Cause and Effect

Powerline's "Deacon" on good news about the reading material of America's high-schoolers:

In judging [high school] debates during the past eight years, I have noticed a significant change in "sourcing." In my day, we relied on major newspapers, news magazines, and college professors. Nowadays, the first two types of sources have been joined by websites, while the third source (professors) has virtually been replaced by think tanks. And the most quoted think tank is the Heritage Foundation.

Powerline's "Trunk" on differential knowledge of history between al Qaeda and America's high-schoolers:

James Robbins [National Review] writes about the plot [to infiltrate the Green Zone] and its rationale in "Baghdad Tet." He writes: "This is one of the most dangerous terrorist plots in recent memory, one that had a chance of making a strategic impact." The terrorists appear to be better students of American history than our own high school students are.