It really bothers me how so many individuals are so easily seduced into giving up their individuality. The movement to seperate our society between the 1% and the 99% income earners is the latest 'fad' that happens to have my attention lately. This is simply the latest effort to divide Americans into disparate groups so that others may take advantage of us (divide and conquer if you will). It is nothing new and this latest effort happens to have its roots in Marxist philosophy. For those of you in La Crosse that means (as Karl Marx famously articulated) that the wage earners are being encouraged to punish the wage payers. As Marx put it, the only way to true economic equality is for the mass of workers to rise up and seize the means of production from the owners (ie, factory workers kicking the owners out and taking control of their own production). I totally disagree with his beliefs and his followers today. Economic equality is impossible.

This is one of the best historical novels I have read in a long time. I must admit that I had never taken the time to learn many details about the Civil War even though I have always been interested in the topic. It seemed that every book I tried to read on the topic simply bored me in its style. Killing Lincoln, however, is written in a style similar to how Stephen Ambrose wrote 'Band of Brothers.' It is a day-to-day description of what was going on in the days leading up to the assassination of President Lincoln. There's a bit of flair mixed with a lot of facts that makes it a real pleasure to read and absorb the history of a critically important event in American history. I highly recommend this book and look forward to your comments about it. 

Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever

Natasha Edwards of Salon ezine laments the disparity in wealth between whites and minorities. Perhaps she would do better to look at WHY such disparities exist. Could it be because of life choices of these minorities? Did they have children before marriage and in their teen years for example? Did they get a good education, complete High school at a minimum? Have they ever spent time in jail for crimes committed?

Tom Sowell points out that blacks of Carribean descent have higher than average incomes. I wonder why Ms. Edwards ignores that? And why did she not mention that Asians, as a group, have higher incomes than whites? Again, I wonder if education and lifestyle choices might not be a factor. And one wonders, why attack this as a racism problem, when clearly other factors are at work?

I saw this on Facebook. This short video captures the essence of the dialogue between liberals and conservatives.