Educators Still Don’t Get It
In a 2013 interview with the NY Times, Laszlo Bock, senior operations VP at Google, reported that the company now [...]
O’Reilly vs. Limbaugh on Obama
Although media titans Bill O’Reilly and Rush Limbaugh are both critical of President Obama’s policies, they deal very differently with [...]
An Occasion of Grace
I was driving to Mass on a recent Sunday morning. There was one car ahead of me on the residential [...]
Have They No Shame?
Suppose your spouse said on Monday, “We have to cut back on our sugar consumption because eating too much is [...]
The Pharisee’s Confession
I know it couldn’t have happened, but imagine that the Pharisee in the famous Gospel parable had gone to confession. [...]
The Blame Game
It’s easier to point at others than at ourselves. If you doubt me, try this—extend your arm and point straight [...]
Moral Dilemmas in Washington
A moral dilemma is a situation in which a choice must be made between conflicting courses of action, each of [...]
Learning from Our Mistakes
Albert Einstein famously defined insanity as “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” By this [...]
The Most Serious Thinking Error
What mental error poses the greatest obstacle to intelligent thought and behavior today? It’s hard to pick just one, but [...]
Will America Become Muslim?
The expansion of Islam is already well underway. But if you are thinking, “Let’s strengthen the NSA, CIA, FBI, and [...]
A Special Kind of Giving
The Christmas season encourages us to shift our attention from receiving to giving, and that is a blessing because it [...]
The Christmas Billboard Controversy
Times Square billboards are rather prominent, so it was inevitable that the message recently posted there by an atheist group [...]
Pope Francis on Poverty
When Sarah Palin said the Pope’s views on poverty were “kind of liberal” and Rush Limbaugh called them “pure Marxism,” [...]
Thinking Deficiency Syndrome
Never heard of Thinking Deficiency Syndrome (TDS)? That’s not surprising. I just invented the term and the acronym because a [...]
The Role of Attitude in Learning
The role of attitude is often ignored in discussions of educational achievement. One reason is that the usual definition of [...]
Let Them Respond . . . Please!
My heart goes out to the guests on news analysis shows. After spending years acquiring expertise in their fields, they [...]
What’s Really Wrong with Education
It was recently revealed that the “Common Core” curriculum crams partisan political ideas into children’s minds. For example, a grade [...]
Progressivism’s Fundamental Flaw
Progressivism is the dominant political and social philosophy of our time. Even people who know little about it tend to [...]
Whatever Happened to Logic?
Once upon a time, logic was held in high regard. Most educated people were acquainted with its basic principles and [...]
Enjoying Your Obamelet?
Obamelet is an apt metaphor for the President’s transformation of the economy. It recalls Vladimir Lenin’s statement, made 75 years [...]
Don’t Raise The Debt Ceiling- LOWER It!
Does the debt ceiling debate seem familiar? It should. From the Carter administration to the Obama administration the debt ceiling [...]
Demonization On Parade
Lately the news has been overflowing with political demonization. The perpetrators have mostly been liberals, though conservatives have on other [...]
Education Is Failing? What Else Is New?
It’s all over the news. Between 57% and 61% of high school graduates have little chance of succeeding in college. [...]
Who WROTE The Health Care Act?
Many legislators have admitted they didn’t read the Affordable Health Care Act before voting on it. Instead, they took Nancy Pelosi’s bizarre [...]
When Red Lines Are Green Lights
As most people know, President Obama declared a “red line” warning the Syrian government not to use chemical weapons on [...]
Author Vincent Ryan Ruggiero
Since retiring from teaching, I have continued my work in promoting sound thinking in education and in the general culture. More specifically, I have kept refining my textbooks, four of which have been continuously in print for an average of 33 years. I have also continued to write books for the general public, the latest of which is Corrupted Culture: Rediscovering America’s Enduring Principles, Values, and Common Sense, and I write a weekly column for an online journal.