Archive for May, 2008
The Congressional Medal of Honor is one of the most revered awards given to valiant soldiers and pilots in war. This medal is provided to the US Navy SEALs for their brave acts during war with an enemy. The medal is conferred by the President of the US and is given in the name of the Congress thereby getting its name – Congressional Medal of Honor.
The symbolism
The Congressional Medal of Honor has a certain symbolism and meaning attached to the shape and the motifs inside it. For example the inverted 5 pointed star has a cluster of leaves of laurel along with oak on each point. These leaves signify victory, while the oak symbolizes strength. Both these attributes are absolutely essential in any officer going for a Navy SEALs mission. Outside the circular insignia are 34 stars which stand for the number of stars in the US flag. Within the circle are two engravings. On the right is Minerva the Roman Goddess of War. Perched on her helmet is an owl which again symbolizes wisdom. Moving away from Minerva is a man who is carrying a bunch of snakes in his hands. He is known as Discord.
An impressive past
It might be surprising but the Congressional Medal of Honor has a rich past spanning over 140 years. It was during 21st December in 1861 that the first 200 medals of honor were produced. Then a few months later in February 17th 1862, there was a bill passed to authorize the President of the US to distribute the medals. Read the rest of this entry »
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union was responsible for supplying North Vietnam with military apparatus – in the form of tanks, helicopters, planes, arms and artillery. They also provided medical supplies. The Soviet union suffered minimally, in terms of human life, when compared with other countries that played a role in the conflict. It's estimated that the number of deaths of Soviet Union citizens would have been in the single digits. After the Soviet Union collapsed, Russian government officials made a statement acknowledging that 3,000 troops were stationed in Vietnam during the conflict.
China
China's interests in the Vietnam War began in the late 1940's when the communists managed to gain control. The CPC, which stands for the Communist Party of China, assisted Vietnam communists through providing materials and support because of the similar political beliefs that they felt they had. In 1962 their somewhat intangible assistance changed shape when they provided ninety thousand guns and rifles to Hanoi – this was done without charge. China also played a role in rebuilding and defending the infrastructure of North Vietnam, opting to provide anti-aircraft and engineering resources. They repaired roads, railways and undertook other engineering initiatives. In doing this, it is said they freed up troops to pursue the conflict in the South. Over the duration of the war around one third of a million Chinese troops served in Vietnam of which, it's estimated, 1,500 died.
North Korea
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Even those in a position of power and influence, who could have prevented the seriousness of the discrimination, chose not to. Teachers especially, could have helped prevent the younger generation from developing this type of discrimination in schools, out of schools and in later life. However, both German schools and the Hitler youth discriminated against Jews by teaching lessons that were designed to do this and to teach that Aryans were the superior race. One of the main areas of teaching where discrimination took place was in racial science where students were taught how Jews had a different skull shape/size to Aryans and other races and taught how they could identify a Jew by their physical features; this created a lot of discrimination towards Jews among the young people of Germany.
One of the events to describe and demonstrate how Jews were discriminated against in Germany is the April Boycott; for one day Germans all over the country were told not to buy from shops and business' owned by Jews. SA men stood by the doors of these shops to discourage anyone from going inside. The SA men would have discouraged business, leading business away from the Jews and back into Aryan owned businesses and shops. This is discriminating against the Jews and while it was probably very beneficial to the Aryans working at the time, the Jews would have lost business, and would be looked at differently by Germans.
In many places in Germany, there were signs that read 'Jews not welcome here'. These could be put on park benches, outside places of public interest, or even where it means that Jews are not welcome in the village, city or town. This separates Jews from the rest of the population, by discriminating against them, making Germans feel like they are different people to them, so they should be treated differently!
By Thomas E. Brewton
How indicative of his character and beliefs is Senator Obama's having launched one of his political campaigns at the home of his friends Bernadine Dohrn and Bill Ayers?
Who are Bernadine Dohrn and Bill Ayers? And why would Senator Obama wish to associate his political beliefs with those of Dohrn and Ayers?
Might his friendship with these Weatherman terrorists of the 1960s and 70s be a clue to the voting record that led National Journal to rate Mr. Obama the most liberal member of the Senate?
