On this day in 1792, Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson made an inconspicuous announcement concerning a crucial part of the Constitution, The Bill of Rights.   Read the rest of this entry »

In his new book, Mr. President How and Why the Founders Created a Chief Executive, Ray Raphael investigates the roots and evolution of the Executive Branch. For anyone wishing to understand how the presidency came to be what it is, this is the book to read.   Read the rest of this entry »

The French philosopher/economist Frederic Bastiat explains the purpose of government, the derivation of natural rights, and the pitfalls of intrusive government in his essay, The Law. In setting the groundwork for his essay, Bastiat shows what the Framers of the American Experiment had in mind.   Read the rest of this entry »

Andrew Klavan writes in an engaging and interesting style that keeps the reader wanting to finish the story. Hunting Down Amanda is another Klavan book that makes for pretty good airplane reading. It is just about the perfect length for the 5 hour flight from JFK to PHX.   Read the rest of this entry »

William Moultrie was a general from South Carolina in the Revolutionary War. He was a man of honor and integrity as these letters will attest. When the royal governor of South Carolina, Lord Charles Montagu, attempted to convince him to switch sides, Moultrie rebuffed his efforts in no uncertain terms. Moultrie was a prisoner at the time, having been captured when Charleston fell to the British in 1780.   Read the rest of this entry »

True Crime is a fiction noir, in which the main character is a smart, but none too savory newspaper reporter with a proclivity for cheating on his wife and skeptical mind. True Crime is written in a very believable and straight at you kind of style. The preface at the beginning leaves the reader thinking that the story might actually be true and really sets the stage for suspending disbelief.   Read the rest of this entry »

In the Niles Weekly Register of 1812, there were two mentions of a most interesting invention - a perpetual motion machine. Apparently a "great number of gentleman" examined the apparatus and were "satisfied that it is what what the inventor declared it to be."   Read the rest of this entry »

The Tehran Initiative is Christian fiction just shy of the mode in the popular (but terribly written) Left Behind series. Rosenberg makes no apologies for his religious perspective, but largely avoids hitting his reader over the head with it. Nonetheless, some readers will no doubt be turned off by the religious implications and views espoused in the book. For all that, it is incredibly timely, and really does seem to have been ripped directly from today's headlines.   Read the rest of this entry »

President Obama’s Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack thinks 46 million Americans on food stamps is not nearly enough. And so, the Department of Agriculture is offering non-profit groups the chance to receive $75,000 grants for projects designed to boost food stamp participation among those who are eligible but have yet to sign up.   Read the rest of this entry »

In an interesting twist in history, Isaac Hull, captain of the USS Constitution captured HMS Guerriere in a decisive single ship action -- three days after his uncle, Revolutionary War Hero William Hull, surrendered Detroit -- almost without a fight.   Read the rest of this entry »