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Middle School Reading Lists 100 Years Ago Vs. Today

One of the striking features of the Edina list is how recent the titles are. Many of the selections were published in the 21st century. In fact, only four of the selections are more than 20 years old.

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And you wonder why people were so much smarter a hundred years ago?

“I will fetch my knowledge from afar, and will ascribe righteousness to my Maker.” Job 36:3

I recently dug up a 1908 curriculum manual in the Minnesota Historical Society archives. It provided instructions on everything from teacher deportment to recommended literature lists for various grades. As a book lover, I was especially interested in the latter!

public-school-reading-lists-100-years-ago-vs-today

With the exception of a few textbook-like anthologies, the chart below lists the recommended reading material for Minnesota 7th and 8th graders in 1908:

public-school-reading-lists-1908

With such a list in hand, I decided to examine if the common accusation that today’s education standards have been dumbed down is really true. To make sure I wasn’t unfairly weighting this survey in favor of the past, I went to one of the Twin Cities metro area’s finest districts, namely, Edina Public Schools. Again, with the exception of a few textbook anthologies, the list below offers the reading options for their 7th and 8th grade students:

public-school-reading-lists-2014

In examining these lists, I noticed three important differences between the reading content of these two eras:

1. Time Period

One of the striking features of the Edina list is how recent the titles are. Many of the selections were published in the 21st century. In fact, only four of the selections are more than 20 years old.

In comparison, over half of the titles on the first list were at least 20 years old in 1908, with many of them averaging between 50 to 100 years old.

Older is not necessarily better, but the books on the first list suggest that schools of the past were more likely to give their students time-tested, classic literature, rather than books whose popularity may happen to be a passing fad.

2. Thematic Elements

A second striking difference between the two book lists are the themes they explore. The first is full of historical references and settings which stretch from ancient Greece (Tanglewood Tales) to the Middle Ages (Harold, Last of Saxon Kings) to the founding of America (Courtship of Miles Standish). Through highly recognized authors such as Longfellow, Stevenson, Kipling, and Dickens, these titles introduce children to a vast array of themes crucial to understanding the foundations upon which America and western civilization were built.

The Edina list, however, largely deals with modern history, particularly hitting on many current political and cultural themes such as the Taliban (The Breadwinner), cloning, illegal immigrants, the drug war (The House of the Scorpion), and deeply troubled youth (Touching Spirit Bear). In terms of longstanding, classic authors, Mark Twain and Ray Bradbury are the only ones who stand out.

It’s good for children to understand the world in which they live, but as with any area in life, you can have too much of a good thing. A continual focus on modern literature narrows the lens through which children can view and interpret the world. Would it not be better to broaden their horizons and expose them to a balance of both old and new literature?

3. Reading Level

Many of the books on the Edina list use fairly simple, understandable language and vocabulary familiar to the modern reader. Consider the first paragraph of Nothing But the Truth:

“Coach Jamison saw me in the hall and said he wanted to make sure I’m trying out for the track team!!!! Said my middle school gym teacher told him I was really good!!!! Then he said that with me on the Harrison High team we have a real shot at being county champs. Fantastic!!!!!! He wouldn’t say that unless he meant it. Have to ask folks about helping me get new shoes. Newspaper route won’t do it all. But Dad was so excited when I told him what Coach said that I’m sure he’ll help.”

On the other hand, consider the first paragraph of Longfellow’s Evangeline:

“This is the forest primeval. The murmuring pines and the hemlocks,
Bearded with moss, and in garments green, indistinct in the twilight,
Stand like Druids of eld, with voices sad and prophetic,
Stand like harpers hoar, with beards that rest on their bosoms.
Loud from its rocky caverns, the deep-voiced neighboring ocean
Speaks, and in accents disconsolate answers the wail of the forest.”

The first example uses simple words and a casual sentence structure, while the second uses a rich vocabulary and a complex writing format. Naturally, some might look at the second selection and say, “Good grief! How do you expect a child to understand that?!?”

But that’s the whole point. Unless we give our students challenging material to dissect, process, and study, how can we expect them to break out of the current poor proficiency ratings and advance beyond a basic reading level?

My takeaway from this comparison? It’s great that schools today have students read contemporary literature. But we still need to make sure that students also read good literature from the past and are sufficiently challenged.