The New York Times reported on September 11, 2001, ironically, the day the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were bombed:
"Life With the Weathermen: No Regrets for a Love of Explosives"
By Dinitia Smith"I don't regret setting bombs," Bill Ayers said. "I feel we didn't do enough." Mr. Ayers, who spent the 1970's as a fugitive in the Weather Underground, was sitting in the kitchen of his big turn-of-the-19th-century stone house in the Hyde Park district of Chicago. The long curly locks in his Wanted poster are shorn, though he wears earrings. He still has tattooed on his neck the rainbow-and-lightning Weathermen logo that appeared on letters taking responsibility for bombings.
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By Warner Todd Huston
We are certainly used to seeing the MSM causing trouble for conservatives and this one is no different at least on that level. But the interesting thing here is that the trouble a social conservative discovered was as a result of what she wrote in the MSM as opposed to what was written about her by the MSM. It seems that the opinion editorial written by Crystal Dixon for the Toledo Blade got her fired by the University of Toledo because… well, you know how universities are all about free expression and speech, right? Unfortunately for Dixon, though, hers wasn’t the proper, politically correct sort of speech that is officially approved of by the thugs at the University of Toledo.
You see, Crystal Dixon made the mistake of believing that this whole silly idea of “freedom of religion” also applied to our institutions of higher learning. She foolishly asserted in her Toledo Blade op ed that as far as her religious beliefs are concerned, homosexuality is a choice made by the individual instead of some genetic predisposition, that someone chooses to engage in homosexual activities instead of assuming that being gay is forced upon one by “nature.”
By Thomas E. Brewton
Today's clamor for more regulation of financial institutions to prevent another subprime mortgage meltdown is an exercise in self- deception.
Congress, led by Representative Barney Frank, is planning to overhaul regulation of the financial community, and Treasury Secretary Paulson has already proposed a broad program for that purpose.
No doubt, much of what is proposed is needed. But it should be obvious from repeated experience over the decades that regulations alone will not prevent periodic economic booms and busts.
Only by dealing with the root cause will we moderate economic cycles. And that root cause is the ineluctable human tendency to over-expand bank credit when the money supply is artificially enlarged.
Today's proposed subprime mortgage regulations may prevent tomorrow's repetition of that phenomenon, but they will have no restraining impact upon whatever the next speculative bubble may be. Sarbanes- Oxley regulation was instituted after the dot.com bubble-burst and the corporate collapse of Enron, but it had no restraining effect upon the speculative housing bubble, of which subprime lending is merely a symptom, not a cause. Before that, we had the speculative explosion of commercial real estate over-building that ended with the collapse of the savings and loan institutions in the 1980s.
Beginning with our nation's first financial panic in 1819, similar boom-and-bust patterns appear every five to ten years, except in extraordinary circumstances such as wartime.
In one respect, Karl Marx's economic analysis was on the mark.
From 1789 to 1815 Congressmen received $6.00 daily, but only on the days they showed up. From 1815 to 1855 Congressmen received a modest salary, compared to the massive salaries of the Congressmen today. In 1855 their salaries increased to $3,000 annually. Then in 1865 they gave themselves a 66% increase to $5,000 annually. 6 years later they boosted their salaries another 50% to $7,500 per year. The American People became so outraged by the greed that congressmen were showing, that congress was forced to take a 33% paycut, which lasted 34 years until 1907, at which time they gave themselves another 50% increase back to $7,500 annually. They took two other paycuts, both of which were during the Great Depression, for a total of 15%. These are the only 3 times in American History that any Congressmen have ever taken salary cuts.
In 1935, Congress voted themselves a 19% increase, then they didn't receive another pay raise until 12 years later, when they gave themselves a 25% increase in 1947. In 1955 Congress gave themselves a whopping 80% increase. In the years 1987, and 1991 Congress received 2 raises per year. 3% + 20% in 1987, and 4% and 25% in 1991. Within the last 10 years Congress has raised their salaries 8 times for a total of 26%. While the lowest paid American Workers have only received 1 raise within the last 10 years.
In the last 25 years Congress has seen 18 salary increases totaling 277%. While the lowest paid American Workers have only seen 5 wage increases in 25 years totaling a mere 166%. In the last 25 years the cost of living has increased 251%. The Minimum Wage has not been increased since 1997. While Congressmen's pay has increased 8 out of the last 10 years. To see what Minimum Wage would be, if Congress had given American Workers the same amount of increases they took, click here.
