I find that the more the core group posts, the more likely others find their way back.

Was the Kalishnikov in service by the spring of 1945?

I thought it was 1947 hence the name AK-47?  Did Kalishnikov have a working model that early?

Maybe they were fuel depots for the Annunaki.  Yeah that's it.  If Von Danniken can get away with it, why not us?

I should interject here that the mores of the philosophers and the aristocratic statesmen do not always parallel or corroborate with the laymen and lower middling classes of ancient Greece.  The wealthy and educated had more time to engage in frivolous luxuries and social experimentation, and yes intimate mentor-ships too.  It's odd social networking to us, but social networking nevertheless.  The under classes might not have engaged in the same activities, for no other reason than for lack of things to offer one another, and the lack of time itself.  Peasants and lower tier craftsmen had to work long hours for meager wages, and therefore, had no time to write memoirs, treatises, or dialogues commemorating personal exploits and the latest social trends.  We must keep this in mind when viewing the whole of Greek society instead of focusing in on one microcosm of it. 

I am delighted to see that we agree than the banning or burning of books is just not the way to go,but I am shocked that you put this little book in the same category as Mein Kampf or Das Kapital.Mr. Zinn may arouse passions, but his books are hardly in the same league as those penned by Hitleror Marx.I believe that Mr. Zinn saw the books that were written and found them wanting either because certainsubjects were not covered at all or because they were glossed over or contained statements that were not factual.  I think he wanted to fill in the blanks.Let me give you 10 examples of the kinds of things I mean.1.  American Revolution--I did not learn in High School that only one third of the colonial people inAmerica supported the revolution--the others were Tories or indifferent.2.  Manifest Destiny--I did not learn in High school that Polk manufactured a war with Mexico so as togain territory--it seems un American!3.  I did not know that one of the first things Woodrow Wilson did when he became president andmoved into the White House was to dismiss all the black supervisors.4.  I did not know that slavery was regularly justified by Bible scholars--and people said this is good--the sons of Ham ought to be hewers of wood and drawers of water.5.  I did not know that A.G. Palmer and his horrid little lapdog--Hoover violated laws on a regularbasis during the Red scare following WWI.6.  High school textbooks are silent about the fact that JFK's father bought the Democratic nominationin West Virginia thus placing is son of the road to the presidency.7.  Commentary on the Iran-Contra disaster are discussed very briefly and without much depth incurrent text books.  The President's lies are merely dismissed--he was old.8.  Current texts do a very poor job when describing alternatives to Capitalism and Democracy.  In arecent interview Newt Gingrich was asked whether he thought our President was a Socialist.  he replied--yes!  Now we both know he has a PhD in History so it is somewhat surprising that he answered as he did as a "Socialist: is one who belies that the Government ought to control the means of production, distribution et al.  In fact, if you look at our President closely, you might well conclude that he is much more likely to be a Fascist than a Socialist.  So if Newt blundered in such a manner--what can we expect from little Audrey who believes that textbooks contain truth rather than viewpoints.9.  Current textbooks do little to enlighten students concerning the struggles between capital and labor from 1865 to 1941.  The Pullman strike, the violence in the mines, the shops and the oilfields , the IWW and Big Bill Haywood,  Eugene Debs the Holmstead strike, the  CIO, the UAW and the battle of the overpass are touched on lightly if mentioned at all.10. Textbooks do not contain much material on the way we acquired Hawaii and what we did to thepatriots in the Phillippine insurrection, the fate of the patriot Emilio Aguinaldo. An American army ofover 60, 000 men was necessary to convince the natives that American hegemony was "good" andbetter than the freedom they had hoped to acquire when the boot of Spanish rule was lifted from their neck. The American soldiers who fought there had some colorful sayings--"civilize them with a Krag"and some unprintables--L.B.F.M. being one.So all in all I think you will agree that history should be taught using the maximum of factual narrativeand a minimum of cant.  You will also, no doubt, agree that it should be taught as it happened--warts and all.

Yes yes, these are all perfect examples of why students need to study history outside the confines of the public educational system.  It is not liberal or postmodern to see where America has fallen short of its own boasting as the beacon of liberty in the world.  This is a balanced approach to History.  However, Zinn and others from the New Left school or the revisionists, actually seek to do more than highlight America's sins, they want to rub our noses in them because of some unfathomable disdain for this nation.  I don't think students benefit from reading some writer's angst and frothing over whether the Native Americans were the victims of "genocide" or America perpetuated a caste system when there are more complicated issues at hand that show a counter movement directly opposed such as the abolition movement, the missionaries who spent countless hours with the Native Americans, and of course the Civil War itself that altered this nation's course showing how multifaceted and diverse this nation really is.

However in Sparta, women were more valued.  Lacedaemonian women were more than baby makers there.  They were the groomers of warriors and the placeholders of society.  I wonder if anyone has done a study on Spartan women?  I've never looked.

Please don't put me in the far right category when it comes to history.  I've never read nor seen any Zinn so I will not judge him, but I have seen comments on right-wing blogs like free republic and newsbusters and I find their bias mind-numbing.  I'm no fan of Victor Davis Hanson because I think he interjects way too much right-wing emphasis in his writing. I've read two of his books so far and had to put one down (A War Like No Other) because I found it extremely biased and, dare I say, incorrect. (No, Dr. Hanson, you are wrong. Athens was not like the USA and Sparta like the 'terrorists') The Colonial American history class I've taken recently has opened my mind quite a bit as to the dangers of right-wing bias in history.  At times I hate the British and at times I admire them.  I think historian JB Bury can be very racist, yet I think he is one of the best ancient historians I've ever read.

I wasn't talking about in History alone, I meant politics and ideology.  I should have clarified.

I've read just about everything Plato wrote.  The Symposium is the second best work behind the Republic and perhaps the Apology or the Crito.  The Timaeus goes well with the Symposium because sexual mentor-ship is mentioned in both.