On this remembrance day of the birthday of General Robert E. Lee.

Harper’s Weekly, July 2, 1864

Rest at Peace my General. I’ll see you at Sundown..

The story of a man who showed the world how a peaceful, non-governmental system can flourish.

Lysander Spooner

This is a story about a philosopher, entrepreneur, lawyer, economist, abolitionist, anarchist—the list goes on. As his obituary summarizes, “To destroy tyranny, root and branch, was the great object of his life.” Although he is rarely included in mainstream history, Lysander Spooner was an anarchist who didn’t merely preach about his ideas: He lived them. No example illustrates this better than Spooner’s legal battle against the US postal monopoly.

Born in 1808 in Athol, Massachusetts, Lysander Spooner was raised on his parent’s farm and later moved to Worcester to practice law. Eventually, he found himself in New York City, where business was booming—but not for the Post Office. Continue reading →

Authors Note: Some of the comments found herein may be offensive to some. Know this, if they are found within quotation marks, (” “), they are NOT my thoughts or beliefs; rather they are the thoughts of the person being quoted. ~ N.R.

If you were to ask your friends who the five greatest presidents were, I’m certain you would get a wide range of answers. Some might answer with contemporary presidents; like Obama or Reagan, while others might stick to those that were only names in history books. But I’m almost certain that universally the name Abraham Lincoln would make almost everyone’s list. Why is that? Is it because he saved the Union and freed the slaves?

I find it ironic that people are beginning to accept that the news they see on TV is scripted–fake–yet they won’t accept that what they’ve been taught about men like Lincoln is fake as well. Sure, Lincoln saved the Union, but he did so at the end of a gun and with cannon fire; at the cost of over half a million lives and the destruction of our Republic. As for slavery, people believe that Lincoln was this great humanitarian who freed the slaves. Nothing could be further from the truth; and it is this aspect of the Lincoln myth that I hope to dispel with fact. Continue reading →

Robert E. Lee was a great American. He was in rebellion against his country for four tortuous, bloody years. At the head of the Army of Northern Virginia, he came darn close to winning Southern independence. Lee was a brilliant field commander, full of audacity. His daring was a gift and a bane. He was a man of integrity. He was a man of his place and time. He deserves our remembrance and respect.

The left – and the mainstream media, the Democratic Party, the race industry, and establishment go-alongs – want to destroy our history. Destroy anything that honors the men who fought for the South in the Civil War. Destroy, as the left does – here and abroad – history that doesn’t comport with its worldview. Destroy it or ignore it and rewrite it, as the Stalinists did. As Orwell warned. Continue reading →

Remembering America’s Most Courageous Teacher

John Taylor Gatto

It is with a heavy heart that we mourn the passing of a revolutionary educator, John Taylor Gatto. Gatto spent nearly 30 years as a teacher in the infamously rough New York City public school system. He was awarded New York City Teacher of the Year three consecutive years while also being recognized as New York State Teacher of the Year in 1991. Continue reading →

Question: If you could go back in time and spend one hour in conversation with 10 people – each one separately and privately – whom would you choose?

My list isn’t exactly the same from one day to the next, but at least a couple of the same names are always on it, without fail. One of them is Marcus Tullius Cicero. He was the greatest citizen of the greatest ancient civilization, Rome. He was its most eloquent orator and its most distinguished man of letters. He was elected to its highest office as well as most of the lesser ones that were of any importance. More than anyone else, Cicero introduced to Rome the best ideas of the Greeks. Continue reading →

Gen. Robert E. Lee

Robert E. Lee remains one of the most polarizing figures of the Civil War (or War Between the States). Debates and opinions abound in newspapers, books, and social media as to whether Lee is a person to be admired or condemned. Many of the anti-Lee arguments center on his resignation from the U.S. Army to fight for the Confederacy, an act many view as an inexcusable violation of his oath as a West Point graduate and army officer.

