If you know David Horowitz, you know he is no fan of Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama. It will also come as no surprise to you that in Big Agenda: President's Trump Plan to Save America, he touts President Donald Trump, and holds him out as a beacon of hope to right much that is awry in the United States. To be clear, Horowitz is not writing as Trump's mouthpiece. Rather, he is writing as one who hopes Trump will listen and will fulfill the promises that he made during his campaign.
Horowitz paints a bleak picture of the impact that Obama's administration had on the U.S. He reminds us that, in spite of the heroic efforts by the mainstream media to get Clinton elected, the American people, at least enough of them in key states, showed that they were fed up with the direction Obama and Clinton wanted to take our country and they were ready for someone to take our country back.
Just when you think Horowitz is hard on the Democrats, he jumps onto the Republicans. This is really the core of Horowitz's argument. Republicans need to show that they are sick of Democrats setting the agenda, show some fortitude, and bring the fight to the Democrats. During the Obama administration, the Republicans capitulated and played nice, failing to stop his liberal agenda, even when they had a majority in the legislature. And do Democrats care? As we can see now, no. Capitulation by the Republicans under Obama is met with obstructionism by the Democrats under Trump.
I don't mean to make Horowitz sound like nothing more than a loudmouth. He has substantive chapters and specific talking points that Trump and Republicans in the legislature should consider. Don't let Democrats have the upper hand on race. How about pointing out that under Obama, the economic status of black Americans declined? How about pointing out that under half a century or more of black leadership in some of our largest cities, those cities have been crumbling? How about pointing out ways, as Trump did during the campaign, that a Republican agenda produces more hope and change for minorities and the poor than Obama ever could?
Don't let Democrats continue to drive a liberal agenda in universities and local schools around the country. Don't let them limit school choice, barring poor Americans in failing school districts from educational success. Republicans control the federal legislature and most state legislatures around the country. How about they systematically reverse the exclusion of conservative ideas from campuses? How about they expand school choice so more kids will have opportunities to learn?
Democrats have a greater tendency to march in lockstep than Republicans. I don't recall Democratic congressmen blocking Obama's agenda during his first 100 days in office. Yet some Republicans are doing their best to oppose everything Trump proposes. Republicans need to bring the fight to the Democrats, not to each other. Horowitz's agenda should be read by Trump's aids and put into practice. Republicans have the White House and both houses of congress (and soon, probably, a conservative majority on the Supreme Court). Now DON'T SQUANDER THIS OPPORTUNITY!
Friday, April 7, 2017
Thursday, April 6, 2017
Unwanted Advances, by Laura Kipnis
If you follow college news, you might think that there is a rape epidemic on American college campuses. Large gangs of men, mostly athletes and frat boys, are stalking young women, willfully forcing them to have sex with them. Northwestern University professor Laura Kipnis is no fan of rape, but in her book Unwanted Advances: Sexual Paranoia Comes to Campus she exposes the anti-feminist, police-state attitudes and tactics that reveal what she sees as backwards progress for feminism and academic freedom.
Kipnis was drawn into this issue when a philosophy professor on her campus came under Title IX investigation due to an allegedly inappropriate relationship with an undergraduate student. Note that the allegations surrounded a night on the town; the pair did not have sex. Kipnis responded with an article for the Chronicle of Higher Education in which she argued that adult students should be treated like adults. She subsequently came under a new Title IX investigation because she offended some of the women alluded to in the article. Most of the book details the case against the philosophy professor and Kipnis's subsequent case. It left me in disbelief that a campus bureaucracy could be so . . . for lack of a better word, stupid!
She writes, "rampant accusation is the new norm on today's campus; the place is a secret cornucopia of accusation, especially when it comes to sex." Kipnis is especially offended by the anti-feminist attitudes behind campus sex codes and the ineffectiveness in preventing violence against women. "Policies and codes that bolster traditional femininity . . . are the last thing in the world that's going to reduce sexual assault." Title IX is being used by women to "remedy sexual ambivalences or awkward sexual experiences, and to adjudicate relationship disputes post-breakup."
Since Kipnis's offense was writing an essay, her case was a bit different from others. But she studied the philosopher's case extensively. After the essay was published, she became an outlet for people all over the country who sent her stories of their own Title IX investigations. In the course of these interactions, she became an expert on Title IX procedures--or the lack of them--and in the many ways Title IX is abused. The process is heavily weighted against the accusee. "Typically the accusee doesn't know the precise charges, doesn't know what the evidence is, and can't confront witnesses." Accusations are encouraged for encounters that happened months before, and that, at the time, seemed to be consensual. Kipnis states that Title IX has created "an accusation machinery so vast and indiscriminate that it becomes a magnet for neurotic schemes, emotional knife play, and monstrously self-exonerating agendas."
