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Public Schools Vs. Classical Instruction: Here’s the Biggest Difference

Ask anyone, and they’ll likely tell you that the main difference between classical education and mainstream public education is difficulty. Some may even assume, wrongly, that classical education is only for the ultra-intelligent.

This is far from the truth. Classical education is notably more rigorous than public education (fourth-grade reading lists in classical schools might include titles such as Beowulf, Little Women, and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea), but rigor is not the primary distinction.

Rather, the true difference is scope.

Compare this to modern public education, which grew out of the “common school” movement under Horace Mann. Students are taught to follow structure and comply, and the main goal is meeting basic benchmarks.

The result is an education characterized by mundane tasks, weak content, little to no one-on-one time with teachers, and a one-dimensional view of learning.

Sociologists Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis even went as far as to claim that public schools are miniature workplaces: students earn grades for obedience and busywork the way employees earn paychecks.

As a product of public education myself, I remember being horrified in eleventh grade when my Algebra 2 teacher announced that we’d be using a flipped classroom model, in which students teach themselves new concepts at home, then complete worksheets under supervision during class time. In practice, that meant I taught myself at home while the teacher’s role diminished to reviewing worksheets.

Now, compare this to classical education.

As a centuries-old approach dating back to ancient Greece, classical education aims to form the whole person, not just prepare students for the next test and move them along.

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Beware the U.S. False Flag Conspiracy Against Iran: ‘Trumped-up’ Threats

I saw this headline recently across several mainstream ‘news’ sites: “Iran in ‘Advanced Stages’ of Planning Attacks on Americans,” ‘officials’ say. My very first thought was what type of attack on Americans will be perpetrated by the U.S. to blame on Iran? The U.S. and Zionist Israel are the two most prolific false flag operators in the world, and seemingly use these tactics on a constant basis in order to fool gullible American imbeciles into supporting more U.S. war and terror against an innocent ‘enemy’ nation and Americans alike. Consider Fort Sumpter, Pearl Harbor, the USS Liberty, the Gulf of Tonkin incident, 1993 World Trade Center bombing, Oklahoma City bombing, 9/11, the ‘covid’ hoax; just to name a minuscule handful of the multitude of U.S. planned false flag events throughout history.

Forget for a moment the U.S. and Israel launched unprovoked, purely aggressive attacks and war against Iran this year, killing their political heads, bombing their infrastructure, and purposely murdering 120 plus elementary school children and at least 35 innocent adults at the Shaiare Tayyebeh Elementary School in Minab. Forget if you can that the U.S. has been aggressively warring against Iran in one form or another for at least 73 years, and using unholy sanctions, tariffs, and other brutal means, including great financial harm, against Iranians, who by the way, have not aggressively attacked another country in hundreds of years. The evil U.S. empire however, has been aggressively warring against much of the world, murdering, or responsible for killing, tens (if not more) of millions of civilians, since its very inception.

The complicit U.S. media and the political class have been warning that Iran is going to attack the U.S. for decades, and yet, that has never happened. They have warned that Iran has and would use nuclear weapons. The same is true of the evil genocidal Netanyahu in Zionist Israel. In fact, the exact opposite is the case, as the U.S. has threatened and attacked Iran, either alone or by proxy, for seeming eons. The U.S. has violently interfered in Iranian affairs, elections, and was responsible for overthrowing its government, putting into power a brutal U.S. puppet regime, thereby effectively ruling over Iran and its people for 26 years, after the overthrow of Mosaddegh, the elected prime minister of Iran, by the U.S. and Britian in 1953.

Before any headline ‘readers’ (dolts) accuse me of being a supporter of Iranian politics, let me remind you that I feel the very same hatred and contempt for every government on earth. Politicians and governments, no matter where they happen to exist, are the worst, most evil and perverted of all mankind, including those rulers in Iran, but they have not once aggressively attacked the U.S. This is not an attempt to excuse rulers in Iran or anywhere else, it is simply to put the truth out there so those nationalist ignoramuses in the West who are too ignorant to figure this out on their own, will at least have been warned

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Disappearing Hurricanes Leave Disappointed Scientists Without Fuel For Climate Alarm

Emergency explanations have had to be rushed to the climate catastrophizing front following the shocking news that hurricanes in the North Atlantic have largely disappeared this year.

