Famed Roman orator, the silver-tongued Cicero, once noted, "It is valuable to look to the words of our Founders, but it is more valuable to study the principles that inspired their words." In the present climate, winds are whipping in from the plains of plutocracy and eroding at an extraordinary pace the bedrock foundations of limited government upon which our Republic was founded. As Cicero witnessed the gradual replacement of his own Republic with an empire ruled by one autocrat after another distracting the masses with mere gimcracks of popular government, he turned to the words of his noble forbearers. We would do wisely to follow his example.
Last Updated on Wednesday, 07 July 2010 15:05 Written by Mary Binzel Black Wednesday, 07 July 2010 13:29
Before you think that I am attempting satire or humor, this is a serious attempt to make the reader understand how far the government schools have gone to prepare today's students to accept total government control. In mid-April, an e-mail from the principal issued the directive that no longer could my classroom have its customary recess but that time was to become a time for physical activity that included stations with directed activities with students rotating in 5 minute increments from station to station. No unstructured time was any longer permitted and all students were to be engaged in an activity at all times. The principal warned that she and the vice principal would be monitoring this time very closely and would be walking into the gym (where we had recess) during our new physical activity period to be sure we were adhering to this directive. A five day plan of the four stations was to be on the principal's desk at the end of that school day.
Beginning with the stands by local militia at Lexington Green and Concord Bridge, many thousands of courageous men risked everything they had in 1775 and early 1776 against the British Army.
Statistically, 100 percent of people in this world have had a mother. Men such as George Washington, Samuel Adams, and Thomas Jefferson all had motherly influences present in their lives that undoubtedly assisted them in becoming the great men they were. In addition to the constructive influence mothers share, they also contribute to society as a whole through childrearing.
Who was the “brilliant child of the wind and waves” who fired the inaugural volley at the Royal Navy’s pride by being the first to engage and capture an armed British warship, the Edward, during our War for Independence? Not sure? Here are a few hints: It was the same captain who fought the last naval skirmish of that long and bitter struggle for freedom, who held the record for the fastest American warship during the Revolution, and who was instrumental in the establishment of a permanent, separate American Navy.
Most people would agree that state of public education is deplorable but few would concur on the reasons that it is such. Experts in the field of education continue to promote new ideas to improve education but no experiments have brought about improvement. Politicians at the state and federal levels now legislate education policy because they have forgotten it is taxpayers’ money not theirs that finances schools. Permit this teacher of thirty-five years to give her observations on the state of education as she prepares to retire at the end of the present school year.
Because the United States is a democracy, the majority of the people decide how our Government will be organized and run....” (Emphasis in original, see 1928 U.S. Army Manual for contrast)