The New American articles from August 2008

The New American archives from August 2008

Fine form of government.(LETTERS TO THE EDITOR)(Letter to the editor)
August 4, 2008... Thank you for the outstanding article on the Constitution entitled "Government Is Not the Problem," by Edwin Vieira, Jr., in the June 23, 2008 issue of THE NEW AMERICAN, in which Vieira explains that congressmen may not legally ignore or...

Where are the penalties?(LETTERS TO THE EDITOR)(Letter to the editor)
August 4, 2008... In your June 23 article "Whose Children Are They, Anyway?," you stated that the Texas Supreme Court has ruled that the children of the YFZ Ranch were inappropriately removed from their parents. So where are the "kidnapping" charges? Even if...

More people = more laws.(LETTERS TO THE EDITOR)(Letter to the editor)
August 4, 2008... The history of the United States displays a common theme: more people beget more laws. It's about that simple. Freedom bears an inverse relationship to population. The frontiersman's open range was curtailed when smoke was observed from the...

Kasparov analyzes the games of Mugabe, Putin, and Medvedev.(Inside Track)(Gary Kasparov, Robert Mugabe, Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Medvedev )(Brief article)
August 4, 2008... Western political leaders and media pundits expressed outrage at the friendly reception accorded Zimbabwe's defiant dictator, Robert Mugabe, by fellow African leaders at the recent annual summit of the African Union in Egypt. Mugabe, who had...

Visa waiver for Bulgaria is good for U.S. security?(Inside Track)(Viewpoint essay)(Brief article)
August 4, 2008... In a June 18 White House meeting with Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev, President Bush announced that "today because of the Prime Minister's hard work, there has been a breakthrough on the visa waiver, as an important step toward...

Guantanamo interrogations based on communist Chinese methods.(Inside Track)(Brief article)
August 4, 2008... A Senate Armed Services Committee hearing held on June 17 made public several documents from the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, including a chart that outlined the use of "coercive management techniques" by military interrogators....

IndyMac Bank's ominous failure.(Inside Track)(IndyMac Bancorp Inc.)
August 4, 2008... As of Tuesday, July 15, crowds outside branches of the failed California bank IndyMac were getting ugly. On the second business day after federal agents seized control of bank assets and promised orderly restitution of FDIC-insured funds to...

Paulson-Bernanke plan would give the fed broad new powers.(Inside Track)(Henry Paulson, Ben Bernanke, Federal Reserve Board )
August 4, 2008... On Thursday, July 10, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke testified before the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Financial Services. The backdrop for the committee meeting, of course, is the...

Obama, McCain address La Raza.(Inside Track)(Barack Obama, John McCain, National Council of La Raza)(Brief article)
August 4, 2008... While Representatives Tom Tancredo, Ron Paul, and Duncan Hunter were in the presidential race, immigration and border security were pushed to center stage. In the crowded early primaries, Republican and Democrat candidates alike rushed to the...

States, local governments dealing with illegal-alien crisis.(Inside Track)(Brief article)
August 4, 2008... In the absence of proper federal immigration enforcement, state and local governments have been forced to take action. Escondido, California, in northern San Diego county, has long been a destination for many illegal aliens from Mexico. The...

Former Senator Jesse helms passes away on July 4.(Inside Track)(Obituary)(Brief article)
August 4, 2008... On July 4 of this year, an old patriot passed away. Former five-term North Carolina Senator Jesse Helms, retired since 2002, finally succumbed at 86 after a long career on the forefront of American conservatism during the Cold War and...

China tells French president to ignore the Dalai Lama.(QuickQuotes)(Nicolas Sarkozy)(Brief article)
August 4, 2008... "It would be contrary to the principle of non-interference in internal affairs [and would invite] serious consequences." China's ambassador to France, Kong Quan, arrogantly issued a statement insisting that French President Nicolas Sarkozy...

Iran threatens instant retaliation if attacked.(QuickQuotes)(Brief article)
August 4, 2008... "In case that they commit such foolishness, Tel Aviv and the U.S. fleet in the Persian Gulf would be the first targets to burst into flames receiving Iran's crushing response." Senior Iranian official Ali Shirazi, representing supreme...

She will be our nation's first female four-star general.(QuickQuotes)(Brief article)
August 4, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "I grew up in a family that didn't know what glass ceilings were." Nominated to lead the U.S. Army's Materiel Command, Lt. Gen. Ann Dunwoody will receive promotion to full general once confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

Gun rights advocates demonstrate at Supreme Court.(QuickQuotes)(Brief article)
August 4, 2008... "If guns kill people, do pens misspell words?" Among the many demonstrators who gathered outside the Supreme Court as the District of Columbia v. Heller decision was announced, one sign holder posed an interesting question.

Iowa flood victim unhappy with weather statistics.(QuickQuotes)(Kim Dummermuth)(Brief article)
August 4, 2008... "I've lived through two 100-year floods and now the 500-year flood. I'm 53, so that makes me 753. I'm going to pass Moses if we have another one." Corn and soybean farmer Kim Dummermuth has seen his land flooded three times when weather...

McCain wants a free trade agreement for the entire hemisphere.(QuickQuotes)(John McCain)(Brief article)
August 4, 2008... "I would like to see a hemispheric free trade agreement." Issuing a call for passage of a U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement while he visited the South American nation, GOP presidential candidate John McCain praised NAFTA and then expressed...

A suggested meeting place for the presidential candidates.(QuickQuotes)(Brief article)
August 4, 2008... "Now that Barack Obama has met Hillary Clinton in Unity, New Hampshire, he should next meet John McCain in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico." Boston Globe letter writer Helen Leviton offered an interesting choice for a future Obama-McCain...