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TEHRAN SHOCKER: As Iran Reveals Massive Underground Missile Facilities, The Tide Of World War Trump May Be Shifting Away From US And Israel

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Tehran has plenty more cards to play in World War Trump from anti-ship cruise missiles to activating allied militias and sleeper cells

The fourth week of open war between Iran, Israel, and the United States is not bringing de-escalation — it is exposing just how much the Iranian regime has been holding back. Tehran has now attempted a long-range missile strike on the U.S.-U.K. base at Diego Garcia, demonstrating a reach of roughly 2,500 miles, a capability far beyond what most analysts believed Iran possessed. That is not a warning shot — that is a revelation. Now would be a good time to start praying for all the US soldiers put in harm’s way. NTEB has long enjoyed support from a large sector of active duty US servicemen and women, and we love you guys right back, so go get’em. Semper Fi!

“Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?” Luke 14:31 (KJB)

The West has assumed escalation dominance, but Iran is now signaling that it can stretch this war far beyond the immediate region. A 2,500-mile strike capability brings U.S. bases, shipping lanes, and allied infrastructure into a much wider threat envelope. That changes the strategic equation overnight. The battlefield is no longer just Israel and its borders — it is rapidly becoming global. And here is the part no one wants to say out loud: if Iran still has capabilities it has not yet revealed, then what we have seen so far is only the opening phase. The idea that the tide is safely in favor of Israel and the United States is beginning to crack. Not because Iran is winning — but because Iran is proving it can prolong, expand, and complicate this war in ways that drain time, resources, and certainty from its enemies. Wars are not only won by firepower alone. They are won by endurance, positioning, and the ability to change the battlefield faster than your opponent can react. Right now, Iran is signaling it intends to do exactly that. Long-range missiles, proxy forces spread across the Middle East, maritime choke points, and asymmetric warfare tactics all remain firmly on the table. What we are watching is not collapse, but calculated escalation. This is the moment where miscalculation becomes catastrophe.

The hidden weapons Iran is keeping in reserve

FROM THE iPAPER: Iran is revealing new military capabilities as its war with Israel and the US enters its fourth week, and the regime still has more cards to play, from as-yet-unseen missiles to allied militias and sleeper cells abroad. The missiles fired at the US-UK Diego Garcia base demonstrated a range of around 2,400 miles, far beyond previous estimates of Iran’s capabilities.

Tehran’s military also deployed the Haj Qasem, a newly developed medium-range ballistic missile with a half-tonne warhead, for the first time this week. Iran’s most powerful weapon, the Khorramshahr-4, has been used in greater numbers in recent attacks. Regime officials remain bullish despite heavy personnel and material losses inflicted by US-Israeli air strikes, and are threatening escalation.

Brigadier General Mohammad Akraminia said in an interview this week that: “We are using weapons in this war that we have not used in the past, and we will use them more in the coming days.”

After a sharp decline in Iran’s rate of fire of missiles and drones after the first days of the conflict, open-source conflict trackers say both launches and hits have increased, amid reports of declining interceptor stockpiles in the region. Deep Dive Defence, a pro-Iran military analysis blog, said that Iran has been practicing a strategy of “low intensity preserving warfare” in the hope of exhausting the US, Israel and Gulf allies, leaving high-value targets exposed to more damaging strikes. This week, Iran claimed a series of confirmed impacts in Israel, including on the Haifa refinery and strikes on critical energy infrastructure across the Gulf region.

Iran continues to introduce surface-to-surface missiles to the war, and scored a notable success this week with a surface-to-air strike that brought a first hit on a US F-35 fighter jet. The US military said the aircraft was damaged but made an emergency landing, with the pilot in a stable condition. Iran has also tested – but not used in combat – space launch vehicles, such as the Simorgh and Zuljanah, which US analysts believe could be repurposed as long-range ballistic missiles, with a potential range in excess of 2,500 miles. Iran can achieve a similar range – sufficient to hit Diego Garcia – by reducing the size of the warhead on missiles such as the Khorramshahr-4, experts believe.

The regime is also known to have amassed a large stockpile of cruise missiles, including anti-ship variants that could prove effective in close-quarters fighting if naval vessels attempt to break its blockade of the strategic Strait of Hormuz. Farzan Sabet, an Iranian security and politics specialist at the Geneva Graduate Institute in Switzerland, said Iranian cruise missiles have not been effective in previous rounds of fighting against Israel but “could do more damage against less-prepared and nearer Gulf countries countries that have less time to track and intercept” them.

