Boomerang Blog

The Rise of Presidential Campaigning

Presidential campaigns were not always the expensive and brutal battles we recognize today.   Our first leaders did not even campaign at all. Why? It was considered vulgar and venal to promote one’s self. It suggested deceit and dishonor. Many founders used pen names when they published, to separate personalities from issues. Some of the great pseudonyms included “The Federal Farmer,”….Read more

3 Crucial Tips for Teachers on Back to School Night

Back to School night can be nerve wracking for teachers. You are on stage and under a microscope. Having heard all about you at the dinner table, parents finally get to take a look at you for themselves.  Some may come eager to see the teacher their child raves about, and some may come with complaints, grievances and rotten fruit….Read more

Unions: Crony Cartel or Collective Voice?

Legend has it that Henry Ford Jr was touring a  car production plant with union official Walter Reuther. Ford pointed to his automated robots and smiled at Reuther. “How are you going to get the robots to pay union dues, Walter?” Ford quipped.   “How are you going to get the robots to buy your cars, Henry?” Reuther replied.  ….Read more

Did Jefferson Foresee Today’s Racial Divide?

Recently, NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick refused to stand for the national anthem, in part because of a little known verse that celebrates slavery. The national soul is being tested again.   We all know the paradox of Thomas Jefferson. Despite his claim that all humans are created equal, he held slaves himself and did not free them in his will. He referred to Native….Read more

7 Tips to Becoming a Leader Who Influences, Not Commands

  The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help them or concluded that you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership. –General Colin Powell       Our society grapples with problems of leadership. Difficult decisions clash with strong emotions–with severe….Read more

Shays Rebellion Lesson Plan, Yours for Free

</p><br /> <div style=”display:inline;”><br /> <img height=”1″ width=”1″ style=”border-style:none;” alt=”” src=”//www.googleadservices.com/pagead/conversion/988540412/?label=LIFjCKuKrGsQ_Nuv1wM&guid=ON&script=0″/></div><br /> <p> Welcome to the History Dr community! We hope you enjoy the free lesson plan and find it useful. It’s designed for social studies and American/U.S. history classes from grades 8th-12th. If you are interested in more experiential plans and games that really work in the classroom in terms of….Read more

‘Letting Trump Be Trump’: Hubris and Leadership

Guest post contributed by Glenn LeBoeuf   British army intelligence began, in 1941, to explore the feasibility of assassinating Adolf Hitler. Nazi Germany’s navy and Luftwaffe were bombing British cities and sinking many of the essential supplies coming to England.   To carry out such a plan, first they needed a detailed psychological study of Hitler’s childhood, WWI traumas and parental influences,….Read more

Thomas Jefferson’s Fix for an Ignorant Citizenry

Thomas Jefferson’s epitaph in Virginia leaves out one salient fact and includes another lesser known achievement:   Here was buried Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of American Independence, of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, and Father of the University of Virginia   Jefferson was immensely proud of his role in founding the university, which was his secular….Read more

How High and How Thick the Wall of Separation?

  Guest post by RJ Gaynor, guest blogger Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legislative powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American….Read more

What Good Is the Liberal Arts for a Career?

It is in Apple’s DNA that technology alone is not enough—it’s technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields us the results that make our heart sing. –Steve Jobs, introducing the iPad   The art major is the person who walks the dog of the computer science major, or at least so goes the new wisdom. Computer engineers….Read more