MacDonald presents the story of the Barclay and Gordon families in such a manner as to readily and plainly contrast the path of those who follow the ways of the world with the pilgrimage of God's beloved children.

Kirsty Barclay, daughter of David and Marion Barclay, is, in the eyes of the world, an uneducated, ill-bred peasant, while her older brother, Steenie, is judged as "not quite right," or "not all here." But the world is a poor judge, indeed, when it comes to the things of God. For in Kirsty is to be found far more of value and worth than the entire Gordon family-the local 'Laird' and his mother-who reside midst the faded splendor of Castle Weelset.

This is, first and foremost, a tender and heartwarming love story through which is woven various subplots, all of which eventually arrive at the same point-the love of God. Kirsty, although uneducated and, no doubt, unacceptable to the aristocracy, loves God, loves nature, loves her simple parents, and dearly loves her brother, Steenie, for in these people and these things she sees God through His children and His creation. For his part, Steenie does not begin to understand, and acknowledges as much, the theology of the institutionalized church. Yet Steenie also loves God, for he spends his days and nights searching the hills and dales as well as the heavens for He whom Steenie knows as the "Bonny Man."

Heather and Snow is not a love story in the fleshly sense, and is not without its pathos, its sadness, its sorrows, and its disappointments. Although Francis Gordon proclaims his love for Kirsty, it is not until he begins to know God that he can truly know love, for true love is born of God and must be lived through Him.

I invite you to join Kirsty and walk amidst the hills of Scottish heather as she strives to learn the lesson's taught in God's classroom. Nature is an unparalleled teacher if one will but, in solitude, be attentive to her sights, sounds, and silences.

Sit aside Steenie, whose heart is so filled with love that it may burst, as he, in quiet isolation and softly embraced by the deepening night, gazes enraptured into the heavens from which he expects, at any moment, to see the "Bonny Man" return to claim His own. Steenie is enthralled by the very prospect of encountering the Son of God, and spends very waking moment in this sacred quest; while, in slumber, his dreams transport him to the place where he will no longer be considered "abnormal."

Struggle with Francis Gordon as he strives to learn that most valuable of lessons-that to know God is to love God is to obey God. If he is unable or unwilling to grasp this most basic of truths, he will never know love, nor will he ever make Kirsty his wife, for Kirsty is neither enticed nor enchanted by wealth, position, intellect, or possessions, but the heart of God shining through the eyes of another.

Heather MacDonald is a great journalist who writes mostly for the City Journal of New York. Living in New York, she gets to examine malaise and social decay up close and personal. She always presents herself as the sensible conservative covering the folly of liberal policies. The Burden of Bad Ideas shows that liberal philosophies of society's elites are adversely affecting the less capable of society. One does not who to hold accountable first, the elites with their bad ideas or the poor who follow them. MacDonald especially makes the point that comtemporary policies often don't work because they do not take into account any moral considerations. This lack of moral judgement leads to bad policy and encourages bad behavior.

I got the impression while reading that MacDonald is witnessing an insidious bolshevik takeover of America with its tools of anti-white racism to destroy that race and anti-white male sexism to destroy its men. These bolsheviks try to equalize everything whether it's ideas, people, incomes, lifestyles, morality, culture, sexes, intellects, or races despite evidence that we still live and always will live in hierarchical world. The technique is to denigrate the superior and uplift or not judge the inferior. Although she does not say this in so many words; these are my own impressions.

Many of her articles cover the public assistance system in which the policy is not to make judgements between the deserving and undeserving poor, as was done sensibly in the past. Not making judgements bankrolls immoral behavior such as illegitimate births, drug use, child abuse, professional homelessness, and promiscuity with its consequent STDs; this makes the problem worse since the behavior is encouraged if it is paid for. Organizations such as the Ford Foundation have wasted millions of dollars on making the public assistance problem worse by bankrolling irresponsible behavior.

MacDonald examines how education fads are destroying and warping students' minds with frivolous courses such as Hip Hop 101 in which students are encouraged to paint the neighborhood illegally with graffiti. I think the purpose of some educrats is to dumb down education so far that everyone passes and everyone is therefore equal. If hard courses were introduced, then some would do better than others, and of course, that must mean someone is oppressing the Other.

The Smithsonian Museum has gone PC trying to denigrate white Western culture and uplift every other culture besides that one. In Law School, we now have very touchy professors who now wear their race and gender identities on their sleeve and spend a lot of time "proving" how oppressed they are while insulting and psychologically attacking whites and men.