He added that its anti-ship missiles “could be very effective against civilian and even military vessels” in the narrow confines of the Hormuz Strait, although this has yet to be tested in practice. The US military has signaled its concern with a series of bunker-buster strikes along the coastline of the Strait that it said were targeting anti-ship cruise missile placements.

Donald Trump has pledged to seize control of the vital shipping route, and suggested the US Navy could provide escorts for oil tankers, but military planners are wary of exposing vessels to the dangers they would face, which could include marine drones and mines as well as missiles. READ MORE

Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church

When you contribute to this fundraising effort, you are helping us to do what the Lord called us to do. The money you send in goes primarily to the overall daily operations of this site. When people ask for Bibles, we send them out at no charge. When people write in and say how much they would like gospel tracts but cannot afford them, we send them a box at no cost to them for either the tracts or the shipping, no matter where they are in the world. We have a Gospel Billboard program. We are now broadcasting Bible studies, Podcasts and a Sunday Service 5 times a week, thanks to your generous donations. All this is possible because YOU pray for us, YOU support us, and YOU give so we can continue growing.

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But whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Time is short and we need your help right now. The Lord has given us an open door with a tremendous ‘course’ for us to fulfill that will create an excellent experience at the Judgement Seat of Christ. Please pray for our efforts, and if the Lord leads you to donate, be as generous as possible. The war is REAL, the battle HOT and the time is SHORTTO THE FIGHT!!!

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)

“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB

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Artificial Intelligence

Pentagon Makes Stunning Move To Incorporate The Palantir Maven AI Smart System As A ‘Program Of Record’ For It’s Long-term Warfighting Lineup

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The Pentagon has chosen the Palantir Maven AI War System software platform to become a ‘program of record’ in its warfighting lineup

While Peter Thiel is stationed across the street from the Vatican giving lectures on the coming Antichrist, his dystopian company Palantir is busy bringing in the Mark of the Beast System. To that point, news coming out of Washington this morning shows us that the Palantir Maven AI War System software has just been adopted by the Pentagon as a ‘program of record’. The Palantir site says that Maven “powers real-time, AI-driven decisions in critical government and commercial enterprises in the West, from the factory floors to the front lines.” What could possibly go wrong?

“For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.” 2 John 1:7 (KJB)

I know it feels like we are living in a movie like those Christian prophecy films from the 1990’s, but in reality, we are living in the days where prophecy is unfolding from the pages of your King James Bible. To a lost world, and even to the lukewarm Laodiceans who are saved but clueless, things are confusing and baffling as they bounce from one bad headline to another. But to those of us that read and believe The Book, it is crystal-clear what’s going on. World War Trump may or may not wind up being WW3, but sooner or later, that’s the station where this train is pulling into.

Pentagon to adopt Palantir Maven AI as core US military system

FROM YAHOO! FINANACE: Palantir Maven artificial intelligence system will become an official program of record, Deputy Secretary of Defense Steve Feinberg said in a letter to Pentagon leaders, a move that locks in long-term use of Palantir’s weapons-targeting ‌technology across the U.S. military.

In the March 9 letter to senior Pentagon leaders and U.S. military commanders, Feinberg said embedding Palantir’s Maven ‌Smart System would provide warfighters “with the latest tools necessary to detect, deter, and dominate our adversaries in all domains”. The decision is expected to go into effect by the close of the ​current fiscal year, which ends in September, according to the letter, which was reviewed by Reuters and has not been previously reported.

Maven is a command-and-control software platform that analyzes battlefield data and identifies targets. It is already the primary AI operating system for the U.S. military, which has carried out thousands of targeted strikes against Iran over the last three weeks.

Designating Maven as a program of record will streamline its adoption across all arms of the military and provide ‌stable, long-term funding, Feinberg said.

The memo ordered oversight of ⁠Maven be moved from the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency to the Pentagon’s Chief Digital Artificial Intelligence Office within 30 days. Future contracting with Palantir will be handled by the Army, the letter said.

