God Help America

I don't know that I would consider that a win?

Instead of frat-house parties and summer break, you learn personal responsibility and how to work as a team. I proudly carry what the military has taught me into my everyday life!

I commend you for working with veterans.

As for me, I don't think I could live with myself if I had never served. My brother who served before me and did two tours in Vietnam died at age 43 because of Agent Orange. And I can find the names of my childhood friends on the Vietnam Wall as well.

For GOD and Country
Proud U.S. Navy Seabee Veteran
1968-1974

 

Tom, You might be interested in knowing that names of soldiers like your brother, who died later of Agent Orange or other war related illnesses, can be added to the Vietnam Veteran's Wall in Washington DC. I just learned this and plan to start the process at our local VA's office. I would also like to have a flag flown in my husband's honor over the White House. I think they honor a different veteran every day. I wish I had known that could be done before he died.

 

Janet, I saw that book on Amazon while searching for Rick Atkinson’s WWII trilogy. Not a real big military historian but do enjoy highly rated books. I’ll add it to my already lengthy to read list. If you are into military history, I highly recommend Facing the Mountain by Daniel Jones Brown ( author of The Boys in the Boat). It is about the 442nd during WWII. I also recommend any of the books on Blacks that served in WWII by Kareem Abdul Jabbar. You probably surprised he has a degree in history from University of Houston to go with the NCAA National basketball championship.

HH, although I never wanted to attend Northwestern University, I did want to take just one course if possible taught by Ray A Billington. He was the author of my textbook on the history of westward expansion in the United States. It was one of my favorite courses with a great professor. Don’t practice psychiatry without a license.

John, I take it that your answer to my offer is no.

Now on to the Burgundian empire of NW Europe during the Medieval period. Started the book a year ago and I really want to finish it. Deus volte.

 

Dave, My son was not admitted to Northwestern University although he was qualified. Thinking it was probably due to his grandfather's political beliefs and connection to Professor Arthur Butz who wrote The Hoax of the 20th Century. Although I am not a proponent of revisionist history, it does give a different view of antisemitism.

 

Janet, there is revisionist history wherein more first person documents are discovered or documents already in possession are re-examined. Case in point that is interesting is contained in a book I am currently reading on the Battle of Crecy. Essentially the English army (c. 1343) was on the move as their stores were being rapidly used and the French army basically had them trapped. Although there are not many first person sources available, the author and his research assistant reviewed the stores list learning what was consumed on what day and where because it was kept by the English king’s personal chef. That has filled in a lot of blanks.

The other revisionist history is basically whitewashing history as Professor Butz’ book clearly is an example. Another example on the education front is in response to the 1619 Project with the thesis that racism permeates our history. Obviously this is a university level course but Hillsdale College put together what they call the 1776 project for elementary and high school. This curriculum has not been peer viewed and having reviewed a couple of lessons, it should not be in schools at all. I have taken a couple of online courses from Hillsdale and the professors are snooze worthily boring, their research is terribly out of date and some individuals assembling this are out and out frauds. David Barton is one of them as he claims to have letters and other first person material but refuses to allow noted scholars authenticate them. That is a monstrous red flag for me and should not be allowed and yet is in the curriculum.

I’ll get off my soapbox now thanks for reading.

 

I was never in a frat so no parties there. As a history major I had a ton of outside reading to do. My parents told me I would appreciate my college education more if I paid for it. Consequently I worked for a masonry contractor, stock boy in a supermarket, both a metal stamping factory and a furniture assembly factory, but the summer job I really liked and for the most part paid for my degree was as an apprentice butcher for a large supermarket chain. I was fortunate enough to learn skills that helped my cooking, purchase meat that i could take back to school (after trips home for holidays or other reasons) and best of all, I could dry age for 90 days my steaks. Your average high end steak house served steaks aged somewhere between 15-45 days. Mine made me very popular at cook outs at school. This real fyi, steaks you purchase at Safeway or Fry’s are wet aged for 30 days more or less. Big difference between dry and wet aging.

 

Dave, I think we will have ample opportunity to interact over the next two weeks. See you tomorrow at the Finance Committee meeting. John Fast

 

Tom, There are a number of Seabees in the car club. John

 

My sister went to Hillsdale. Small world.

 

See you in the future.

 

Dave, I am quite impressed with your pursuit of history. Although I have limited interest, I am always fascinated by folks who immerse themselves in a topic. On another note, my roommate in college was one of many plaintiffs in the Agent Orange lawsuit. I drove him to NYC for his deposition in 1974.

 

look at you two getting along. why can't you be nice to everyone?

 

As a retired educator, I am opposed to curriculum being based on any political beliefs but realize that is difficult to do with history. The winners write the history.

 

I have a friend whose two daughters graduated from Hillsdale. The college doesn't take any government funding because they don't want the strings attached to it.

 

And that's exactly why there should not be a federal Department of Education!

It's not one of their enumerated powers (just like abortion wasn't) and it belongs back with the States.

Just my opinion.

 

Unfortunately, Tom, there are so many federal mandates for education that states can't fund them all. I worked mostly with IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) which is the second most litigated federal law. Most lawsuits favored the parents who sued the schools for not providing a free and appropriate education. There are many others such as Title IX, ADA, etc.

 

Well...as far as know, the Fed's get thier money from our tax dollars?

Let the States stop sending them our school tax dollars and spend them ourselves?

How did the schools survive before Jimmy Carter established the DoE?

Just ask'n

 

P.S. Without the federal government involved, you don't receive those federal mandates!

 

Get it right please. “We pledge to you that we will root out the communists, Marxists, fascists and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country". There are many times I don't care for his way of speaking, however much like the Cuomo's it's New York vernacular. you understand what he meant, it's the way he said it you don't like it. Kind of like "so stuff that thought in your thigh folds if they are not hanging low", or "whiney little ass". Those statements make you sound just like Trump. South Side Chicago/New York City. Yet Democrats/Liberals think this call for violence is just fine. It always amazes me that someone with your level of education and intelligence, someone who is as well read as you are, someone who worked so hard doing menial jobs to put himself through college uses such crass language. Just for the record you do NOT want anyone to call you a coward ever again. You said you had a gun pointed at you 5 times in Chicago. "For the record I have had a gun pointed at me five times less than three feet away in a Chicago neighborhood that would make you piss in your pants". "I don’t like being called a coward and don’t do it again". Trigger point. Were you a cop or did you just make it a habit to go to undesirable neighborhoods? I worked at Michigan and Jackson for many years and even I knew where it was safe and where not to go.

 

HH, I worked in Englewood at a legal aid office 63rd and Halsted, where we didn’t have any windows other than the front door which was bulletproof glass and you had to be buzzed in. I travelled there on the L and had to walk from the L to the office. I also spent time at the 47th and King drive office in addition to Pilsner office at 18th and Blue Island. This was 1973-75. Nice neighborhoods with the Blackstone Rangers later the Black P Nation, Latin Kings, Latin Eagles probably more offshoots from this bunch of upstanding citizens. Guess my job made it a habit.