Along those lines, surely an exemplary officer and general like Dwight D. Eisenhower would also regard Lee as a traitor, would he not? Basically, that was the question asked of then President Eisenhower in August 1960. During the Republican National Convention of that year, Eisenhower mentioned that he kept a picture of Robert E. Lee in his office. That prompted a dentist from New York to send the following letter to the White House: Continue reading →

NOTE: From a personal standpoint I learned much of the following at a very young age while going to elementary school – in the North. Be advised – what you are about to read is the last posting I intend on devoting to Lincoln. If you choose to roll your eyes at this point – then you will never understand – and you have become a full-fledged victim of indoctrination. What you are about to read is the coup de gras on this TRAITOR to all that this nation was founded upon and once stood for. ~ JB

The Terrible Truth About Abraham Lincoln and the Confederate War

President Lincoln has been all but deified in America, with a god-like giant statue at a Parthenon-like memorial in Washington. Generations of school children have been indoctrinated with the story that “Honest Abe” Lincoln is a national hero who saved the Union and fought a noble war to end slavery, and that the “evil” Southern states seceded from the Union to protect slavery. This is the Yankee myth of history, written and promulgated by Northerners, and it is a complete falsity. It was produced and entrenched in the culture in large part to gloss over the terrible war crimes committed by Union soldiers in the War Between the States, as well as Lincoln’s violations of the law, his shredding of the Constitution, and other reprehensible acts. It has been very effective in keeping the average American ignorant of the real causes of the war, and the real nature, character and record of Lincoln. Let us look at some unpleasant facts. Continue reading →

Did General Lee Violate his Oath in Siding with the Confederacy?

The New York Independent of the 6th of June has a letter from Berlin, written by Dr. Joseph P. Thompson, from which I make the following extract:

During the American war the sympathies of the German people were strongly on the side of the North. They showed their good feeling toward the Union and their confidence in its success by subscribing largely for United States bonds, at a most critical period both for our arms and our finances – a confidence which Congress has abused in a most humiliating way by providing for cheating the bondholders out of eight cents on the dollar. Thus do we ourselves efface the glories of the war and of emancipation.

But while on the question of slavery and the Union the German people were with us, yet from a professional point of view military men in Germany rated the Southern generals, and especially Lee, above the generals of the Union. They do not seem to have mastered the grand strategy of Grant and Sherman, by which Richmond was at last shut up in a vice; the energy with which Grant drove Lee back to Richmond; the patience with which, having shut Lee up in his capital, he held him there, until Sherman’s arrival at Charleston gave the signal for taking Richmond, without giving Lee a single chance of escape. Continue reading →

Louis L’Amour – famed western writer, penned roughly 130 Western novels, and short stories, to include the old Maverick television series; I have perused as many as 75% of his books – like many a sailor of my era, I became almost addicted to L’Amour in the USN; reading some of his books more than once… His’ Education of a Wandering Man is (an autobiography in which L’Amour not only recounts his life’s sundry diverse experiences which took place before he settled down to write; he details – by year – the hundreds of books which he studied; books of Classical Literature, Philosophy, Law etc.) included in a number of scholar’s recommended books lists, some quite surprising e.g., Father James V. Schall (S.J.) includes L’Amour’ book in his book titled: Another Sort of Learning. Continue reading →

There are times in my continued search for worthwhile pieces to post, that I come across posts of note that do not seem to have anything to do with education – and the following is an example of just such a post. In actuality, it was an advertisement for a hand-signed letter from Baseball legend and (later) political activist – Jackie Robinson. THIS was an American who made his mark. ~Ed.

Historical Background
After retiring from Major League Baseball in 1957, Robinson wrote a news column, hosted a radio program, and served as vice president of Chock Full O’ Nuts coffee. He also became vitally interested in politics at a great turning point in American history. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the civil rights movement reached its apex, and African-Americans were shifting their allegiance from the Republican to the Democratic Party. Robinson worked with the NAACP, and joined A. Philip Randolph in leading a student march on Washington in 1958. Continue reading →

George Orwell’s 1984 was so successful and so influential that he was seen as something of a prophet. This dystopian novel was considered a cautionary prophecy of what would come to pass if future generations ceased to be vigilant in the guarding of their freedom…

Someone to claim us, someone to follow

Someone to shame us, some brave Apollo

Someone to fool us, someone like you

We want you Big Brother, Big Brother.

