Understanding War in Afghanistan

I'm a huge fan of National Defense University.  Every so often their affiliate, NDU press, releases extremely interesting and timely material online for absolutely free.

The latest such release is a book entitled Understanding War in Afghanistan by Joseph J. Collins.  Since I just learned about this I haven't had a chance to read it, but I plan on making time for it shortly.  The book appears to cover a full range of topics, including Afghan history, key events and timelines in America's involvement in the country, and an assessment of the current situation and future projections.  Basically, if you're interested in learning about Afghanistan or understanding America's involvement in recent years, this book appears to be a must-read.

If you like what you see here, I would also recommend signing up for Prism, a quarterly publication on everything you could possibly want to know about defense strategies and military planning around the globe.  The best part?  Prism is also free, and you can have a physical copy delivered to your home at no charge.

You're welcome, geeks.

Follow @zstickney

American Civic Knowledge Survey

Special thanks to my Mum who provided the link to today's blog!  This quick quiz (only 10 questions) is a Civic-literacy exam created by the intercollegiate studies institute.  I'm not sure if what was written in the e-mail is accurate, but according to the e-mail the average American will score somewhere around 50% on this exam, and college professors typically don't get much higher.

The first time I took it I got a 90%, but I won't tell you which one I missed.  No cheating!  Take the quiz and see how you measure up!

Follow @zstickney

Bill of Rights Rap

  Behold world!  I wrote this song during my work as a History teacher/counselor for Weber State University's Upward Bound summer program.  We were learning about the Bill of Rights in History class, and I just wanted to try and make it fun for the kids.  I apologize that the sound quality isn't the best, but hopefully you'll enjoy it regardless!  Please see the youtube page for the full lyrics if you're interested.

Follow @zstickney