In 1927 a group of intellectuals set sail on an ocean liner for Europe and Asia. The overall objective of their trip was to gather information about the great Bolshevik experiment in Russia. Two of these men were Stuart Chase and f.J. Schlink, the founders of Consumer Reports magazine. Another was a peace activist named…

Between the fall of the Roman Empire in the fifth century A.D. and the formation of "country states" by the beginning of the crusades some five-hundred plus years later, an interesting symbol began dotting the landscape of Europe: the castle. As an amateur admirer of architecture, and the designer of my own home, I have…

To those only slightly familiar with the history of revolutions in the world, the word itself, ‘revolution,’ has a positive connotation.  Most Americans are drawn back to the dawn of our country with fond admiration and respect; as it should be. Despite the fact that my team mate and co-author Orrin Woodward and I entitled…

After agonizingly hot summer days spent in argument and compromise, the nearly impossible happened. Delegates from the various states, with different interests, backgrounds, religions, opinions, and constituencies, had agreed on a framework of government.  Ratification by each state's legislature was still necessary, and would be no easy task, but the very fact that the Constitution…

Apparently the U.S. government thinks we are stupid.  They continue to behave irresponsibly financially, while trying to hide what they do behind rhetoric and velvet talk about inflation and economic indexes, etc.  The day of reckoning is approaching. It's not very hard to understand, really.  Think about your own finances.  How long could you get…

I had heard from friends that they were tearing down the old AC Spark Plug facility, affectionately known as “The Highway.”  It had been over eight years since I’d even driven past the place.  Then one day while in Michigan my oldest son and I were on an errand and happened to drive right down…

In the United States we are proud of our freedom.  We salute our flag to honor those who have sacrificed to win it for us.  We say a pledge to a flag which stands for the ideals upon which our nation was founded.  We teach our children that they live in a free country and…

$700 Billion is a lot of macaroni!  That's how much our all-knowing government just HAD to bequeth to the insurance and mortgage entities that had gotten themselves into trouble by taking just a little too much advantage of government-created boom cycles.  It was an emergency, if you remember.  The whole world would have collapsed if…

They rise up out of the sand and butcher someone in the name of some crazy god.  Religious zealotry is explained by its adherents as loyalty and faith and duty.  Anyone believing anything else is proclaimed an "infidel."  It is an old story, one that grinds us down and defies explanation, demonstrating "man's inhumanity to…

Being a student of history has its advantages and disadvantages.  In a way, when things happen in current event that mirror events of the past, the student of history sees patterns and repetitions that he feels should be obvious to others.  This pattern of repeating history can lead to either pessimism or optimism. For instance,…