This letter came in today 11/22, Whip-cracker take note...

Dear Mr. Linder,

To begin, I wanted to say thanks for your long-ago review of "Ride With the
Devil" posted at VNN. http://www.vanguardnewsnetwork.com/lettersOct-Nov03/22804linderdevil.htm
I recently had the opportunity to view it and I was
quite impressed. I guess that you were right in that such a film could only
be made by a non-White like Ang Lee, since he would have more resistance to
the "R word" leveled as a reflex these days. Naturally, the heroic black was
added, but this was not overstated in the film and overall I found it to be
a very well-done film about a part of the Civil War that hasn't received the
attention it warrants.

Secondly, I know that many Whites out there are looking for good curricula
for homeschooling. If I may make a recommendation, I would like to suggest a
10-volume (on 5 DVDs) series by James Burke entitled "Connections 1."
Briefly, the series is a history of innovation and invention over the last
12,000 years and an entertaining analysis of their effects on civilization.
Mr. Burke is a Brit, with a wonderfully dry sense of humor that makes what
would ordinarily be a snooze-inducing subject come to life and captures the
interest. As a bonus, the show is pro-White by default. While blacks may
appear in the background of the reenactments, there's nary a negro in the
narrative, simply because there hasn't been a world-shaking invention
devised by them in the past 120 centuries. The series would be excellent for
the 9-16 age set, but it will also capture adult attention as well. While
some of the history is, by necessity, a bit rushed, it would serve as an
excellent foundation for sparking children's interest in the history of the
civilization their ancestors built and where it is going. The first volume
starts a little slow (but is stilll very good), since it's setting the stage
for later ones. Jut give it a chance, though, as it picks up smartly from
the second video on. I had seen this series as a kid and it was one of the
things that prompted me to investigate the hard sciences as a career. While
I can't promise that all children will find it as fascinating as I did, I
can tell you unequivocably that it is head-and-shoulders above the level of
what passes for "educational" programming out there today. Following is a
website where readers can examine the video's contents a little more and
order if they like. I have no affiliation with the company, but it's the
only place I've found to order the series.

http://www.documentary-video.com/displayitem.cfm?vid=854

An excerpt from the website: "As the Sherlock Holmes of science, Burke
tracks through 12,000 years of history for the clues that lead us to eight
great life changing inventions-the atom bomb, telecommunications, the
computer, the production line, jet aircraft, plastics, rocketry and
television. Burke postulates that such changes occur in response to factors
he calls “triggers,” some of them seemingly unrelated. These have their own
triggering effects, causing change in totally unrelated fields as well. And
so the connections begin... "

While I admit the series is a bit dated (circa 1978) most of the information
and ideas within are still relevant today. Also, the cost ($150 plus
shipping) is not exactly trivial, but if there are any families out there
who have a formal or informal homeschooling cooperative set up, it would be
a way to defray some of the costs of the investment, which I believe is
worth it, since the series hasn't been available to the home audience before
now (educational institutions could get it, but only for hundreds more) and
it may go out of print soon. I do not recommend the later installments in
the series (Connections 2 & 3) since they don't seem to have the, for lack
of a better term, spark of the original. Another series (circa 1984) by
Burke in the same vein is "The Day the Universe Changed" which also examines
the effects of particular inventions on civilization as we know it.
Unfortunately, it isn't available to the home audience, though readers who
haven't severed the cable or satellite may very occasionally see it on one
of the science channels. I suggest recording it if the series does happen to
come on, since you'll not likely see it for years to come.

Regards,

J

McGuffy's Readers (http://www.howtotutor.com/guffy.htm)

Every school could use these, as well as private tutors and homeschooling parents.

Four-fifths of American school children learned on these for three-quarters of a century. Some 120,000,000 sets were sold.

"Assuming that a child's brain reacts to what is fed into it, and that his entire life is thereby influenced, educators of the McGuffey era provided the most wholesome fare available. Material in the readers is taken from writings which extol, explain, and illustrate such virtues as honesty, charity, thrift, hard work, courage, patriotism, reverence for God, and respect for parents.

McGuffey's teaching technique and the quality of reading material used are superlative, appropriate for any era - desperately needed in our own."

These are good, certainly better than public school material. Although, I don't want my kid exposed to god garbage. It isn't god that makes a great man, it's character and attention to reality. Objective reality - if you need a religion, nothing beats.

Prayer changes nothing. Action alone can make the difference.

God is not responsible -- you are.

This is what I'll teach my kids.

http://tinypic.com/ydzef

http://tinypic.com/yebsx