Category — For The Record

I had an interesting conversation today with two friends I’ve made over the past 18 months. One of them is from Ukraine and the other from Russia. First, some background: I’ve been brushing up on my Russian for the past 18 months or so, and was fortunate enough to make the acquaintance of these two men early on. They are both extremely gracious and patient with my butchering of their language, and we’ve been able to have many an interesting conversation.   Read the rest of this entry »

The president told New Yorker interviewer David Remnick that Marijuana is no worse than alcohol or cigarettes. Reportedly, Obama also speculated that legalizing “hard” drugs, including cocaine and meth might ultimately be a matter of creating a “negotiated” or “calibrated” dose for safer use. Such sentiments uttered by the president are guaranteed to give every parent heartburn. Let’s hope these musings are just a consequence of going off the teleprompter.   Read the rest of this entry »

A Crucible Moment: College Learning & Democracy’s Future is a report produced by the National Task Force on Civic Learning and Democratic. Engagement. The Task force was appointed and funded by the Department of Education, and the White House endorsed the subsequent report. It carries forward Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign vow to “transform” the nation, and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan’s 2013 pledge to do the same to education.   Read the rest of this entry »

Sometimes you just stumble upon things that jump out at you. This blogger was looking for a reference to the president's recent interview with Bill O'Reilly in which he said there was "not even a smidgen of corruption" in the IRS. The results of this search were surprising.   Read the rest of this entry »

The news of Shirley Temple Black’s death brought back some memories. This blogger was in Eastern Europe in 1990 on a trip sponsored by the National Conference of Editorial Writers. Our itinerary included Prague, Czechoslovakia, and a meeting with American Ambassador Shirley Temple Black.   Read the rest of this entry »

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) recently reported that Obamacare is officially a job killer – to the tune of 2.5 million jobs over the next decade. To be fair, these aren’t actually jobs that people will lose. Rather, it will be people choosing to work fewer hours or not to work at all because they can now get insurance through Obamacare, rather than their employer – and it’ll be subsidized.   Read the rest of this entry »

It’s a new year and that’s a good thing since the old one was getting a little stale. Even the snow and frigid temperatures in late December couldn't keep 2013 fresh. So, let’s look ahead. Here are some of my predictions for 2014. Will any of them come true? Well, time will tell.   Read the rest of this entry »

It turns out it is quite difficult to sail through ice. This, it seems, is one of the many lessons that can be learned from the current predicament of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, a scientific expedition whose purpose was to …

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Never mind that the FTC lacks authority over non-profits. The small-time tyrants at FTC don’t need to understand progressive ideology to follow their leader. They just do what comes naturally. This time the target is a 100+ year organization dedicated to the promotion of piano playing.   Read the rest of this entry »

Mang's second book is a delightful break from the dreary news of the day. Sometimes it's better just to laugh.   Read the rest of this entry »