Author Archives: mbrowning

Heading West with Wallace Stegner

The history nerd in me got me interested in John Wesley Powell, the one-armed guy who first traveled through the Colorado River’s wilder reaches. When I saw the book offered by my library was written by Wallace Stegner, I couldn’t … Continue reading

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Obviously home schoolers are deprived of a meaningful education. This kid only knew something about art (rather than Marvel movies), could express it in a physical manner (rather than buying it), and could write capably about the experience (rather than … Continue reading

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Philip Snider and a Few of His Offspring

Friday in the mail I received the current issue of the Missouri State Genealogical Association Journal complete with the first half of my article, “Father of Fair Grove: The Descendants of Philip Snider.” While none of you is likely to care, … Continue reading

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Visualizing Capital Punishment

The chart to the right shows (as it says) “Execution rates in G20 members in 2016.”  Statistics and their visual representations can be tricky things. Take a look at the chart and ask yourself what it says. I could draw a … Continue reading

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Disagreement Doesn’t Require Rejection

I have been married longer than you have (probably) been alive. My wife is perfect. And that was a lie. There are things about her that are not perfect. There are factors in her personality and tendencies that I would … Continue reading

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Sources on Capital Punishment

In reading over some papers inspired by Bryan Stevenson’s Just Mercy, I have learned a fair bit about sources that rise to the top of a Google search. Let me share a few observations. It seems as if everybody who searches … Continue reading

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Glass Half Full or Empty?

Here’s an intriguing case of how two journalists looked at the same data and led a story with completely different points of view. The basic story is that the company Bankrate did a survey of 1,000 people, asking whether they … Continue reading

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The Need to Read Carefully

This just in: Things are looking up financially at the New York Times. In coverage of the media corporation’s quarterly earnings report, Reuters had this to say: The New York Times Co (NYT.N) pleased investors with market-beating profit and revenue as digital … Continue reading

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What’s My Destiny? Hopefully Not This!

Most of my students are in the early innings of their baseball game of life. Don’t let this be you!

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Hacked off by Lifehack

One of the things that interests me, aside from sourdough biscuits, is the myth of multi-tasking. Since so many of my students think that they can write good material while playing World of Warcraft or binge-watching whatever the cool kids are … Continue reading

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