
Abraham Lincoln's Advice on Learning, Work, Smartphones, and Anxiety
Dig deeper, and we find a man whose words and life have much to teach us today, particularly teens and 20-somethings. Let's take a look.
Get Yourself an Education
Had Lincoln depended only on his bits and pieces of formal schooling for his learning, he likely would have ended up semi-literate. Inspired by his stepmother, Sarah, and driven by a burning desire to read and to write well, he instead put the meager resources of his prairie cabin home to good use to

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Boston Globe
39 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
It's a year of rapid change, except when it comes to Trump's approval numbers, AP-NORC polling finds
Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Advertisement But even those shifts are within a relatively narrow range, which is typical for Trump. Advertisement Those long-term trends underscore that Trump has many steadfast opponents. But loyal supporters also help explain why views of the president are hard to change even as he pursues policies that most Americans do not support, using an approach that many find abrasive. Trump has not had a traditional honeymoon period in his second term. He did not in his first, either. The recent slippage on immigration is particularly significant because that issue was a major strength for Trump in the 2024 election. Earlier in his second term, it was also one of the few areas where he was outperforming his overall approval. In March, about half of US adults approved of his handling of immigration. But the July AP-NORC poll found his approval on immigration at 43 percent, in line with his overall approval rating. Other recent polls show growing discontent with Trump's approach to immigration. Advertisement 'I understand wanting to get rid of illegal immigrants, but the way that's being done is very aggressive,' said Donovan Baldwin, 18, of Asheboro, N.C., who did not vote in the 2024 election. 'And that's why people are protesting because it comes off as aggression. It's not right.' Ratings of Trump's handling of the economy, which were more positive during his first term, have been persistently negative in his second term. The July poll found that few Americans think Trump's policies have benefited them so far. Even if he is not a fan of everything Trump has done so far, Brian Nichols, 58, of Albuquerque, is giving him the benefit of the doubt. Nichols, who voted for Trump in 2024, likes what he is seeing from the president overall, though he has his concerns both on style and substance, particularly Trump's social media presence and his on-again, off-again tariffs. Nichols also does not like the push to eliminate federal agencies such as the Education Department. Despite his occasional disagreements with Trump, though, Nichols said he wants to give the president space to do his job, and he trusts the House and Senate, now run by Republicans, to act as a safeguard. 'We put him into office for a reason, and we should be trusting that he's doing the job for the best of America,' Nichols said. Trump has spent the past six months pushing far-reaching and often unpopular policies. Earlier this year, Americans were bracing themselves for higher prices as a result of his approach to tariffs. The July poll found that most people think Trump's tax and spending bill will benefit the wealthy, while few think it will pay dividends for the middle class or people like them. Advertisement Discomfort with individual policies may not translate into wholesale changes in views of Trump, though. Those have largely been constant through years of turmoil, with his favorability rating staying within a 10-percentage-point range through the COVID-19 pandemic, a felony conviction, and attempted assassination. To some of his supporters, the benefits of his presidency far outweigh the costs. Kim Schultz, 62, of Springhill, Fla., said she is thrilled with just about everything Trump is doing as president, particularly his aggressive moves to deport anyone living in the country illegally. Even if Trump's tariffs eventually take effect and push prices up, she said she will not be alarmed. 'I've always had the opinion that if the tariffs are going to cost me a little bit more here and there, I don't have a problem with that,' she said. Across the country, Hildenbrand dislikes Trump's personality and his penchant for insults, including those directed at foreign leaders. But he thinks Trump is making things happen. 'More or less, to me, he's showing that he's on the right track,' he said. 'I'm not in favor of Trump's personality, but I am in favor of what he's getting done.'