Until recently the area was heading for a double bagel – zero hurricanes with zero major hurricanes, although a late storm has upset a score line never before seen in the historical record. As with all ‘extreme’ outlier weather events, humans must be responsible, at least that has been the mainstream reaction for around 30 years (we have the computer models to prove it). But wait, not on this occasion. Simon King from the BBC states that a natural occurring El Niño is the “biggest reason“.

Wot, no humans altering the climate? Surely a first for the BBC. In fact, lead weather presenter King is on the right track in that the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), a transporter of heat from the Pacific Ocean around the world, can reduce wind shear and supress storm activity. But activity is complex in the chaotic, non-linear, largely unmeasurable atmosphere. Such a simple explanation didn’t work well in 2023 when another strong El Niño occurred at a time when there was a long-term-average-busting hurricane season with seven hurricanes and three major hurricanes. Then the narrative-driven media was jammed packed with possible anthropogenic causes.

Long experience of being fed climate claptrap means we must be intrigued when ‘natural’ reasons are suddenly being used to explain the inevitable weather outliers that run the danger of casting doubt on the pseudoscience backing the Net Zero fantasy. While such natural explanations are welcome, indeed almost always highly relevant, they are curiously missing from most useful idiot mainstream climate messaging.

In 2018, Oliver Milman of the Guardian gave us the standard climate slop on extreme storms when he reported: “Hurricane rainfall could increase by a third and wind speeds boosted by up to 25 knots if global warming continues.”

Almost invariably, natural causes for all weather or weather-related events are either missing or entirely lost in proselytizing action. For coral showing five years of record growth on the Great Barrier Reef, the largest coral ecosystem in the world – almost no interest in the mainstream media.

Global burned areas in the annual fire season to February 2026 were down 18% on the recent 20-year average – who cares when there is a much better story about Bordeaux claret having a slightly smoky taste this year due to a number of local fires indicative of Fireball Earth. Don’t believe that such a story could appear in the biased press – I give you Esme Stallard’s 2023 BBC classic: ‘Climate change could make beer taste worse.’

A stable Greenland ice sheet this year, maybe a small increase – get in the bin. Surely this is a good news story for all except perhaps makers of scuba diving equipment selling kit for all those grandchildren who are going to be under water later in the century. A natural explanation, in case it never gets reported, is that the northern 2026 summer jet stream kept high pressure over the UK and Europe, and all the low pressure-induced rain seems to have fallen as snow during a colder Greenland season. In addition, cyclical factors seem to be at play since ice loss in Greenland has been falling for a number of years anyway.

Much of this is caused by, or is called, weather. Explaining that bad or extreme weather is as much a natural event as all other types does not fit the predetermined narrative that drives the population panic required for the hard Left Net Zero project. Just ‘look out of the window’ and complex atmospheric science can be easily understood by blaming all the crap weather on humans using hydrocarbons. Works every time when there are loads of convenient hurricanes – less well when the wind is stilled and the ocean is as calm as a mill pond.

In fact, the constant suggestion that human-caused climate change will lead to more severe tropical hurricanes is not borne out by scientific data. Leaving aside the fact that hurricanes in number and strength have shown little noticeable change for at least a century, the idea that warmer ocean waters caused by higher carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are stoking up the storms is highly contentious. In 2023, the tropical Atlantic featured record surface temperatures but a powerful El Niño failed to make much impression on the high number of storms. Ocean temperatures this year were a little cooler but still remained at the third highest level recorded. Did a marginal drop in temperature affect the dramatic turnaround in hurricane numbers? Maybe, maybe not, but it might be an idea to stay off blaming it on humans until more definite answers are found.