Who could have predicted the explosive growth in the popularity for blogs as news or media outlets? Today, more and more people are tuning into their favorite news blog instead of catching the morning or evening news on the TV or radio. While the majority of those receiving news still get it from the major media outlets, more and more media blogs are becoming the go-to source for news.
Short for “web log,” a blog is a specialized site that allows one or more people to share a running log of events and personal insights with online audiences. Basically, a blog is an online journal.
There are millions of blogs currently out there. In fact, there is probably not one topic out there that does not have its own blog. With topics ranging from food to fantasy, home improvement to hot news topics, college sports to celebrities, or baseball to beauty products, blogs are everywhere. Blogs that are particular to political or current-events themes have especially grown in popularity. These blogs, serving as news outlets, have become “soap boxes” for instant mass-audience commentary.
After all, what is media without criticism or commentary? Who does not want to talk about what they see, hear, or read about in the news? The news is a part of our everyday lives – what we see, hear, or read about largely affects us – worldwide, nationwide, and even community wide. With all of the news stories thrown out there, you can hardly expect people to keep quiet about it.
Hence, this is the number one reason for the ever-growing popularity of media blogs as news and commentary outlets.
Writing about Wahabism and Salafi-Islam, could fill many books. I will however in this article, try to make clear why it is of tremendous importance in our time. Both movements are considered as the origin of Islamic terrorism. A lot of recent Islamic terrorists such as Osama Bin Laden, Ayman Al-Zawahiri, and Abu Musab Al Zarqawi, have been inspired by Wahabism.
Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (1703 – 1792 ) was an Arab theologian born in Saudi Arabia and can be considered as the founder of Wahabism. Wahab is considered by many to be a great reformer of Islam, and at the same time as the "father of Islamic terrorism. Iwill not go deeply into his teachings, but expose the teachings of two of his contemporary followers.
Salman bin Fahed al-Auda, in his book "The End of History", asserts that the solution to Islamic distress , that may bring about the fall of America and the Western world, "exists in one word which is Jihad". According to al-Auda, the meaning of jihad is much broader than fighting with a sword. Appealing to Muslims throughout the world, he wrote: "We should not simplify this issue and narrow its meaning to a restricted military battle in one of the Islamic regions or even to an all-out war against the West, which is possible and predicted and we assume is arriving… Life as a whole is a battlefield. The weapons are not only the rifle, the bullet, the airplane, the tank, and the cannon. Not at all! Thinking is a weapon, the economy is a weapon, money is a weapon, water is a weapon, planning is a weapon, unity is a weapon, and so there are many types of weapons." In "The End of History", al-Auda concluded that the West by itself was already in an advanced state of decay: "The West, and above all the United States, and Western culture, in general are undergoing a historical process that is deterministic. This process leads to its total collapse, sooner or later." His jihad was intended to accelerate that collapse. During the 1990's, he was regarded as the most influential preacher in Saudi Arabia and Osama Bin Laden often cites out of his work.
By Alan Caruba
"Trusting in the Rock of Israel we now place our signatures in witness to this proclamation, sitting as the Provisional State Council, on the soil of the homeland, in the city of Tel-Aviv, this day, Friday afternoon, the 5th of Iyar, 5708, the 14th of May, 1948.”
This was the moment of the re-birth of Israel announced by Ben-Gurion, the first Prime Minister of Israel. I would call your attention to the year of the Jewish calendar he cited, 5708. It reaches back over the millennia, deep into the Torah, the Old Testament, with its long history of a people chosen to be “a nation of priests and a holy people.”
This fact alone eviscerates all arguments and lies put forth that the Jews do not have a right and a claim to their own homeland. Historians put the birth of Judaism at approximately two thousand years before the advent of Christianity. When the Roman Empire fell, it was restructured as the Holy Roman Empire with Christianity at its core. Jewish resistance to the Roman Empire shaped much of its early history.
At the heart of the Islamic protestations of modern Israel is their contempt for the two faiths that preceded their own that began in 622 A.D. By then Judaism was already a very ancient faith. To be anything other than a Muslim, then and now, was declared to belong to an inferior faith. Islam is distinguished by its inflexible fixation on Allah, a former moon god worshipped in Mecca, and the cult of Mohammed.