Why do we think students should learn French and German, wonders linguist John McWhorter , rather than Arabic and Chinese? Out of the 6000 languages in the world, why is it so vital for smart people to learn the one spoken in one small European country of ever-waning influence and its former . . . . Continue Reading »
David Mills sees in Santa Claus a confusion of two things “ that ought never to be confused or blended ,” Christmas as a secular holiday and Christmas as a Christian holy day. To honor that distinction, he would abandon to the secular side of Christmas what amounts to the most famous icon . . . . Continue Reading »
Communist Manifesto , U.S. Constitution; potato, po-tah-to : Can the young people you know tell the difference between James Madison and Karl Marx? Sadly, a new national poll reveals that 42 percent of Americans wrongly attribute Marx’s famous communist slogan, “from each according . . . . Continue Reading »
This is getting hilarious. From time to time studies come out trying to identify biological distinctions between conservatives and liberals. And usually, conservatives are somehow biologically “different,” e.g, bigger area in brain for anger, unable to make proper eye . . . . Continue Reading »
Like I have been saying: No matter what the weather, it is global warming in GWH Land. Thus, in the wake of the great UK freeze, even though only a few years ago climate scientists were predicting that by now we would see little snow in England, we were told the deep cold was really caused by . . . . Continue Reading »
These things can become very complicated—and finding anything in federal law and regulations is increasingly difficult. (Sometimes, I think they don’t want us to find things.) But earlier, I cited a Forbes blog which asserted flat-out that the new end of life care discussion . . . . Continue Reading »
In 2010, First Things published over 300 articles for our On the Square section. While I read every single piece, I suspect most readers may have missed one or two of them. In case you missed them the first time around, here’s your chance to catch up on this year’s top twenty-five most . . . . Continue Reading »
Our senior editor David Goldman discusses the “two stories within the terrible history of Germany and the Jews .” The first, he writes, “is the story of the German Jews, Europe’s most assimilated community, who contributed to German civic life in vast disproportion to their . . . . Continue Reading »
Much is being made throughout the blogosphere and on talk radio about the new Medicare regulation that compensates physicians for discussing end of life options with their patients. As I said yesterday over at The Corner, these are not “death panels.”A Forbes blogger makes the same . . . . Continue Reading »
Looking at a selection of conservative political cartoons, I saw one published on Christmas day showing Santa Claus poking his head through a poster saying “Happy Holidays” and apparently shouting “Merry Christmas.” At first glance, it seems like a simple way of pushing back . . . . Continue Reading »
Subscribe
Latest Issue
Support First Things