She never denies the reality of rape, but bemoans a system in which virtually any sexual act can be considered rape. The definition of rape, under Title IX, has become broader and broader. A Title IX case doesn't even have to include physical contact. It could include gestures, words, or, as in her case, an essay. And universities are often happy to settle with the accusers. In a passage that is sure to make her even less popular among Title IX activists, she writes, "the premise that accusers don't lie turns out to be mythical. By sentimentalizing women in such preposterous ways, aren't Title IX officials setting schools up as cash cows for some of our more creatively inclined women students?" I've seen this happen at my own alma mater, which has been writing some big checks and, as a result, attracting lawyers like ants to honey.
In another more extended discussion that will make Title IX activists apoplectic, she addresses drinking by college students. College women want to show their equality with men by drinking like them and partying with them. She tells stories of frat parties (that make me want to be sure my kids never get near one) that inevitably lead to, in fact are designed to lead to, women passed out drunk and readily available for sex. But "anyone who suggests that women should drink less to avoid sexual assault will be 'disemboweled upon arrival into the gladiator arena of public discourse.'" Title IX training programs steer clear of addressing this important element of women's safety. She again reflects on the anti-feminist attitudes that Title IX espouses, which says that "Women don't drink; men get them drunk. Women don't have sex; sex is done to them." She argues, "This isn't feminism, it's a return to the most traditional conceptions of female sexuality."
Don't misunderstand. In case you haven't figured it out, Kipnis is no male chauvinist right-winger. She's a liberal feminist whose sexual morals are far from Puritanical. ("I don't have anything against escapism and irresponsibility, and you certainly won't hear me arguing against drunken hookups. 'F--- all the guys you want' would be my motto. Just don't f--- the ones you don't want . . .") What Kipnis does have something against is kangaroo courts, people being accused of things and not being permitted to defend themselves, accusees suffering consequences without even an opportunity to respond to accusations, the rights of some people being sacrificed for an illusory, deceitful goal of women's safety.
Unwanted Advances should be required reading for any faculty member or administrator who is responsible for Title IX implementation. Of course we want students on campus to be safe, and we want a means for them to seek justice if they are victims of a crime. But before college administrations double down on Title IX, as my alma mater has done, they should take Kipnis's perspective and concerns into consideration.
Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!
Kipnis was drawn into this issue when a philosophy professor on her campus came under Title IX investigation due to an allegedly inappropriate relationship with an undergraduate student. Note that the allegations surrounded a night on the town; the pair did not have sex. Kipnis responded with an article for the Chronicle of Higher Education in which she argued that adult students should be treated like adults. She subsequently came under a new Title IX investigation because she offended some of the women alluded to in the article. Most of the book details the case against the philosophy professor and Kipnis's subsequent case. It left me in disbelief that a campus bureaucracy could be so . . . for lack of a better word, stupid!
She writes, "rampant accusation is the new norm on today's campus; the place is a secret cornucopia of accusation, especially when it comes to sex." Kipnis is especially offended by the anti-feminist attitudes behind campus sex codes and the ineffectiveness in preventing violence against women. "Policies and codes that bolster traditional femininity . . . are the last thing in the world that's going to reduce sexual assault." Title IX is being used by women to "remedy sexual ambivalences or awkward sexual experiences, and to adjudicate relationship disputes post-breakup."
Since Kipnis's offense was writing an essay, her case was a bit different from others. But she studied the philosopher's case extensively. After the essay was published, she became an outlet for people all over the country who sent her stories of their own Title IX investigations. In the course of these interactions, she became an expert on Title IX procedures--or the lack of them--and in the many ways Title IX is abused. The process is heavily weighted against the accusee. "Typically the accusee doesn't know the precise charges, doesn't know what the evidence is, and can't confront witnesses." Accusations are encouraged for encounters that happened months before, and that, at the time, seemed to be consensual. Kipnis states that Title IX has created "an accusation machinery so vast and indiscriminate that it becomes a magnet for neurotic schemes, emotional knife play, and monstrously self-exonerating agendas."
