Post #70,980
12/26/02 6:26:43 PM
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Interesting piece from Novack.
[link|http://www.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/12/26/column.novak.opinion.sharon/index.html|Sharon's war] In private conversation, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice has insisted that Hezbollah -- not al Qaeda -- is the world's most dangerous terrorist organization. How could that be, considering al Qaeda's global record of mass carnage?
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Post #70,994
12/26/02 7:06:30 PM
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Then there's this second article linked at bottom
About Our measurably increasing [link|http://www.creators.com/index2.html| dumbth]. The National Endowment for the Humanities cites data showing that 32 percent of Americans believe that "the president may suspend the Bill of Rights in wartime." Asked, "Does the Constitution include the following statement about the proper role of government: \ufffdFrom each according to this ability, to each according to his needs'?" 35 percent of Americans said yes, 31 percent said no, and 34 percent said they weren't sure. This dictum was pronounced by Karl Marx.
More than a third of respondents were unable to identify the document that outlines the division of power in our government. Eight percent picked "the Marshall Plan," 2 percent chose "the Declaration of Independence," and 26 percent said "the Articles of Confederation." Only 60 percent correctly checked "the Constitution." That same 60 percent knew that the Civil War was fought between 1850 and 1900. But 26 percent thought it took place between 1800 and 1850, and 10 percent said it happened between 1750 and 1800. Only 29 percent knew to what the term "Reconstruction" referred -- i.e., "Readmission of the Confederate states and the protection of the rights of black citizens." Fifty-nine percent believed it was "Repairing the physical damage caused by the Civil War," and 8 percent thought it referred to "Payments of European countries' debts to the United States after the First World War."
More? OK, asked which of the following nations was an ally of the United States in World War II, 18 percent said Germany; 9 percent said Japan (!), 48 percent said (correctly) the Soviet Union, and 24 percent said Italy. Asked what the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was about, 43 percent guessed that it "ended the war in Korea." Only 29 percent knew that it permitted President Lyndon to expand the war in Vietnam.
Does it matter? Only if you care about the nation's soul. Ignorance of history won't slow down the economy. We can still shop at Best Buy and Wal-Mart and Nordstrom's even without a sense of history. And we can still watch "Friends" and "The Sopranos."
But precisely because we are such a diverse nation and so welcoming to immigrants, teaching history, more than anything else, instills a sense of nationhood. If you don't even know Lincoln's Gettysburg Address or Washington's Farewell, if the sacrifices and hardships of the western pioneers slip down the memory hole, if the clash of civilizations between the Europeans and American Indians is not honestly related, if the flu epidemic of 1918 is not studied and mourned, if the unity and courage of the World War II generation is not known, if the civil rights struggle is forgotten, who are we?
Our history defines us, even if we are first generation Americans. Because the history of this nation is the history of liberty, imperfectly achieved to be sure, but steadily strived for and calling up mighty sacrifices from our ancestors.
To languish in ignorance of that history is a kind of sacrilege. (I wish that Novak had completed the last sentence, started with such promise ...) Hey, I traded notes with Novak, once upon a time; he's pulled back a bit from the Far-Rightful doggerel of decades past.
When the rich assemble to concern themselves with the business of the poor, it is called Charity. When the poor assemble to concern themselves with the business of the rich, it is called Anarchy.
-Paul Richards
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Post #71,006
12/26/02 8:10:07 PM
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so the commies are winning the war on eddiccation? :-)
will work for cash and other incentives [link|http://home.tampabay.rr.com/boxley/resume/Resume.html|skill set]
You think that you can trust the government to look after your rights? ask an Indian
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Post #71,017
12/26/02 8:57:00 PM
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Not the commies.
As she noted, you don't need a knowledge of history to go shopping or watch TV.
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Post #71,065
12/27/02 9:06:10 AM
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Bill of Rights?
The National Endowment for the Humanities cites data showing that 32 percent of Americans believe that "the president may suspend the Bill of Rights in wartime."
So the other 68% were wrong?