“It is imperative that we invest now ⁠and with focus to deepen the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) across the Joint Force and establish AI-enabled decision-making as the cornerstone of our strategy,” Feinberg wrote. Palantir and the Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Feinberg’s order is a significant win for Palantir, which has landed a growing ​stream ​of contracts with the U.S. government, including a deal announced last summer with the ​U.S. Army worth up to $10 billion. Those awards have helped ‌double the company’s stock price in the past year, lifting its market value to nearly $360 billion. Maven can rapidly analyze huge amounts of data from satellites, drones, radars, sensors and intelligence reports, and use AI to automatically identify potential threats or targets, like enemy military vehicles, buildings and weapons stockpiles. READ MORE

A former Palantir employee is sounding the alarm. The tech company, founded by Peter Thiel, claims they can revolutionize government systems with their AI-powered software. They’ve been hired by the Department of Defense, the FBI, ICE, and even Wendy’s. Is Palantir the world’s most evil company? Watch and decide!

Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church

When you contribute to this fundraising effort, you are helping us to do what the Lord called us to do. The money you send in goes primarily to the overall daily operations of this site. When people ask for Bibles, we send them out at no charge. When people write in and say how much they would like gospel tracts but cannot afford them, we send them a box at no cost to them for either the tracts or the shipping, no matter where they are in the world. We have a Gospel Billboard program. We are now broadcasting Bible studies, Podcasts and a Sunday Service 5 times a week, thanks to your generous donations. All this is possible because YOU pray for us, YOU support us, and YOU give so we can continue growing.

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But whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Time is short and we need your help right now. The Lord has given us an open door with a tremendous ‘course’ for us to fulfill that will create an excellent experience at the Judgement Seat of Christ. Please pray for our efforts, and if the Lord leads you to donate, be as generous as possible. The war is REAL, the battle HOT and the time is SHORTTO THE FIGHT!!!

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)

“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB

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Missiles Are Falling In Jerusalem, America Preparing For Ground Invasion Of Iran, Stocks Plummet And Oil Skyrockets As The World Slides Toward The Edge

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Missiles Strike In And Around Jerusalem As Trump Considers Ground Invasion And Investors Dump Stocks On War Fears

Iran is not just firing missiles into Israel in general—they are now striking in and around Jerusalem, the city that God chose to place His name there. The spiritual and geopolitical epicenter of the earth is once again under direct attack, and the timing of it, alongside everything else unfolding, should not be lost on anyone paying attention. What began as retaliation has now become escalation, and Jerusalem is in the crosshairs. While all this is going on, the United States is moving steadily closer to full-scale war footing.

“Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.” Zechariah 12:2 (KJB)

Behind closed doors in Washington, Pentagon officials have done far more than talk. Detailed operational plans for deploying American ground forces into Iran have been drawn up and presented. Senior commanders are submitting specific requests, positioning troops, and preparing logistics for what could become the largest Middle East ground war in a generation.

This is not early discussion—this is late-stage preparation. And while missiles fall in Jerusalem and generals prepare for war, the financial system is reacting exactly how you would expect when the world senses that something big is coming. The markets are dropping hard. Traders are not confused—they understand escalation when they see it. A widening Middle East war, the potential for U.S. ground invasion, and threats to global oil supply are combining into a perfect storm. Oil prices are surging, volatility is spiking, and investor confidence is cracking under the weight of uncertainty.

This is how it always begins—not with a single collapse, but with a series of shocks that rattle the system until something finally gives way.

And now look at the full picture:

Everything is converging at once. Jerusalem under fire, America preparing for invasion, and the global financial system trembling. That is not coincidence—that is alignment. Because every time Jerusalem becomes the focal point of global conflict, the stakes are never just political. The city sits at the center of both world history and God’s prophetic timeline, and when it becomes the target, it signals that events are moving into a different phase.

Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church

When you contribute to this fundraising effort, you are helping us to do what the Lord called us to do. The money you send in goes primarily to the overall daily operations of this site. When people ask for Bibles, we send them out at no charge. When people write in and say how much they would like gospel tracts but cannot afford them, we send them a box at no cost to them for either the tracts or the shipping, no matter where they are in the world. We have a Gospel Billboard program. We are now broadcasting Bible studies, Podcasts and a Sunday Service 5 times a week, thanks to your generous donations. All this is possible because YOU pray for us, YOU support us, and YOU give so we can continue growing.

nteb-free-king-james-bible-program-750-550

But whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Time is short and we need your help right now. The Lord has given us an open door with a tremendous ‘course’ for us to fulfill that will create an excellent experience at the Judgement Seat of Christ. Please pray for our efforts, and if the Lord leads you to donate, be as generous as possible. The war is REAL, the battle HOT and the time is SHORTTO THE FIGHT!!!

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)

“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB

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