She never denies the reality of rape, but bemoans a system in which virtually any sexual act can be considered rape. The definition of rape, under Title IX, has become broader and broader. A Title IX case doesn't even have to include physical contact. It could include gestures, words, or, as in her case, an essay. And universities are often happy to settle with the accusers. In a passage that is sure to make her even less popular among Title IX activists, she writes, "the premise that accusers don't lie turns out to be mythical. By sentimentalizing women in such preposterous ways, aren't Title IX officials setting schools up as cash cows for some of our more creatively inclined women students?" I've seen this happen at my own alma mater, which has been writing some big checks and, as a result, attracting lawyers like ants to honey.
In another more extended discussion that will make Title IX activists apoplectic, she addresses drinking by college students. College women want to show their equality with men by drinking like them and partying with them. She tells stories of frat parties (that make me want to be sure my kids never get near one) that inevitably lead to, in fact are designed to lead to, women passed out drunk and readily available for sex. But "anyone who suggests that women should drink less to avoid sexual assault will be 'disemboweled upon arrival into the gladiator arena of public discourse.'" Title IX training programs steer clear of addressing this important element of women's safety. She again reflects on the anti-feminist attitudes that Title IX espouses, which says that "Women don't drink; men get them drunk. Women don't have sex; sex is done to them." She argues, "This isn't feminism, it's a return to the most traditional conceptions of female sexuality."
Don't misunderstand. In case you haven't figured it out, Kipnis is no male chauvinist right-winger. She's a liberal feminist whose sexual morals are far from Puritanical. ("I don't have anything against escapism and irresponsibility, and you certainly won't hear me arguing against drunken hookups. 'F--- all the guys you want' would be my motto. Just don't f--- the ones you don't want . . .") What Kipnis does have something against is kangaroo courts, people being accused of things and not being permitted to defend themselves, accusees suffering consequences without even an opportunity to respond to accusations, the rights of some people being sacrificed for an illusory, deceitful goal of women's safety.
Unwanted Advances should be required reading for any faculty member or administrator who is responsible for Title IX implementation. Of course we want students on campus to be safe, and we want a means for them to seek justice if they are victims of a crime. But before college administrations double down on Title IX, as my alma mater has done, they should take Kipnis's perspective and concerns into consideration.
Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!
Wednesday, April 5, 2017
How to Lose a Marathon, by Joel Cohen
Joel Cohen was an out of shape, lazy guy who got winded climbing the stairs. In How to Lose a Marathon: A Starter's Guide to Finishing in 26.2 Chapters, he tells the story of becoming an out of shape, lazy guy who successfully finished a marathon. Cohen, a writer for The Simpsons, fills every chapter with lots of laughs, but he actually gives a pretty decent guide to training for and running a marathon.
I relate to him on so many levels. He's a guy who couldn't imagine getting up at five something to run. ("Wait there's actually a 5 in the morning?") He loves his junk food. He doesn't have much patience for pretentious runners and their pretentious gear. He'd rather run alone. Knowing how hard it would be to find "the perfect match in pace, distance, and disposition," he (like me) chose to "run on my own, lonely and ignorant."
He says he wrote this book because he couldn't find any books for the "beginner grinder runner." I'm pretty sure if he'd spent ten minutes at Amazon.com he would have found a few dozen. Nevertheless, Cohen's book is unique. It's hilarious to read, yet provides actual informative content. Short of giving a detailed daily running plan and meal plan, Cohen's book is a great starting point for training for a marathon.
The humor is solid and wide-spread. It's even clean; I wouldn't have problem with kids reading it. Some pages had as many as three laugh-out-loud lines. Some just had a chuckle or two. On average, there were about two chuckles or one laugh-out-loud per page. But the important measure is the one I use for any running book I read: Does How to Lose a Marathon inspire me to get out and run? Yes, it does. Let's go!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!
I relate to him on so many levels. He's a guy who couldn't imagine getting up at five something to run. ("Wait there's actually a 5 in the morning?") He loves his junk food. He doesn't have much patience for pretentious runners and their pretentious gear. He'd rather run alone. Knowing how hard it would be to find "the perfect match in pace, distance, and disposition," he (like me) chose to "run on my own, lonely and ignorant."
He says he wrote this book because he couldn't find any books for the "beginner grinder runner." I'm pretty sure if he'd spent ten minutes at Amazon.com he would have found a few dozen. Nevertheless, Cohen's book is unique. It's hilarious to read, yet provides actual informative content. Short of giving a detailed daily running plan and meal plan, Cohen's book is a great starting point for training for a marathon.
