is set in the near future, in the aftermath of a catastrophe of uncertain origin and scope. When the novel opens, a small and diverse group of eco-tourists is touring a newly opened cavern complex deep in the Sierra Diablo Mountains in the Black Range of Southwestern New Mexico. … Continue reading Cataclysm: A New World Emerges
The State of Community Colleges
By Michael E. Norris Professor X gave us a pessimistic, even dark view of community colleges in his best-selling book, In the Basement of the Ivory Tower: The Truth About College, based on his experience as one of the huge corps of low-pay, no-benefit, no-tenure, part-time professors who now make up about three-fourths of college … Continue reading The State of Community Colleges
What ‘Hoarders’ Taught Me About Politics
By Michael E. Norris “Hoarders,” as many of us have learned from the eponymously named TV show that began in 2009, the first year of the Obama administration, documents the ill effects of a now formally recognized mental condition in which individuals obsessively and irrationally acquire and hang on to things. They cram their homes, … Continue reading What ‘Hoarders’ Taught Me About Politics