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Featured Article: Sidney Hook

Albert Einstein, Sidney Hook, and others signed a December 4, 1948 letter published in The New York Times

Sidney Hook (December 20, 1902 – July 12, 1989) was an American philosopher. After embracing communism in his youth, Hook was later known for his criticisms of totalitarianism, both fascism and Marxism–Leninism. A social democrat, Hook sometimes cooperated with conservatives, particularly in opposing Marxism–Leninism. He argued, controversially, that members of such groups as the Communist Party USA and Leninists could ethically be barred from holding the offices of public trust because they called for the violent overthrow of democratic governments. Hook never lost his great love of freedom and democracy, which he argued were expressed through the lively interchange of ideas and opinions based on rational thought and carried out through civil discourse.

Popular Article: Mount Tambora

Aerial view of the caldera of Mt Tambora

Mount Tambora is an active stratovolcano on Sumbawa island, Indonesia. Sumbawa is flanked both to the north and south by oceanic crust, and Tambora was formed by the active subduction zones beneath it. This raised Mount Tambora as high as 4,300 m (14,000 ft), making it one of the tallest peaks in the Indonesian archipelago, and drained off a large magma chamber inside the mountain. It took centuries to refill the magma chamber; its volcanic activity reaching its peak in April 1815.

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Cheondogyo is an indigenous Korean neo-Confucianist religion with elements of Buddhism, Daoism, and Catholicism (source: Cheondogyo)

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