With the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, I was asked in this cover story for the Civil War Magazine to explore the rivaling constitutional claims that were made at the start of that bloody conflict. As a military history buff, I have occasionally written for these history magazines but I found this assignment particularly intriguing.
Continue reading “Uncivil Action: Was Lincoln Wrong on Secession?”
Category: Academia
And so it begins. Scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology have taught robots for the first time how to deceive humans. Didn’t we learn anything from Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey?
Continue reading “Hello, Dave: Scientists Develop Robot With Ability to Deceive Humans”
A top party leader and associate of German Chancellor Angela Merkel is under fire this week for arguing that Poland may have been as responsible as Hitler for the outbreak of World War II. Erika Steinbach said Poland had mobilized its troops months before the Nazis invaded in September 1939.
Continue reading “German Leader Suggests Poland Partially Responsible for Nazi Invasion”
For some time, I have been a voice in the wilderness trying to warn the nation of the growing problem of zombies in confrontations with police and traffic accidents. Now, at least one academic is with me. Arnold Blumberg at the University of Baltimore is offering a course on Zombies. Designated English 333, Zombie studies could produce a small cadre of Zombie-ready graduates to deal with the undead.
Continue reading “Zombies! . . . For Credit: College Offers Course on the Undead”
Dallas Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson has been accused of nepotism and abuse in the awarding of thousands of dollars in college scholarships to four relatives and a top aide’s two children. Scholarships came from the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation.
Continue reading “Rep. Johnson Accused of Nepotism and Abuse of Scholarships”
We previously saw how researchers found a way to power cars with human waste. Now, chemistry experts have learned how to convert human urine into fuel cells. Dubbed “pee-power,” the advance could open up a literally free flowing force of energy.
Continue reading “Urine in the Fast Lane: Researchers Discover Method of Powering Fuel Cells With Human Urine”
Ilene Feldman, a teacher at the HS for Innovation in Advertising and Media is accused of taking the ultimate dive on camera at the school to avoid a classroom observation and possible termination as an untenured faculty member.
Continue reading “New York Teacher Accused of Taking Dive To Avoid Evaluation”
Australia is facing a controversy that is all too familiar to Americans. Fundamentalists in state schools are teaching children that humans and dinosaurs lived together and Noah brought dinosaur eggs on to the Ark.
Continue reading “Australian Public Schools Teaching Humans and Dinosaurs Co-Existed”
The recently activated Kepler Mission is already paying off great dividends. The deep space observatory has reportedly found up to 140 planets that may be habitable, Earth-like bodies. This is just after six weeks on the job.
Continue reading “Kepler Mission Reveals As Many As 140 Possible Earth-Like Planets”
A German court has issued a notable ruling in the case of the Rabbit-phobic teacher. The court rejected a defamation case by a teacher against a 16-year-old student who spread rumors that the teacher was terrified of rabbits. The court concluded that teacher was in fact rabbit-phobic.
Continue reading “German Court Rejects Defamation Case After Finding Teacher To Be Rabbit-Phobic”
There is an interesting controversy at the University of Illinois where the university has fired adjunct professor Dr. Kenneth Howell for teaching why homosexual acts violate natural moral law under the tenets of the Catholic church. Howell taught courses on the Catholic faith at the St. John’s Catholic Newman Center. He was fired after a student labeled his statements “hate speech.”
Continue reading “Illinois Professor in Catholic Studies Fired After Student Objects That Teachings Constitute Hate Speech”
We have another outrageous case involving the government using eminent domain to take property from one private citizen to give to another. This case comes from New York where the Court of Appeals has upheld the right of the Empire State Development Company to seize the Tuck-It-Away Self-Storage building in Manhattanville and give it to Columbia University. It is part of the troubling legacy of the Supreme Court’s 2005 Kelo decision.
Continue reading “New York Court Upholds Use of Eminent Domain To Benefit Columbia University”
Texas Tech Health Sciences Professor Rod Hicks, 50, is under fire this week after students accused him of surfing the Internet for porn immediately after a teleconference from Austin. Hicks is one of the school’s endowed chairs.
Continue reading “Texas Tech Professor Accused of Watching Porn After Teleconference With Students”
The Oklahoma State University was shocked recently to learn that a university employee was able to use a university credit card to buy tens of thousands of dollars of lingerie, sex toys and other personal items. Cynthia Low, 44, allegedly used the taxpayer-funded card to buy an impressive amount of such items before being caught.
Continue reading “Oklahoma State University Fires Employee For Spending On Extracurricular Items”
Professors around the world are collectively known as high school geeks who couldn’t dance (even if we could find someone willing to dance with us). Now, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has announced the third annual “Dance Your Ph.D” where scientists do interpretive dances based on their fields of study.
Continue reading “Polka or Perish: Scientists Line Up To Dance Their Degrees”