New York Post
39 minutes ago
- New York Post
Ex-MSNBC host Chris Matthews says ‘country is moving towards Trump' — refuting recent polls
Ex-MSNBC host Chris Matthews contends President Trump is winning over a majority of Americans despite nationwide polls showing his cratering approval ratings. The liberal former 'Hardball' host refuted recent polls from Gallup and CNN that put Trump's approval rating at 37% and 41%, respectively, just above his all-time low after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. 6 Ex-MSNBC host Chris Matthews contends President Trump is winning over a majority of Americans. Charlie Rose/Youtube Advertisement 6 President Donald Trump strikes a gavel after signing a new tax and immigration bill. BONNIE CASH/POOL/EPA/Shutterstock 'To be honest with you, the country is moving towards Trump,' Matthews told journalist Charlie Rose on Saturday. 'These polls, they come out and show him not doing well — I don't buy that. 'His strength is still greater than the Democratic strength. He is a stronger public figure than the Democratic people,' Matthews said. '[Former President Barack] Obama still has tremendous charisma — but Trump has strength. And I think that's what all voters look for,' he said. 'They want a president who is a strong figure. And he's got it. It's just there. And half the country buys it.' Advertisement While Matthews vouched for Trump's popularity, polls show that overall support for the president is waning after six months into his second term. 6 While Matthews vouched for Trump's popularity, polls show that overall support for the president is waning after six months into his second term. AFP via Getty Images 6 'His strength is still greater than the Democratic strength. He is a stronger public figure than the Democratic people,' Matthews said. Charlie Rose/Youtube Advertisement 6 Trump recently bragged about the numbers as a way to show that he remains unfazed by growing scrutiny over his administration's handling of the case involving late sex predator Jeffery Epstein. AP Along with Gallup and CNN, the most recent Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll conducted in July put Trump's approval ratings at just 40%, lower than those of recent presidents during the start of their second terms. But Trump has maintained popular support among his Republican base, with a CNN poll finding that 88% of GOPers still back the president, with Quinnipiac putting that figure as high as 90%, a small uptick from prior surveys. Trump recently bragged about the numbers as a way to show that he remains unfazed by growing scrutiny over his administration's handling of the case involving late sex predator Jeffery Epstein. Advertisement 'My Poll Numbers within the Republican Party, and MAGA, have gone up, significantly, since the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax was exposed by the Radical Left Democrats and, just plain 'troublemakers,'' Trump boasted on Truth Social. 6 President Trump stepping on stage deliver remarks at the Salute to America Celebration at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines on July 3, 2025. AFP via Getty Images Matthews' Saturday's remarks were not the first time the left-leaning politico has backed Trump since leaving MSNBC in 2020. In April, the former host touted the president over his handling of Harvard University after allegations that the Ivy League school allowed antisemitism to run rampant on its campus. Matthews said Trump and his administration were 'smart' to go after the college's grant money, saying it sent the right message to the country amid record-high levels of antisemitism.


New York Times
2 hours ago
- New York Times
Leaders of Parallel Government Named in War-Torn Sudan
A coalition led by the paramilitary group fighting for power in Sudan's brutal civil war has announced the leadership for its self-declared parallel government, further tearing the fabric of an politically fraying nation. As fighting in central and south Sudan intensifies, the Sudan Founding Alliance said Gen. Mohamed Hamdan, leader of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, would head a 15-person government council that would include regional governors. A statement issued on Saturday named a Sudanese politician, Mohamed Hassan Othman al-Ta'ayshi, as prime minister. The coalition said the formation of the council renewed its 'commitment to building an inclusive homeland and a new, secular, democratic, decentralized, and voluntarily unified Sudan founded on the principles of freedom, justice, and equality.' When pressed, the spokesman for the coalition, Alaa Eldin Awad Naqd, said, 'We have six-month emergency plans in every service sector, and there are strategic plans in all sectors in the country.' He would not elaborate. The next step for the parallel government, he said, will be the formation of a ministerial council. Democracy activists in Sudan have long denounced the military's stranglehold on power, but the coalition's lofty language notwithstanding, fighters for the Rapid Support Forces, known as the R.S.F., have been accused of atrocities. Rights groups, the United Nations and the United States have accused both sides of war crimes, but only the R.S.F. has been implicated in genocide. A 2023 outbreak of violence against the Masalit ethnic group by the R.S.F., whose fighters are predominantly ethnic Arabs, led to allegations of ethnic cleansing. Sudan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday condemned the coalition's announcement and called on other governments to avoid interacting with 'this illegitimate entity declared by the terrorist militia.' Alan Boswell, the Horn of Africa director at the International Crisis Group, said the coalition's announcement would only deepen Sudan's division. 'R.S.F. appears to think this move will increase its own legitimacy and leverage,' he said. 'More likely, it will only make the war even harder to end and Sudan even harder to piece back together.' The war grew out of a feud between opposing generals in April 2023 and has since killed tens of thousands, displaced millions and plunged much of the country into famine. Though Sudanese forces drove the R.S.F. out of Khartoum in March, the paramilitary-led coalition has declared its own government in the areas it still holds. Most of that territory is in the Kordofan and Darfur regions, with the exception of the embattled city of El Fasher, which is held by Sudan's Army. American officials have warned of ethnic slaughter if the R.S.F. is able to take over the city. Abdalrahman Altayeb contributed reporting.