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Trump Targets Birth Tourism After Supreme Court Upholds Birthright Citizenship

The Trump administration has revoked at least 4,000 visas tied to birth tourism, the practice of traveling to the United States to give birth so the child receives U.S. citizenship, the White House announced on October 20. The State Department’s Birth Tourism Prevention Task Force has revoked more than 700 visas held by Chinese nationals since its August launch.

The crackdown follows the Supreme Court’s June 30 ruling in Trump v. Barbara, which rejected Trump’s January 2025 executive order limiting birthright citizenship by a 6–3 vote.

On August 6, Trump signed two orders targeting birth tourism. At the Oval Office signing, he called the ruling a “very unfortunate decision” and said the birth tourism order “keeps American citizenship sacred,” according to CNN.

Ending Birth Tourism directs the State Department and Department of Homeland Security to deny or revoke visas, deny entry, and remove foreign nationals who engage in or plan to engage in birth tourism. It also targets facilitators, accusing operators of deceptive advertising and visa abuse that divert consular resources and undermine national security.

As detailed in my previous reporting, birth tourism agencies have marketed comprehensive packages to Chinese clients, combining visa assistance, airport transfers, housing, meals, medical referrals, and newborn documentation. Some also supplied maternity caregivers to supervise the traditional month-long postpartum recovery, handling arrangements from the visa interview through the family’s return to China.

The businesses could operate at substantial scale. One agency maintained more than 15 properties in Los Angeles and San Francisco and handled between 600 and 1,000 pregnant clients annually. Operators coached women on visa interviews and sometimes recommended entering through Las Vegas or Hawaii, where they believed screening would be easier. Federal prosecutions have also cited money laundering and fraudulent applications for discounted hospital care.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the Birth Tourism Prevention Task Force on August 12. “American citizenship is not for sale,” he wrote on X, accusing birth tourism rings of coaching applicants to defraud the visa system. The task force reviews travel histories using State Department and Homeland Security data. The Justice Department has also directed prosecutors to prioritize prosecutions involving birth tourism.

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Scientists Trapped an Antimatter Particle for Months to Study Its Secrets

Antimatter is not known for being easy to get ahold of. That’s part of why these particles remain so cryptic. But recently, a team of physicists at Northwestern University managed to trap a single antimatter particle for months. Cooling it to temperatures near absolute zero, they could control its quantum states with great precision without even touching it. The experiment, published in Physical Review Letters, represents a breakthrough in our understanding of one of the great mysteries of physics.

In theory, antimatter should be everywhere. Mathematics predicts that every particle of matter has an equivalent antiparticle, a fact that scientists have verified experimentally. The universe should therefore contain similar amounts of both, but almost everything we observe is made up of ordinary matter, and we still don’t know why.

It is possible to produce antimatter particles in laboratories, but studying them is still incredibly difficult. When an antiparticle comes into contact with ordinary matter, the two annihilate each other and release energy. To prevent research facilities from exploding, scientists use vacuum chambers and electromagnetic fields that suspend the antiparticles in isolation. But this only partially solves the problem. Studying these particles, especially experimenting with their behavior on a quantum scale, remains challenging.

For this experiment, researchers at Northwestern trapped a positron, the antimatter counterpart of electrons. The team, led by Gerald Gabrielse, developed a device known as a single-positron quantum cyclotron, which used electric and magnetic fields to hold the positron in a vacuum at a temperature close to absolute zero. This means the antimatter particle was at its lowest energy state, allowing the researchers to induce controlled changes in its quantum behavior. Unlike other methods in particle physics, this approach didn’t destroy the particle. The researchers were therefore able to keep the single antiparticle trapped for months, allowing them to repeat measurements.

So what can taming antimatter particles actually teach us? Scientists know that matter and antimatter have very similar properties. For example, an electron and a positron have exactly the same mass, although their electric charges are opposite. However, questions still remain about exactly how similar these two forms of matter are and whether there are small differences that have gone unnoticed in experiments conducted to date.