The humor is solid and wide-spread. It's even clean; I wouldn't have problem with kids reading it. Some pages had as many as three laugh-out-loud lines. Some just had a chuckle or two. On average, there were about two chuckles or one laugh-out-loud per page. But the important measure is the one I use for any running book I read: Does How to Lose a Marathon inspire me to get out and run? Yes, it does. Let's go!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!
Tuesday, April 4, 2017
The Energy Bus, by Jon Gordon
A coworker of mine asked me the other day if I had read Jon Gordon's The Energy Bus: 10 Rules to Fuel Your Life, Work, and Team with Positive Energy. I had never heard of it. Turns out my local public library has the audio book, so on his recommendation, I decided to check it out.
Gordon tells the story of a businessman whose career is on the ropes. His marriage is unhappy, and he has run out of fixes. His car is out of commission for a couple weeks, so he has to take the bus to work. The bus driver, Joy, recognizes his despair and, along with the other passengers, introduces him to their 10 rules.
Gordon's main point is that we should have a positive attitude and convey that to the people around us. Managers set the tone for people who work under them, and should insist that no one stay "on the bus" if they won't buy into the positivity. As Gordon tells the story, the reluctant bus rider implements changes at his workplace with outstanding results.
The Energy Bus is an overly simplistic business fable, just as you would expect from this sort of book. But the broad points are important and are presented clearly and effectively. Attitude is so important, and the tone set by a manager or director is inevitably passed to the team. "Energy vampires" impact team productivity and unity. Gordon is so positive and encouraging it's contagious. The Energy Bus can give you a boost as you think about being more positive at work, working with more purpose and enjoyment, and passing those attitudes along to your coworkers.
Gordon tells the story of a businessman whose career is on the ropes. His marriage is unhappy, and he has run out of fixes. His car is out of commission for a couple weeks, so he has to take the bus to work. The bus driver, Joy, recognizes his despair and, along with the other passengers, introduces him to their 10 rules.
Gordon's main point is that we should have a positive attitude and convey that to the people around us. Managers set the tone for people who work under them, and should insist that no one stay "on the bus" if they won't buy into the positivity. As Gordon tells the story, the reluctant bus rider implements changes at his workplace with outstanding results.
The Energy Bus is an overly simplistic business fable, just as you would expect from this sort of book. But the broad points are important and are presented clearly and effectively. Attitude is so important, and the tone set by a manager or director is inevitably passed to the team. "Energy vampires" impact team productivity and unity. Gordon is so positive and encouraging it's contagious. The Energy Bus can give you a boost as you think about being more positive at work, working with more purpose and enjoyment, and passing those attitudes along to your coworkers.
Monday, April 3, 2017
30 Days a Black Man, by Bill Steigerwald
In 1948, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Ray Sprigle went undercover. He pretended to be black and traveled through the South, in order to get a first-hand look at life under Jim Crow. His serialized reporting made a splash, exposing readers in the North to the horrors and injustices of Jim Crow. Bill Steigerwald revisits Sprigle's audacious project in 30 Days a Black Man: The Forgotten Story That Exposed the Jim Crow South
In a very short time, even with the knowledge that he could go home to his white family in Pittsburgh at any time, he embraced his temporary identity as a black man. It didn't take him long start feeling alienation from whites and hatred for the South. "He had just taken his first steps on pure Jim Crow soil. But already he found himself feeling contempt for the white race and starting to think like a black man." The longer he stayed in the South, and the more he saw of Jim Crow in action, the more he became "used to thinking of himself as black--and resenting the white race."
As an outsider, "the many absurdities--idiocies might be a better word" of Jim Crow were glaring to him. White people wouldn't eat or drink after a black person, even after the dishes were washed. Yet who prepared all the food? Black people. They couldn't sit next to a black person on the bus. Yet black dentists and doctors treated white patients. White parents would not allow their children to play with black children. Yet many white children were raised by black domestics.
Sprigle acknowledged that racism was alive and well in all parts of the country. But Jim Crow was entirely difference; it's "the important difference between de jure and de facto segregation. . . . In short, discrimination against the Negro in the North is usually in defiance of the law. In the South it is enforced and maintained by the law."
