The Cowardly 15 Return

By Gordon Taylor - Managing Editor

What Has Happened to the Royal Marines?

It is with a heavy heart that I write this article, as I know that surely the Royal Marines are better men then this. I must preface my words by saying I have seen the face of the enemy, it was different then our current enemy, but the enemy none the less. I was scared, I was terrified in fact, but I was well trained and that training kicked in when it was supposed to.

I was posted to England after my southeast Asia vacation and I trained with the British. They are well trained, honorable men and I would fight with them by my side any day. That was then, and this is now and from what I have seen in the past 15 days, I must completely reassess that statement.

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Arkansans Won’t Defer to the Other 49 and D.C on Presidential Preference

By Mike Devine - Legal/Contributing Editor

One of the great Southern columnists this week seeks to save the Electoral College from the Arkansas House of Representatives:

"How strange: Legislators here in Arkansas, or at least those in this state's House of Representatives, have just voted for a bill that would cast the state's six electoral votes for whichever presidential candidate won the nation's popular vote. That's right: This state's delegates to the Electoral College would no longer follow the wishes of Arkansas voters. Instead, they'd go with whichever candidate got the most popular votes nationwide."

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What An American Looks Like

By Rose Pendendko

There I was, standing in the elevator with nothing more on my mind thanwhether I should have a carne asada or chicken quesadilla for lunch, when the 5th floor door slid open. Two Asian suits sauntered in with their Blackberrys and Bluetooth earwigs. I briefly wondered, between yawns, if Daiwa Securities had a branch office in our building, but then caught the tail end of their banter about which stocks were moving-all in perfectly manicured English. On their way out of the elevator, I followed closely, eavesdropping for a stock tip. Their conversation slid smoothly to Speaker Pelosi's Syrian blunder, or "Dawg, wazzup with that?" Couldn't help but smile walking out into the sunshine because it was a classic reminder of what Americans really look like.

Put aside your PC brainwashing for a moment: Weren't you just a little floored hearing Lennox Lewis' euphonic British accent the first time? Admit it, the King's English was the last thing you were thinking,particularly from a boxer.

English is the master key that unlocks all things American. While there are loud protests about the outsourcing of jobs, consider for a moment the aspiration of Indians in Bangalore to learn English, adopt cool American names (like "Spike" or "Kelly") and readily help you with your computer problems from 8,000 miles away. Yet we have hundreds of thousands of immigrants invading our borders and evading our laws with barely an inclination to learn the language. Why should they-we make it easy to reap the rewards so diligently earned by those waiting in line to become true Americans.

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Union Teachers Stand, Divided Schools Fall

By Lee Culpepper - Staff Writer

Recently, I heard from an accomplished educator, a math teacher at an excellent charter school in Scottsdale, Arizona; his name is Thomas. Thomas agrees with many problems I address concerning education, but we don’t agree completely on teachers’ unions.

I assert that teachers’ unions inflict more harm than good, and Thomas concedes that unions are a problem, but he proposes the following: “While I agree with most of your argument, your portrayal of the unions is not entirely correct. Remember, this country was founded on the fledgling concept of ‘united we stand, divided we fall.’ Since management holds most of the power, labor needs to unite. Teacher pay is abysmal yet is much higher due to the unions. So, I think you are over simplifying the union’s conscious contribution to the problems you discuss.”

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My Shame in Anger My Value in Humility

By Lee Culpepper - Staff Wrtier

When my dad died in 1993, my friends’ father, Mr. Ripol, drove over an hour one way – after midnight – to pick me up from Marine Corps Officer Candidate School. The Corps had put me on emergency leave to deal with my family’s loss. To articulate just how much I respect Mr. Ripol, I need only one word -- awesome. He is a great father, and he recently wrote to me expressing concern about my writing’s undertone of “anger.” Because I admire him, I listened to his wisdom.

Digesting his comments, I realized the anger he uncovered is my contempt for teachers’ unions and teacher-credentialing programs – keep in mind I am a teacher. I see unions like I see bullies. Bullies stir most everyone’s anger by picking on smaller, weaker people. In my rowdier days, I had a bad habit of stepping in, too eager to fight them. The bullies who were bigger than I was, who reveled their size advantage, were the ones I couldn’t wait to knock down a peg or two. Similarly, unions behave in the same arrogant and intimidating manner as bullies. They’re emboldened by their numbers and size. They anger me with all their scams. They claim to benefit teachers, and they boast about looking out for students. However, they actually jeopardize students’ learning and attempt to sedate competitive teachers. Many union members are not competitive people. These individuals fear standing alone. They stir my anger because they should just be thankful to have a job. They often lack ability, and the idea of holding them accountable for their students’ successes or failures causes them heart trouble. (Mr. Ripol’s wits are probably beginning to tingle again.)

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Linking Fragile Toilet Paper to Teaching Teenage Girls

By Lee Culpepper - Staff Writer

With the alarming percentage of ill-advised marriages and their subsequent breakups, I bet you’re asking yourself a reasonable question: “What can male teachers, Marine Corps leadership principles, and high school English classes do to help teenage girls avoid bad relationships and rash decisions to marry in the future? Okay, maybe you’re not, but you should be.

Since I have experience in all those worlds, I have some suggestions. I’ll begin with a few notes concerning fathers. Good fathers teach their daughters how men should treat and respect women. A daughter should also learn from her father about the purity of fatherly love – the love with no selfish expectations concerning her ambitions, her dreams, her looks, or even her understanding of how much he loves her. Good fathers protect their daughters from bad boys who grow up to be bad men. A good father also teaches his daughter how to deal with such jerks on her own.

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