To this end, researchers want to compare the magnetic properties of both particles. Physicists have already made very precise measurements with electrons, but achieving the same level of precision with positrons has proven more difficult. According to the American Physical Society, the new device could enable measurements of antimatter particles about 30 times more precise than scientists were capable of before.

So far, the experiment has not revealed any unexpected differences between the two particles. What the researchers have achieved is an improvement in their ability to detect these differences in antimatter particles. If future measurements find that a positron responds to magnetic fields differently than an electron, scientists would have to revise some of the laws they use to explain the behavior of matter and antimatter.

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100 years later, the mystery of Houdini’s death endures

Harry Houdini, the greatest escape artist who ever lived, has been the subject of hundreds of books and movies. A pop icon, even today. He died 100 years ago this week, on Halloween – a coincidence that did nothing to diminish his mystique. But we’ll get to that.

Erik Weisz was born in Hungary, in 1874. When he was four, the family moved to Wisconsin. As a teenager, he performed magic tricks in sideshows and beer halls. “He was a skinny kid, and he built himself up,” said New Yorker staff writer David Denby. “He became this beautiful, incredible body, and he was a handsome man.”

But according to Denby, he wanted a catchier name. He turned to his idol, Houdin, the great French magician of the 19th century: “So, he took the name Houdin and added an i and pronounced it as Houdini. But the name always sounded funny. It’s vaguely Italian, but it’s not. What is it?”

Houdini historian Roger Dreyer owns one of the world’s largest collections of Houdini artifacts, such as the Metamorphosis Trunk. He says Houdini’s magic tricks didn’t exactly bring the house down. “If he was to perform it today, he wouldn’t even make it past the second round on ‘America’s Got Talent,'” Dreyer said. “It wasn’t until his Metamorphosis Trunk that Houdini really became bookable; theaters wanted to see his act. People today, over 100 years after Houdini’s death, still perform this exact same trick.”

After being locked in a trunk, Houdini switched places with his new wife, Bess, instantly. But once he added handcuff escapes to his show, Houdini became a sensation. Denby said, “He would be put in a cell, virtually naked, shackled. He’d come out 20 minutes later holding the handcuffs. The specialists were called out of their corners to produce the most complicated locks for him. He’d lick it every time. There’s no record of his failure.”

Denby says there was symbolism in his escapes: “He would defeat those police forces all over the world. And so, there was definitely a kind of anti-authoritarian message that people liked.”

In time, the act was more than escaping shackles. It became about escaping death. “He always reinvented himself,” Dreyer said. “Initially, he got out of a trunk. Then Houdini got out of a straitjacket. Then Houdini would get out of a straitjacket hanging from a crane. Then Houdini would go inside a live jumbo water tank upside down.”

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‘No Enemy Dares to Threaten Me’: Ilhan Omar Shares Video with Somali Diss Track

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) posted a video Friday of herself walking beside a Minnesota lake with her husband, set to a Somali song the lyrics of which describe humiliating enemies and making them “suffer and cry,” according to a translation obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.

The 27-second clip shows Omar with her husband, Tim Mynett, accompanied by “Nimaan Ciilayba Icaaya,” a song by Somali rapper Ilkacase Qays featuring singer Hodan Abdirahman.

“Less scrolling, more strolling. Enjoying our beautiful Minnesota lakes,” Omar wrote. Her caption did not mention President Donald Trump or identify anyone as the target of the song.

The Free Beacon interpreted the music choice as a swipe at Trump amid federal investigations involving Omar’s immigration records and financial disclosures. The outlet said it commissioned a certified English translation of the Somali lyrics.

“The almighty has given me strength,” the translated lyrics read. “If I confront you in the afternoon, by evening, I will teach you a lesson and keep you awake throughout the night. Yes, you will suffer and cry in seething. You will scream like a demon.”

Another passage challenges the singer’s opponents:

“Let me show you who I am. No enemy dares to threaten me,” the song continues, according to the translation. “Let the enemies die of seething. We are the ones who rule this land.”