Sprigle's series of stories sparked a national conversation, including commendations and rebuttals from North and South. He was way ahead of his time, maybe too much so. Steigerwald writes, "There's no evidence Sprigle's series dramatically changed history or radically influenced the people who where shaping it in 1948." But his exposure of the sick and dying system of Jim Crow, "he'll go down in history as the first journalist--white or black--to strike a serious blow against segregation in the mainstream media."
Steigerwald's account is readable and enjoyable, placing Sprigle's project in historical context and giving him well-deserved credit for his work. 30 Days a Black Man is not a comprehensive history of the Jim Crow South in the post-World-War-2 era, but Steigerwald's account of Sprigle's experiences give us a unique perspective on a period of history many would like to forget.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!
In a very short time, even with the knowledge that he could go home to his white family in Pittsburgh at any time, he embraced his temporary identity as a black man. It didn't take him long start feeling alienation from whites and hatred for the South. "He had just taken his first steps on pure Jim Crow soil. But already he found himself feeling contempt for the white race and starting to think like a black man." The longer he stayed in the South, and the more he saw of Jim Crow in action, the more he became "used to thinking of himself as black--and resenting the white race."
As an outsider, "the many absurdities--idiocies might be a better word" of Jim Crow were glaring to him. White people wouldn't eat or drink after a black person, even after the dishes were washed. Yet who prepared all the food? Black people. They couldn't sit next to a black person on the bus. Yet black dentists and doctors treated white patients. White parents would not allow their children to play with black children. Yet many white children were raised by black domestics.
Sprigle acknowledged that racism was alive and well in all parts of the country. But Jim Crow was entirely difference; it's "the important difference between de jure and de facto segregation. . . . In short, discrimination against the Negro in the North is usually in defiance of the law. In the South it is enforced and maintained by the law."
Sprigle's series of stories sparked a national conversation, including commendations and rebuttals from North and South. He was way ahead of his time, maybe too much so. Steigerwald writes, "There's no evidence Sprigle's series dramatically changed history or radically influenced the people who where shaping it in 1948." But his exposure of the sick and dying system of Jim Crow, "he'll go down in history as the first journalist--white or black--to strike a serious blow against segregation in the mainstream media."
Steigerwald's account is readable and enjoyable, placing Sprigle's project in historical context and giving him well-deserved credit for his work. 30 Days a Black Man is not a comprehensive history of the Jim Crow South in the post-World-War-2 era, but Steigerwald's account of Sprigle's experiences give us a unique perspective on a period of history many would like to forget.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!
Sunday, April 2, 2017
I Love You with All My Butt, by Martin Bruckner
Here's a sure-fire hit: take the super-cute things little kids say, illustrate them imaginatively and colorfully, and viola, you have a fun book that will make your kids laugh out loud. I say this from experience, because I heard my son laughing himself silly, and when I came to investigate he was flipping through Martin Bruckner's I Love You with All My Butt: An Illustrated Book of Big Thoughts from Little Kids.
Bruckner started with his own kids' funny quotes, then solicited others. They said cute things like this:
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!
I would be remiss not to include some examples:
Bruckner started with his own kids' funny quotes, then solicited others. They said cute things like this:
"Volcanoes are the earth's butt. That's how the earth gets the gas out!"Now imagine how you might illustrate the above. Even better, pick up I Love You with All My Butt! and see Bruckner's illustrations. I guarantee you'll get some smiles out of it, and, if you're anything like my son, some belly laughs, too.
"I'm sorry. Will you please respect my apology?"
"If you see a snake in a fruit tree, don't believe him!"
"I need a tissue to wipe my feelings."
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!
I would be remiss not to include some examples:
Saturday, April 1, 2017
Lunarbaboon, by Christopher Grady
Schoolteacher and dad Christopher Grady writes poignant and hilarious cartoons about life as a parent. He has collected some of the best in Lunarbaboon: The Daily Life of Parenthood. If you're a dad, you will totally relate to his everyday dad stories.Like many dads, Grady sometimes gets annoyed with his family. But those moments are quickly and regularly outweighed by the delight he enjoys by simply being together. I know I have been there.
For a young guy (Grady is in his 30s), he conveys a high degree of angst at seeing his family time fly by. Kids grow up fast, and those memories fade. He reminds us to cherish every day and experience life together with relish.
Check out Grady's cartoons, and you might see yourself, your dad, and your family here. His cartoons are funny and moving at the same time.
More cartoons at http://www.lunarbaboon.com/
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| PSA for parents: kids are listening to everything. And they remember. |
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!
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