David Bowie (“Big Brother,” from the album Diamond Dogs) Continue reading →

Get ready for the SHOCK…

Ida B. Wells-Barnett was a prominent journalist, activist, and researcher, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In her lifetime, she battled sexism, racism, and violence. As a skilled writer, Wells-Barnett also used her skills as a journalist to shed light on the conditions of African Americans throughout the South.

Ida Bell Wells was born in Holly Springs, Mississippi on July 16th, 1862. She was born into slavery during the Civil War. Once the war ended Wells-Barnett’s parents became politically active in Reconstruction Era politics. Her parents instilled into her the importance of education. Wells-Barnett enrolled at Rust College but was expelled when she started a dispute with the university president. In 1878, Wells-Barnett went to visit her grandmother. While she was there Wells-Barnett was informed that a yellow fever epidemic had hit her hometown. The disease took both of Wells-Barnett’s parents and her infant brother. Left to raise her brothers and sister, she took a job as a teacher so that she could keep the family together. Eventually, Wells-Barnett moved her siblings to Memphis, Tennessee. There she continued to work as an educator. Continue reading →

Frederick Douglas ~ American

It is long overdue, but one of America’s greatest writers, orators, and voices of freedom has finally received a degree from his hometown university, the University of Rochester. It is an honorary degree, as he was denied an opportunity for a normal education when he was young. While he was not able to attend himself, his great-great-great grandson, Kenneth B. Morris, Jr., accepted the award on his behalf. Frederick Douglass died in 1895, but his name remains familiar today with all who know American history. We are a better nation for his presence. Continue reading →

Man describes how he kept his illiteracy a secret and managed to con his way into a 17 year teaching career before finally coming clean and turning his life around

A California man has described how he managed to keep his illiteracy a secret from the world for decades – even when he worked as a teacher for 17 years.

John Corcoran, now 77, remarkably only learned to read at the age of 48.

Despite the fact that he couldn’t read or write, Corcoran finished high school, went on to earn himself a college degree and then landed himself a high school teaching job in the 1960s.

He went years without telling anybody about his illiteracy secret. Continue reading →

Cicero merits renewed attention

John Adams said of Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BCE) that “All ages of the world have not produced a greater statesman and philosopher combined.” Anthony Everitt called him an “architect of constitutions that still govern our lives.” Thomas Jefferson said the Declaration of Independence was based on “the elementary books of public right, as Aristotle, Cicero, Locke, Sidney, etc.” Continue reading →

…as a little girl was at the center of the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision.

The Topeka girl was just nine years old when her father Oliver Brown tried to enroll her at Sumner Elementary School, an all white school in 1951.

When the school refused to allow the black pupil to enroll, her father sued the Topeka Board of Education.

The lawsuit led to the famous 1954 Supreme Court case of Brown v. Board of Education. Linda’s father was lead plaintiff in the case that saw the Supreme Court end school segregation.

Linda Brown died at age 76 Sunday afternoon at the Peaceful Rest Funeral Chapel in Topeka.

Her sister, Cheryl Brown Henderson, founding president of The Brown Foundation, confirmed the death to The Topeka Capital-Journal. Continue reading →

Thomas Paine

When Thomas Paine’s ship pulled into Baltimore harbor on October 30, 1802, a large gathering of friends and admirers were waiting at dockside to welcome him back. Others stood by as well, some filled with loathing, merely to observe a famous figure. Since leaving the United States in 1787 to find a builder for his iron bridge, Paine had authored some of the most incendiary tracts of the 18th century, had been imprisoned and narrowly escaped Robespierre’s guillotine, and was widely reported to be a drunk and an atheist. Continue reading →

The following column was originally posted by Kettle Moraine Publications on October 1, 2012. It is quite probable that embedded links may no longer be active. ~ Ed.

John Dewey

It is generally agreed that John Dewey (1859-1952) is the Father of American Education and the Greatest American Educator Ever.

The problem with the labels is that John Dewey, albeit a genius, was not an educator in the sense that most people use this word. He was not interested in teaching as most people understand that term, as for example in the statement “I teach French.”

Dewey was not primarily concerned with teaching new information. He was concerned with inculcating new attitudes. Continue reading →