American independence was won by men who refused to be beaten—who were defeated and rose again, battered but determined. That’s the lesson we can learn from the battlefield of Camden and from the story of Thomas Pinckney, a remarkable young man who embodied the courage it took to win our independence. Continue reading
Thomas Jefferson referred to the institution of slavery as “A disease in the public mind,” Probably no subject in our country’s history has been more clouded, many times intentionally, than has been the plight of the Black Race. Continue reading
Tonight I learned a valuable lesson of what I have long suspected about the failure of education in this nation, both within the Government system – and at home.
As I do several nights a week, I left my office and drove over to a Denny’s which I frequent. What – for the food? No – for the company of a good number of the staff who work at this store. From the cooks to several of the managers and those who I refer to as “my girls.’ Lulu, Ryleigh, Yaselyn and Haille – my Native American friend.
Haille is a young student in College and she was sharing with me tonight the insanity of her “English” class. The instructor has assigned a series of topics to individual students having little to do with the education of “the language.” Haille was assigned “race relations,” while another student was assigned the topic of “global warming.” Continue reading
Owen Rickert
During my last year in high school, all seniors were required to write a speech about the topic of their choice and present this speech to the student body and faculty. My essay, titled “Division”, dealt with how identity politics ruined the last few years at the high school that I attended. It was summarized well here.
In the weeks following the presentation of my speech, I remember being asked what led me to choose the topic, a topic of which could very likely lead to ridicule and even hostility from those listening. What defining moments compelled me to challenge the way in which I was being taught? Also, did I receive any backlash from my essay? Continue reading
Those among us that follow history long ago came to the conclusion that much of what we were taught as “history” really wasn’t. Much of it was propaganda parading as history. Much of it ended up compromising the truth in order to present to us a world view that was neither historical or accurate and which was intended to lead us down a historical garden path.
It is impossible for us in our day to have a correct historical world view if what we have been taught as history turns out to be inaccurate – and the inaccuracy often turns out to be on purpose. Unknowing inaccuracy can be excused. Willful inaccuracy is treason to the truths of history. Continue reading
It is true that the Constitution does not expressly say that the federal courts have the power to strike down acts of Congress which are unconstitutional.
What Article VI of the Constitution does say, however, is that (a) the Constitution is the supreme law of the land and (b) judicial officers (among others) are under Oath to support the Constitution.
So what are the logical implications of the foregoing? That when an act of Congress violates the Constitution, and the issue is brought before a court in a lawsuit, it is the sworn duty of the Court to side with the Constitution and against Congress. Continue reading
Men have fought and died in countless wars throughout the ages, and nothing much changed in that respect with the modern world in the 20th century, that saw two world wars and countless conflicts waged by our men and women, alongside America’s allies. Towards the end of the 20th century and on into the 21st century, the wars and conflicts remain just as hard fought, murderous, terrible and bloody and deadly, as we were drawn into new wars in the Middle East by the Islamic attack on America on September 11th 2001. As time continues on without many of us, it is unlikely that the fact of war as part of life will ever depart from our descendants or from this world, so long as evil men exist and wish to impose tyranny on the righteous, autonomous, self-determining free born men and women of the world. Continue reading
The following was reported over five years ago, but what has changed within the public and private school system in America has grown tragically worse than the following report. ~ Ed.
Education: For a parent, the headline couldn’t be more alarming: “Teacher of the Year accused of molesting student, charged with 5 felonies.” It’s a story that, tragically, is all too common — and all too underreported. Why?
We’ve all heard of the Catholic Church child abuse scandal that’s still regularly covered, 20 to 40 years after much of the abuse took place. It too was tragic, and acknowledged as such by the church, which has taken action to prevent its ever happening again.
The same can’t be said of unionized public education — where child abuse appears to be rampant, often with little done about it and with teachers unions largely silent. It gets little national media attention — certainly not on the scale that the church scandal did. (NOTE: The image to the left is of Alexandria Vera, the 24 year old teacher who was impregnated by a 13 year old student. ~ Ed.) Continue reading
Plenty of children these days are so obsessed with having internet access that they will virtually refuse to go on holiday unless the hotel or villa has wifi.
They’re certainly used to being fully ‘connected’ at school, where millions of youngsters who were once taught with chalk on a blackboard now sit in circles on the floor surfing the web on their tablets or phones.
The trouble is that though smartphones are used as educational tools in some lessons, they can also be a dangerous distraction during the day for pupils. In fact, youngsters taking phones into schools has become such a contentious issue that now a minister has called for them to be banned.