There is no more Bill of Rights and George already suspended whatever was left
A
Play I Some Music w/ Papa Andy Saturday 8 PM - 11 PM ET All Night Rewind 11 PM - 5 PM Reggae, African and Caribbean Music [link|http://wxxe.org|Tune In]
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Post #71,237
12/28/02 3:55:29 PM
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Yet that minor issue isn't of interest -
only, "how's the economy?" is of actual Interest. It seems that, no matter what this cabal does with the Constitution - nothing much will happen in the way of organized opposition. Only: IF the CCs become Maxed-out.. if mall-shopping is no longer an option for the weekend - THEN this group may begin to find itself in trouble. Not before.
(And we want to sell this 'system' to the ME and, just Everyone?)
ZZzzzzzzzzzz.
When the rich assemble to concern themselves with the business of the poor, it is called Charity. When the poor assemble to concern themselves with the business of the rich, it is called Anarchy.
-Paul Richards
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Post #71,244
12/28/02 4:50:20 PM
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void where prohibited
will work for cash and other incentives [link|http://home.tampabay.rr.com/boxley/resume/Resume.html|skill set]
You think that you can trust the government to look after your rights? ask an Indian
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Post #71,008
12/26/02 8:15:50 PM
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intersting indeed but Hezbulla is also an enemy
of the Saudi's a closer Bush Ally than Sharon. The Bush family ties to the Saudi's would automatically be postured aginst Hezbolla. The following link is a fair description of their movement. [link|http://www.terrorismanswers.com/groups/hezbollah.html|http://www.terrorism...ps/hezbollah.html] thanx, bill
will work for cash and other incentives [link|http://home.tampabay.rr.com/boxley/resume/Resume.html|skill set]
You think that you can trust the government to look after your rights? ask an Indian
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Post #71,016
12/26/02 8:54:59 PM
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Specifically the Saudis?
Or in general because the Saudi government isn't fundamentalist enough for them?
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Post #71,037
12/27/02 12:13:42 AM
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read up on sunni shiite differences in todays world
arch enemies but the sunni's wahibi sect holds mecca by virtue of the house of saud and the shiites want it. thanx, bill
will work for cash and other incentives [link|http://home.tampabay.rr.com/boxley/resume/Resume.html|skill set]
You think that you can trust the government to look after your rights? ask an Indian
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Post #71,030
12/26/02 10:42:35 PM
12/26/02 10:43:14 PM
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Yep, I said this once, and Arkadiy said if he did not know..
better he would think I was anti-Semitic. What I said was that the US was after Iraq on Israel's behalf. WASHINGTON -- Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, having just returned from a week-long fact-finding trip to the Middle East, addressed the Chicago Council of Foreign Relations December 16 and said out loud what is whispered on Capitol Hill: "The road to Arab-Israeli peace will not likely go through Baghdad, as some may claim."
The "some" are led by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. In private conversation with Hagel and many other members of Congress, the former general leaves no doubt that the greatest U.S. assistance to Israel would be to overthrow Saddam Hussein's Iraqi regime. That view is widely shared inside the Bush administration, and is a major reason why U.S. forces today are assembling for war. Sure, it's not the only reason. But many of the quoted reasons are bogus.
Alex
"No man's life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in session."\t-- Mark Twain
Edited by a6l6e6x
Dec. 26, 2002, 10:43:14 PM EST
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Post #71,038
12/27/02 12:18:03 AM
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note IMHO Alex is not anti semitic and I have met him
and trust his judgement. After all some of his best friends are Palestinian(JOKE) and me also a perfidious brit jew with questionable taste. thanx, bill
will work for cash and other incentives [link|http://home.tampabay.rr.com/boxley/resume/Resume.html|skill set]
You think that you can trust the government to look after your rights? ask an Indian
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Post #71,134
12/27/02 5:22:36 PM
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About that taste..
Questionable..?
Nahhhhh. Verdict is in.
:-\ufffd
When the rich assemble to concern themselves with the business of the poor, it is called Charity. When the poor assemble to concern themselves with the business of the rich, it is called Anarchy.
-Paul Richards
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