One last article covers law and order in New York City during the Diallo case in which a victim was accidently shot by the police. Al Sharpton and the rest of his charade including Hollywood celebrities tried to bring the tea kettle to boil with fake "designer protests". Meanwhile the folks back home in the neighborhoods generally like the police and believe in law and order because it keeps the drug lords off the streets. But New York Times kept the drum beat going for "justice" and therefore got some innocent readers in a resentful mood over the police because they naturally expect a paper to tell it like it is and not to advocate for trumped-up injustices.

MacDonald does a great job showing us the problem and a okay job suggesting solutions; the solutions part is usually given minimal space and it is more generalized than detailed, but it is morally correct in a good way. It is amazing how bizarre some of the reports were; I can only hope she is picking the worst cases and not just taking a representative samples.

Far too many journalists and editors are not doing their jobs. Working in pack mode, they provide overkill - and often slanted or incomplete - coverage of "issues" on the "front end" and then fail to do any follow-up stories, six months, a year, six years later.

Because of this, too many citizens don't know the real-world consequences (good AND bad) of legislative actions and regulations, or get the opportunity to re-examine the merits and validity of a "conventional wisdom" forged years or decades ago.

Ms. Mac Donald, thankfully, is one of the few media representatives and social analysts who fulfills this vital role of journalists. Her essays persuasively document how too many policy decisions are based on flawed "politically correct" premises and, after implemented, too often contribute or cause the exact opposite result that their advocates intedended.

In other words, she actually looks backwards to explain where, how and why we went wrong (actually applying history!). If more journalists, politicians and, yes voters, employed this time-proven analysis technique, we might not make so many mistakes in the future - mistakes, that invariably, are the result of "good intentions."

Readers who enjoyed this book, or this type of independent, smart, brave journalism, will also savor Robert Samuelson's new book, "UnTruth," another book that challenges often unchallenged conventional thinking. Journalism - and our country - needs many more Heather Mac Donald's, Robert Samuelson's and (another one of my journalism heroes) John Stossells if the public is ever going to get the "full" story or, to borrow a phrase, "the rest of the story."

Invaluable book. Buy it and tell a friend about it.

P.S. Also, visit the "City Journal" website, where most of Ms. Mac Donald's articles were originally published. No journal does a better job of challenging, analyzing and critiquing what's wrong with American society or providing alternative viewpoints on topics the mainstream media views (and presents) almost exclusively from its politically correct ideological perspective.

Heather MacDonald does a wonderful job of outlining the results of utopian social and political policy gone awry; the legacy of the law of unintended consequences. Readers from the Hard, Far-Left will excoriate Ms. MacDonald as a running dog lackey of the right wing Wall Street money barons, but the truth is more elusive. In books supporting either side of these "worldview" arguments the point is often missed that it's really about people and not their attendant philosophies. Political views are mostly a diversion from the real issues which revolve around power, money, and the people who thirst for them, i.e. Fidel Castro has many homes and great personal wealth and so does the Vatican and by proxy the pope. The difference is that the pope isn't running an island prison, as is Castro. However, a cursory study of history would show intolerance by the church to the point where heretics in Rome and elsewhere were burned at the stake. Thus, dictators are the enemy and in this case the Left has controlled the intellectual argument for most of the 20th century. Check the political planks of the socialist party in America back to E.V. Debs and Norman Thomas and you will find all of these planks have been embedded in our social policy by the Democrat party which has, until recently, controlled the federal legislature. It's the results of these policies that Ms. MacDonald rails against and is justifiably enraged about. A great book which should be read by every citizen in America

A couple of years ago, my friend Kimby bought a copy of The Joy of Ginger. It is a cookbook filled with recipes based around--duh--ginger. Ginger is a particularly eastern Canadian spice (although it doesn't grow around here). For many generations, ginger has been used in comfort foods like old-fashioned ginger snaps and for traditional fixer-uppers. Flat ginger ale is great for fixing upset stomachs, dontcha know?

Anyhow, I picked up Kimby's copy of the book and began browsing through it. The recipes looked absolutely delicious, so I went out and bought my own copy. The book has all the old classic recipes, plus a good-sized collection of ethnic fusion recipes. What else would you call ginger pineapple salsa? I strongly recommend the Chicken in Ginger Sauce (it tastes like a very pleasant, mild Indian curry) and Fat Archies (fat molasses cookies), but dissuade you from trying the Ginger Lemonade; it's based on vinegar and tastes absolutely AWFUL!