Yet there is another issue which is perhaps even more important: one of the world’s top cancer experts has said the wifi beamed through Britain’s classrooms — radio waves that send signals between base units and devices such as iPads and mobile phones — could be as dangerous as ‘tobacco and asbestos’. (Read full report…)
Falling Cloud (aka PFC Ira Hamilton Hayes)
“There they battled up Iwo Jima’s hill,
Two hundred and fifty men
But only twenty-seven lived to walk back down again. And when the fight was over,
And when Old Glory raised
Among the men who held it high, Was the Indian, Ira Hayes ~ Johnny Cash, “The Ballad of Ira Hayes”
Fear, without a doubt, is everyone’s inner struggle. When confronted and an ordinary human stands up, rises against the odds and faces the challenge, this ordinary man becomes a hero. For “being terrified but going ahead and doing what must be done―that’s courage” (Piers Anthony, Castle Roogna), and heroes are nothing other than ordinary people who by acting in the heat of the moment can make themselves extraordinary. Continue reading
Today’s students see themselves as digital natives, the first generation to grow up surrounded by technology like smartphones, tablets and e-readers.
Teachers, parents and policymakers certainly acknowledge the growing influence of technology and have responded in kind. We’ve seen more investment in classroom technologies, with students now equipped with school-issued iPads and access to e-textbooks. Continue reading
With the launching of the New York Times’ “1619 Project,” the paper of record seeks to reframe American history. Formerly we had foolishly assumed the birth of the nation to be July 4, 1776, with the writing of the Declaration of Independence. But no, the paper of record has another date in mind… Continue reading
Maybe some politicians want to exploit this sadness and depression. The kids are so lost and adrift, they can be persuaded to believe anything
Someone asked this question on Quora: Is there a flaw to the American school system? Why do so many teens have depression? Why don’t people do anything about it? Continue reading
This is the opposite of what we were told would happen with trillions of taxpayer dollars and an entire generation of children who deserve not to have been guinea pigs in a failed national experiment.
For the third time in a row since Common Core was fully phased in nationwide, U.S. student test scores on the nation’s broadest and most respected test have dropped, a reversal of an upward trend between 1990 and 2015. Further, the class of 2019, the first to experience all four high school years under Common Core, is the worst-prepared for college in 15 years, according to a new report. Continue reading
Reading plays an integral role in developing our intelligence and problem-solving and analytical skills. Good reasons to do more of it.
We’ve all had it embedded within us since the day we were born: The only way to become smarter, no matter what you study or where you are, is to read. What few people tell us, however, is why reading plays such an integral role in developing our intelligence, problem-solving, and analytical skills, and our ability to understand others with alacrity.
Why, then, is this hobby – one that gets more and more difficult to maintain as we get older – so crucial to maintaining our brain function and improving our overall intelligence? Continue reading
Published in ‘Profiles’ on the first generation Federal Observer, November 5, 2001
~ Forewords: November 5, 2001 ~
I awoke a short while ago from an afternoon nap, which I find that my mind and body needs more each day. Email was the first to be opened and phone messages were next to be checked – and that is when I became aware of the passing of the Grandfather of Modern American Short-Wave Radio, William Cooper (Wild Bill).
The following are among the most important commentaries, which we received at the Federal Observer over the next day or so. May he now rest in peace.
– With a deep sense of loss and mourning we announce the passing of William Cooper. We MUST all remember his love of freedom, America, the Constitution and the values it is founded on. Continue reading
Just in case some of you young whippersnappers (& some older ones) didn’t know this. It’s easy to check out, if you don’t believe it. Be sure and show it to your family and friends. They need a little history lesson on what’s what and it doesn’t matter whether you are Democrat or Republican. Facts are Facts. Continue reading
In their informative book Crimes of the Educators, Sam Blumenfeld and Alex Newman noted, on page 190 that “In John Dewey’s 1898 plan to dumb down America, he wrote, ‘Change must come gradually. To force it unduly would compromise its final success by favoring a violent reaction.’” Continue reading
With all the trash-talk oozing up everywhere from the slime, it is time to ask: how is America doing intellectually? At the very top of our nation’s political pyramid we have leaders who don’t read and can’t do basic math. What is needed, of course, is exactly the opposite. We need leaders who can think critically, read comprehensively, know history, speak and write eloquently, decide decisively and whose numbers make sense. Continue reading
Frederick Douglas ~ American
American history abounds with great orators whose eloquence roused the people and shaped events. Names like Patrick Henry, Daniel Webster, William Lloyd Garrison, Abraham Lincoln, William Jennings Bryan, Susan B. Anthony, and Martin Luther King come to mind.
The best of them spoke with passion because their words gushed forth from wellsprings of character or experience or righteous indignation—and in the case of the great 19th-century American abolitionist Frederick Douglass, all three. He could pierce the conscience of the most stubborn foe by what he said and how he said it. Continue reading