In the last chapter, I commented on the transfer of Armored Infantry detachments from the 11th Armored Division to units located back home while training for the assault landing on the Japanese southern island of Kyushu, then scheduled for the month of November, 1945. Part of the Army of Occupation located in Austria, we were [...]

The following is adapted from a speech delivered in Atlanta, Georgia, on October 28, 2011, at a conference on “Markets, Government, and the Common Good,” sponsored by Hillsdale College’s Center for the Study of Monetary Systems and Free Enterprise. THE CASE FOR the Department of Education could rest on one or more of three legs: [...]

It should be evident by now, after 3 years in office, that President Obama is giving a whole new meaning to the phrase “Leading from Behind.” His passivity and lack of leadership on both domestic and international affairs is unmatched by any of his predecessors going back to the days of Jimmy Carter’s failed presidency [...]

When the Spanish explorers first began to trek across North America about 500 years ago, they discovered “dragons,” dubbing these giant toothy reptiles, “El Lagarto,” or “the lizard.” Over the centuries, English-speaking people corrupted the Spanish phrase into “alligator.” For 400 years, many settlers considered them vermin worthy only of eradication to protect humans and [...]

This story begins on one day in the year 1970, when my uncle, John Brown, found some captivating information about his great, great, great, great grandfather. Through countless hours of research and much exploring around the state of North Carolina, John finally was able to put most of the story together. This story contains the [...]

In 1940, the most famous address in America was 79 Wistful Vista–the fictional home of Fibber McGee and Molly, who, for 24 years, would amuse radio listeners with their nonsensical banter and exploits. Most broadcast experts credit the program with being the true prototype for today’s sitcoms. Fibber played the blowhard, sometimes hare-brained husband to [...]

Ongoing political turmoil in North Africa and the Middle East, where the bulk of the world’s exportable oil resides, highlights the impact of uncertainty on world oil prices. Oil prices often spike out of control during threatened or actual supply interruptions that occur as a result of war or terrorism or other politically destabilizing events. [...]

Igor Stravinsky is said to be the greatest composer of the early twentieth century. He also is thought to have had the greatest influence on musical development during this time. Why is it then that his music has never gained the level of acceptance and popularity as that of the great composers of the nineteenth [...]