The Free Beacon also reported that the lyrics refer to subjugating and humiliating enemies. Those words come from the song’s translated lyrics, rather than remarks Omar made in the video.

Omar has appeared with both performers before. According to the Free Beacon, footage uploaded to YouTube shows her singing and dancing with Qays and Abdirahman at a gathering in May. She was also filmed dancing beside Qays at the Somali Global Awards in Minneapolis in June.

Omar’s post came less than two weeks after Homeland Security Investigations agents searched her Washington, DC, home on October 12. The Justice Department confirmed that investigators carried out a court-authorized search as part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation.

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Lewiston, Maine Juvenile Gun Violence Likely Linked to Mass Migration of Somali and African Migrants

Lewiston, Maine, the state’s second most populous city, has been dealing with a frightening amount of youth gun violence. The police reported that there have been 35 gun-related incidents so far in 2026, 22 of those involving juveniles.

The city is home to a sizable population of Somali refugees. There are also refugees from other African nations, too.

Fox News Reported:

LEWISTON, Maine — A New England city transformed by an influx of refugees and immigrants is now grappling with a youth gun violence crisis after police reported 35 gun-related incidents this year, 22 involving juveniles.

“I don’t feel safe. I fear for my life,” Mohamed Muhumed, a Lewiston teenager, told Fox News Digital. “I saw someone get punched in the middle of the sidewalk over there. It’s crazy.”

The city, Maine’s second most populous and home to a large population of refugees from Somali and other African nations, is experiencing a serious youth gun violence problem.

“Lewiston Police Chief Carly Conley called gun violence ‘one of the most serious public safety challenges’ facing the city,” Fox News reported.

The police are consistent in arresting the offending youth who commit gun violence, but they are continually being released by the courts.

Rick LaChapelle, a Republican running for Mayor of Lewiston, explained that the police have been doing a good job of making arrests. He explained “It’s been a one-party rule forever that has instilled the rules that there’s no accountability.”

The current Mayor is Democrat Carl Sheline,. He has been outspoken against ICE operations in Maine.

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‘This Is Assault’: Utah Woman Speaks Out After Cop Body Slammed Her at Data Center Protest

A Utah woman is speaking out after video showed a police officer slamming her to the ground as she was protesting against the approval of an artificial intelligence data center.

In a Thursday interview with Fox 13 Salt Lake City, 27-year-old Aspen Azalea demanded the firing of Utah County Sheriff’s Deputy Phillip Crawford after he was caught on video throwing her to the ground during a Wednesday night meeting of the Utah County Planning Commission in the city of Provo.

“Bare minimum, Phil Crawford needs to be fired, bare minimum,” Azalea said. “This is assault. He did throw me to the ground.”

Video of the incident shows Crawford pulling Azalea out of her seat at the meeting and escorting her out of the main chamber. Shortly after bringing her into the lobby area, he slams her face-first onto the floor.

The Utah County Sheriff’s Office claimed that Azalea kicked Crawford in the groin just before he slammed her to the ground, which Azalea denied.

“No, I never kicked him,” she told Fox 13 Salt Lake City. “I absolutely didn’t kick him.”

The woman also noted that, had the deputy thrown her to the ground just a few feet further, she could have hit her head on a nearby bench.

“What really scares me about that situation is that he could have killed me because there was a bench,” she said. “If he threw me into that bench, I don’t think I’d be here today.”

In a separate interview published Thursday by The Salt Lake Tribune, Azalea said that she suffered a concussion, as well as bruises on her jaw, knee, and shoulder.

Azalea acknowledged to The Salt Lake Tribune that she shouted during the Wednesday meeting, as she has shouted at other meetings to protest the development of data centers.

“I have a habit of talking at data center meetings,” she told the newspaper. “But never have I been met with such excessive force.”

Azalea faces misdemeanor charges of assaulting a police officer, resisting arrest, and disrupting a meeting.

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