Many parents would like to teach their children the true meaning of Christmas, but too many people commandeer the religious festival for political ends while others create an obscenity called Black Friday. Back in 1959 the John Birch Society (JBS), an organization defending the United States against communism and the secularization of Christmas, blamed the…
Jews have lived in the United States since colonial times celebrating Chanukah along with their other holidays. In this article you’ll see how Chanukah has inspired one of America’s greatest leaders, General George Washington. On December 19, 1777 General Washington and his Continental Army arrived at Valley Forge. Many of the General’s…
What can you possibly give to someone who has everything? It’s sometimes a tough issue trying to find a gift to give this person or others for Christmas. Here’s an idea. Christmastime is the season of giving. A few years ago my cousin Joni donated money in my honor to the American School for the…
Christmastime is when children are on vacation, gifts are exchanged, and candy canes become ubiquitous. They are on gift packages, hung on Christmas trees, and handouts in December by teachers to their students for a job well done. Legend has it that candy canes originated in Germany as candy sticks. It is said that…
The Hunt for Xanadu recently received a 5 pops review from this blog. Elyse Salpeter’s second book in her Kelsey Porter Series, The Quest of the Empty Tomb, was also an exciting ride, but didn’t exactly live up to the high bar Salpeter’s first book established. In The Quest of the Empty Tomb, Salpeter brings back many…
History must have order and some symmetry of meaning so its students can process its content in an organized fashion. Consequently, history only records twelve princesses, a highly composite number, when in truth, there were thirteen of them. History also records those princesses going to sleep every night and waking up to find their slippers…
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has launched a course examining President Trump’s impact on democracy and the media. The course, “Trumpaganda: The War on Facts, Press and Democracy,” is an eight week class highlighting Donald Trump’s effective propaganda machine. What is propaganda? According to Webster’s Dictionary, “propaganda is a deliberate spread of information,…
Here in the United States we celebrate Thanksgiving the last Thursday in November. Initially it was a harvest festival. However, in 1863 President Lincoln made Thanksgiving a federal holiday. Today, families gather together and give thanks for the freedoms we often take for granted. Many other countries celebrate days of thanksgiving and a few…
About the Book Title: Love for Two Lifetimes Author: Martina Boone Genre: Coming of Age / Young Adult Two generations, two great loves, one devastating lie . . . When Izzy unexpectedly loses her mother in a car accident, her world shatters. Their relationship has always been so close that Izzy can’t imagine life without…
We’ve all heard of the mythical city of Xanadu appearing in literature and movies. It’s an exotic utopia first described by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, a nineteenth century English poet, in his 1816 poem, “Kubla Khan.” Author Elyse Salpeter has embraced the myth and expanded the concept of Xanadu to a higher plane in her first…