Steger distracts the masses with bread, circuses
October 22, 2009
Politicians' "bread and circuses" patronage was criticized as a technique of control by the Roman poet Juvenal.
Content by Burke Thomas Regular Columnist
Column: Education SOLs go down Orwell's memory holes
September 22, 2009
Earlier this month, commentators excoriated President Barack Obama for his motivational speech to students, which was feared for its propaganda value. Their anxieties were partly correct, but we indoctrinate children through more overt methods. I looked t
Column: High price of hypocrisy: Our workers deserve more
September 8, 2009
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human services, the poverty level is $10,830 for an individual and $14,470 for a person with one dependent. Virginia Tech hires a category of workers who are limited to 1,500 hours per year and earn $12,750 a
Column: Commencement speaker advocates war crimes
August 23, 2009
Gen. Lance Smith gave this May's commencement speech to Virginia Tech graduates as a man proud of his country, "a unique force for good in the world," having "done more to free people from tyranny and poverty than any other nation on earth."
Column: US is hypocritical when it comes to foreign policy
April 22, 2009
Civilian casualties, the most important figures to consider when discussing the War on Terror, are virtually never reported.
Column: US must work to prevent child laundering in overseas countries
April 8, 2009
Last year I lived in the Marshall Islands, an isolated Pacific island nation. The day before I left, my host uncle came to me in private. "Seven years ago, my daughter was born in the capital. When my wife and I were raising her, an American came to me as
Column: Push to further diversity initiatives on Tech's campus
March 25, 2009
Virginia Tech has the least representative African-American student population of any flagship state or land grant university in the former Confederacy (because of space constraints, I only included a representative sample).
Column: Protest on sixth anniversary of Iraq invasion
March 18, 2009
There will be an anti-war protest on the Drillfield tomorrow at 5 p.m. on the sixth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq.
Column: Considering creationism offers interesting insight
February 18, 2009
The anniversary of Darwin's birth occasions an examination of evolution's ideological counterpart: creationism.
Column: Veganism not required for living a long, happy life
December 1, 2008
In this column I will explore some of the shocking claims about eating meat that I have seen. As a complement to Paige Pinkston's cogent "Beef: It's what's going to destroy the environment" (CT, Sept. 19) I will examine the health effects of eating animal