Once again, the National Association of Scholars provides enlightenment regarding the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). In the Winter 2013 Issue of the NAS publication, Academic Questions, Michael Toscano addresses the question of whether the CCSS was a bottom up, as the public is urged to believe, or a top-down initiative.   Read the rest of this entry »

David Lefer's new book is about how a group of unsung heroes saved the American Revolution. The author’s thesis is that, contrary to popular perception, the American Revolution was wracked by bitter and often violent struggles between left and right. That is not an impression consistent with conventional histories of the nation’s founding.   Read the rest of this entry »

Never mind that the FTC lacks authority over non-profits. The small-time tyrants at FTC don’t need to understand progressive ideology to follow their leader. They just do what comes naturally. This time the target is a 100+ year organization dedicated to the promotion of piano playing.   Read the rest of this entry »

It’s now evident that the president lied about Obama Care. Nancy Pelosi’s comment, “We have to pass the bill so you can find out what’s in it,” takes on a whole new meaning. Politics and ideology prevailed over truth, as they always do with this president and deceptions, both overt and covert, abound.   Read the rest of this entry »

So what if Obama lied? That’s what moral relativists do. What’s a lie to people who believe truth is an artificial cultural construct. In any case, truth is irrelevant in the larger scheme of things. Machiavelli wrote, “the end justifies the means,” and the end relentlessly pursued by this president is the preservation and extension of government power and control.   Read the rest of this entry »

Some things are worth fighting for ... aren't they?   Read the rest of this entry »

The book jacket describes the contents as “A World War II story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption.” It is all of that and more. The protagonist is Louis Zamperini who, at the hands of his Japanese captors, survived torture, starvation and sadism that plumb the depths of human evil. It is also the story of the men who endured those horrific conditions with him.   Read the rest of this entry »

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius refuses to testify before a planned hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. She claims she has scheduling conflicts. She's just too busy. According to the WSJ, Henry Chao, the technology guru for the Affordable Health Care Act is also invisible’ ditto other officials who might be asked to explain the insurance exchange foul up.   Read the rest of this entry »

Stahr‘s extensively researched biography is also a sweeping history of the years before and after the Civil War. It could not be otherwise. William Henry Seward, helped shape, not only those tumultuous years, but also our own time. This book belongs in the library of anyone seriously interested in American history in general, and the Civil War period in particular. Walter Stahr is both an astute biographer and a gifted writer. It’s a cliché to say that he makes history come alive, but it is the truth.   Read the rest of this entry »

A good book with a disappointing conclusion. It is not possible to know how history might have been different had Lincoln lived and his less punitive plan for the South implemented. Arguably, an alternative conclusion to the author’s is that Radical reconstruction, far from deserving applause, prolonged and intensified the rancor between the races in the South, delayed economic recovery for the region and impeded civil rights for black Americans.   Read the rest of this entry »