Florida & Beyond, and All Opinions

The practice of grading, and ranking, students is so widespread as to seem necessary, even though many researchers say it is highly inequitable. Grades are demotivating, they don’t actually measure learning and they increase students’ stress.

The food industry is especially sensitive to the price of energy, more so than any other sector because petroleum is such a key component of its supply chain at every step of the way, from planting and harvesting through processing and packaging.

As the Russian invasion of Ukraine grinds on with no apparent solution through international diplomacy, some commentators are wondering if an end of the conflict could come from Vladimir Putin’s removal from power in Russia.

The census missed counting 3.3% of Black Americans, 5.6% of American Indians or Alaskan Natives who live on reservations and 5% of people of Hispanic or Latino origin. This could mean missing about 1.4 million Black Americans; 49,000 American Indians or Alaskan Natives who live on reservations; and 3.3 million people of Hispanic or Latino origin.

Statistically, another center of tornado activity in the Southeast, centered around Alabama, has emerged, along with a notable decrease in both the total number of tornadoes and days with tornadoes in the traditional Tornado Alley in the central plains.

BA.2 is considered to be more transmissible but not more virulant than BA.1. This means that while BA.2 can spread faster than BA.1, it might not make people sicker. Some scientists have called BA.2 a “stealth” variant because, unlike the BA.1 variant, it lacks a particular genetic signature that distinguishes it from the delta variant.

For several years, the demographic profile of gun owners in the United States has been broadening as women and members of underrepresented groups started purchasing firearms. People buy guns more for protection than for all other reasons put together.

By Katherine Bullock “The clash of civilizations,” wrote the late American political scientist Samuel Huntington in a famous 1993 article, “will dominate global politics.” He predicted: “The fault lines between civilizations will be the battle lines of the future.” Picked apart by critics for conceptual and empirical errors, the tragedy of 9/11 breathed new life […]

Russians are used to turmoil and instability. They endured cruel social experiments during the 20th century, and the early 21st, performed upon them by their own political leadership.

Tempting as it is to compare the Spanish Civil War and Ukraine in how they drew foreign fighters, doing so does more to obscure than to explain either of the conflicts. In some instances, the analogy relies on distorted frames inherited from the Cold War; in others, it seems to be driven by blatant opportunism.

Implementing and enforcing a no-fly zone in Ukraine has significant risk for escalating the conflict. It would be the first U.S. imposition of a no-fly zone during an international conflict. It would also represent the first time that a nuclear power like Russia has been subject to such a ban.

School boards are attempting to ban books that deal with difficult histories. Lawmakers are targeting initiatives that promote diversity, equity and inclusion in higher education. Such efforts raise questions about whether students in the U.S. will ever be able to engage in free and meaningful discussions about the history of slavery in America and the effect it had on the nation.

Workers have faced stagnant wages for the past 40 years. Yet the cost of rent has steadily increased during that time, with sharp increases of 14% to 40% over the past two years. Now, more than ever, workers are feeling the stress of the affordable housing crisis.

A scholar who has spent years writing a book on George Washington’s leadership and masculinity has no qualms about stating that, for that long-gone generation that created an independent country, wars didn’t feed their egos.