This week’s articles of note
“Why Chinese mothers are superior,” Wall Street Journal, by Amy Chua
“Social animal: how the new sciences of human nature can help make sense of a life,” The New Yorker, by David Brooks
“Got dough?: public school reform in the age of venture philanthropy,” Dissent, by Joanne Barkan
“Population 7 billion,” National Geographic, ...
Palin and British wishful-thinking
The word on this side of the pond is that some Brits are filled with glee from “news” stories like this one in the Guardian (“Sarah Palin hit by fallout from Arizona shooting spree”), which predict that the Arizona shootings will result in the demise of Sarah Palin. I believe these Brits are misinformed, and as guilty as the liberal commentators over ...
Most Americans believe Tucson shooting unrelated to rhetoric
Many liberal commentators have put forward that heated rhetoric and the political “climate” were important factors that explain Jared Loughner’s shootings in Tucson, Arizona on the weekend. Well, a majority of Americans don’t agree.
According to a CBS News poll out today, 57 percent of people said the harsh political tone had nothing to with the Arizona ...
Falsely accusing the Tea Party of murder
Liberal commentators’ rush to blame the shooting of Gabrielle Giffords on heated political rhetoric exposes their censoriousness and intolerance.
Read my spiked article in full here.
This week’s articles of note
“The rise of the new global elite,” The Atlantic, by Chrystia Freeland
“The man who spilled the beans,” Vanity Fair, by Sarah Ellison [On Julian Assange and collaborating newspapers]
“Cyberspace when you’re dead,” The New York Times Magazine, by Rob Walker
“A question of character,” Boston Review, by David M. ...
Football and a nation of wusses
The trend in American society in recent years towards risk-aversion and excessive safety-first concerns are undermining an American institution known for toughness: football.
I was nearly knocked over by last week’s news that, ...
San Francisco bans fast-food toys, introduces “Crappy Meals”
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10cPC version of Huck Finn removes the word “nigger”
New South Books plans to publish a new, PC-sanitized edition of Mark Twain’s classic The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, reports Publishers Weekly. It replaces the word “nigger” with “slave”, and makes similar edits to other words deemed offensive. This ...
Shield bill is a threat to free speech
In an op-ed in today’s New York Times, University of Chicago law professor Geoffrey Stone sounds a warning over the threat to free speech posed by the so-called Shield bill. The bill has been introduced in response to the Wikileaks disclosures, and would amend to Espionage Act of 1917 to ...
27 million reasons to cheer: more babies and immigrants keep population rising
Guest Post by Alex Standish
In 2010 there were 27 million more Americans than in 2000. This is a good sign. It shows that America is still a vibrant, dynamic society, even if the rate of growth (9.7 percent) ...
ABOUT SEAN COLLINS
I write about American current affairs for Spiked, the online magazine. I am a native New Yorker, and I divide my time between New York City and upstate New York.
In addition to articles for Spiked, The Australian and other publications, I contributed an essay, "BDS: Demonizing Israel, Destroying Free Speech," for the book Unsafe Space: The Crisis of Free Speech on Campus (2016). I also wrote a chapter on New York City's economy for the book London After Recession: A Fictitious Capital? (2012).
My writings have been cited in American Conservative, Arts & Letters Daily, the Financial Times, Fox News, the Huffington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, the New York Times, Real Clear Politics, and the Times of London, among other media.
For more about The American Situation site, go here.
