Not surprisingly, Douthat nails it on Huckabee, both his strengths and his weaknesses. On the plus side: He’ll be missed because he embodied a political persuasion that’s common in American life but rare in America’s political class. This worldview mixes cultural conservatism with economic populism: it’s tax-sensitive without being stridently antigovernment, skeptical of Wall Street as well as Washington, and as concerned about immigration, family breakdown and public morals as it is about the debt ceiling. And on the minus side: Of course, his 2008 campaign also reflected populism’s … [Read more...] about Ross Douthat’s Requiem on Huckabee
The industry built around academic plagiarism
"Ed Dante" earns $66,000/year writing other people's papers for them. He works for an online firm that receives requests, charges large fees, and writes papers for students. [Yes, these do exist.] Essays for English classes, reports for history courses, business proposals, even graduate theses in any number of subjects. You name it. Mr. Dante (no doubt a pseudonym) chronicled the nature of his rather shameless employment in a (not surprisingly) well-written, sometimes humorous, and thoroughly devastating article published in The Chronicle of Higher Education. An excerpt: In the past … [Read more...] about The industry built around academic plagiarism
Evangeline Han interviews me about Thriving at College
Evangeline Han has posted an interview with me about Thriving at College. Check out her post - she's giving away a free copy of Thriving at College. Here's an excerpt (my full answer is on her blog): In the preface of Thriving at College, you wrote that your “college years could have been better” and that you wish you can give your younger-self advice. How did you go from your college-self to a person who writes advice for college students? Many intervening years passed in between..... ...I wrote Thriving at College to help students do all four of these well: To not just keep the … [Read more...] about Evangeline Han interviews me about Thriving at College
Two New Reviews of Thriving at College
A big thank you to Holly Ordway and Evangeline Han for taking the time to review Thriving at College. And a big thank you to Kevin Fiske for pointing out that Thriving at College would make a great gift for graduating seniors. Speaking of which, hats off to WTS Books for offering an additional 5% off to those who order 10 or more copies. I can also do group discounts and case discounts via the links on the right side of this website - works conveniently via Paypal, whether you have a Paypal account or not. … [Read more...] about Two New Reviews of Thriving at College
Ross Douthat on Sarah Palin
I think Ross Douthat nails it with respect to the post-2008 trajectory of Governor Sarah Palin: Palin was caricatured viciously, but in response she decided to essentially become the caricature, giving her enemies exactly the kind of Spiro Agnew-in-heels performance they expected, and then chasing celebrity in destructive (if lucrative) ways once the initial firestorm around her subsided. The only thing that can be said in her defense is that her choices, while misguided, have been very, very human. Consider: If you were bounced from obscurity to national prominence and immediately found … [Read more...] about Ross Douthat on Sarah Palin
Free E-Copy of In Christ Alone by Sinclair Ferguson
Amazon has run out of copies of Thriving at College about 3 or 4 times in the last 5 weeks. Just this week, they got new inventory, and now are back down to 4 copies left. So let's teach them a lesson and have some fun. The goal is to blow out the 4 copies ASAP. Order a copy of Thriving at College and I'll send you a free e-copy of In Christ Alone by Sinclair Ferguson (courtesy of Reformation Trust). Really simple: Contact me when you've bought a copy of Thriving at College from Amazon. I'll e-mail you the free e-copy of In Christ Alone. … [Read more...] about Free E-Copy of In Christ Alone by Sinclair Ferguson