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This marks the 75th anniversary of what is arguably the best year for movies in the history of Hollywood: 1939. Breakpoint is marking the occasion by highlighting a different film from that year each month. The first installment deals with the classic western Stagecoach.
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Revealed:: the reason why you can't believe everything you hear.
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At Acculturated, Mark Tapson encourages us to not feed the trolls:
Recently an anonymous commenter responded to an Acculturated article I had written back in February entitled “Why Have Kids? They Make Life Meaningful.” The commenter stated, among other mean-spirited things, that “I hate kids. Always have. See humanity as a disease.” He (or she, but statistically speaking, it was most likely “he”) finished by saying that “women who birth children are dumb farm animals without exception.”
I always try to respond to Acculturated comments, which are almost invariably well-considered and -intended, but I didn’t waste time on this one. It was the very definition of trolling: irrational, hateful, and designed only to provoke and/or bully, not to contribute to a meaningful online conversation. Trolls don’t respond to reason; they seek to agitate, not debate. Responding would have served no purpose except to feed the troll’s perverse need to suck me into a time-wasting, enervating black hole from which even the light of reason cannot escape.
Such a comment may be rare on Acculturated, but the internet at large is hip-deep in trolls waging such (usually) anonymous, virtual guerrilla warfare. Political websites are particularly infested with them. I spend a great deal of time – too much – reading articles online, and have resolved recently not only to be more discriminating about that, but also to liberate myself from the negativity of reading article comments too, partly due to the high concentration of trolls spreading hate and ugliness for the pathetic satisfaction it gives them.
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Glenn Reynolds has some advice for parents: consider alternative schooling. After all, why should parents settle for the one-size-fits-all public school? As a parent of two homeschooled girls, I can attest that choosing to educate our children at home was the best decision we ever made.
No one is more in tune with the deterioration of our public schools than Professor Reynolds. His new book just hit the shelves this week.
Related links: A review of the book. Also an interview with Professor Reynolds.
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Decoding the byzantine system of Netflix's 76,000+ microgenres. Fascinating stuff. (Hat tip: Mental Floss)
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In praise of breakfast. To me, it's still the best meal of the day. Unfortunately, technology has done little to improve it. In fact, the author has it right that breakfast is not what it used to be.