Liberated hostage describes his Colombian captors.(QuickQuotes)(Marc Gonsalves)(Brief article)
August 4, 2008... "The FARC are not a revolutionary group. They are terrorists with a Capital T. Bad people." After more than five years of captivity in the jungles of Colombia, Marc Gonsalves was one of several beneficiaries of a daring yet successful...

Restraining orders out of control: millions of domestic-abuse protection restraining orders are given out every year in American courts based on false allegations, ruining the lives of children and families.(FAMILY LAW)(Cover story)
August 4, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] One day in December of 2005, Colleen Nestler came to Santa Fe County District Court in New Mexico with a bizarre seven-page typed statement and requested a domestic-abuse restraining order against late-night TV host...

Congressional races: a brief look at some of the interesting races in this year's congressional elections is a reminder that the legislative branch is where voters can have the greatest influence.(CONGRESS)
August 4, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] While much of the nation's political attention this summer and fall will be focused on the presidential election, voters will once again determine the makeup of the legislative branch, electing the entire House of...

Bias in media coverage: an overwhelming majority of the news media have adopted the perspective that global farming is man-made. Such a major issue deserves more unbiased, objective reporting.(MEDIA)(Viewpoint essay)
August 4, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In June 2000 global-warming prophesier Ross Gelbspan lamented, "Over the last seven years, the fossil-fuel lobby has mounted an extremely effective campaign of disinformation to persuade public and policymakers that...

A necessary history lesson: Patrick Buchanan's Churchill, Hitler, and the Unnecessary War teaches a history lesson that warns America not to follow the same path Britain took in the early 20th century.(Book review)
August 4, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Churchill, Hitler, and the Unnecessary War: How Britain Lost Its Empire and the West Lost the World, by Patrick J. Buchanan: New York: Random House, 2008, 518 pages, hardcover $29.95. Pat Buchanan's new book...

Businessman aids students.(THE GOODNESS OF AMERICA)(Charles McVean)
August 4, 2008... Last March, Charles McVean, a highly successful commodities trader and philanthropist from Memphis, Tennessee, paid a visit to Shelby, Mississippi, to meet with local businessman Rives Neblett. Shelby, an impoverished town of 2,900 people in...

Teens help accident victim.(THE GOODNESS OF AMERICA)(Ryan Cox, Mathew West, Alex Holman, and Tanner Bringhurst )
August 4, 2008... On May 3, Jim Leslie and his fiancee, Audrey Haire of Pocatello, Idaho, were riding their ATVs on a rugged trail. As Jim reached the top of a ravine he looked back and saw that Audrey's ATV had stalled and had started to roll backward. ...

Boy saves sister from fire.(THE GOODNESS OF AMERICA)(Robert Chapman, )(Brief article)
August 4, 2008... Back on May 4, 13-year-old Robert Chapman of Obetz, Ohio, was cooking dinner in the kitchen of the family home. His father had left to take his mother to work, and Robert was alone with his younger sister. Robert was startled by a sudden...

Chile's Social Security success: unlike America's Social Security system, Chile's pension plan is sailing relatively smoothly. As many countries follow Chile's lead, should the United States also get on board?(HISTORY--PAST AND PERSPECTIVE)
August 4, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Think of the United States as a latter-day Titanic. Super-modern. Super-rich. And heading for an iceberg of colossal proportions. Unthinkable? So, too, was it unthinkable that the Titanic--at 46,329 tons, the...

Future butt of jokes.(EXERCISING THE RIGHT)(Brief article)
August 4, 2008... At about 3 a.m. on May 9, a Memphis man and his wife "woke up to the sound of a big crash and his dogs barking," reported myeyewitnessnews.com. When the man investigated, he "discovered a crook dangling from his SUV trying to steal items from...

Half-done holdup.(EXERCISING THE RIGHT)(Brief article)
August 4, 2008... On May 25, Juan Ibarra was picking up a work trailer at a Houston townhouse complex where his company had been doing some roofing so that the trailer would be safe over the holiday weekend. Ibarra, a concealed-carry permit holder, "was hitching...

Army man doesn't scare.(EXERCISING THE RIGHT)(Eugene Johnson)(Brief article)
August 4, 2008... Twenty-year Army veteran Eugene Johnson's house was broken into on May 16. He and his wife were not home at the time. He told the Patriot-News about the incident: "They trashed the place and stole money." On May 30, a second burglary...

Vacancy.(EXERCISING THE RIGHT)
August 4, 2008... Seventy-year-old Billy Jackson, who owns many rental properties in Louisville, Kentucky's rough west end, and his wife were cleaning and repairing an apartment that a tenant had vacated after about eight years of occupancy. When Jackson needed...

Mom's coming.(EXERCISING THE RIGHT)(Brief article)
August 4, 2008... In Coral Gables, Florida, on June 6, a 16-year-old girl was walking her dog in front of her house when a man in a truck, later identified as Raymundo Del Risco, tried to get her into his truck. She told him no, but he kept insisting, saying he...

Moral behind Mugabe.(Correction, Please!)(Robert Mugabe)(Viewpoint essay)
August 4, 2008... ITEM: On June 23, Time magazine reported on the elections in Zimbabwe: "The world has greeted Mugabe's victory with outrage. There are moves to impose U.N. Security Council sanctions against Zimbabwe and pressure African governments to turn the...

Counting the cost of war with Iran.(THE LAST WORD)
August 4, 2008... Will we be seeing $10-$12/gallon gasoline and a lot more body bags before the end of the year? That depends on the answers to a couple other important questions, such as: will the Bush-Cheney war hawks launch a war against Iran before the...

The history of history.(LETTERS TO THE EDITOR)(Letter to the editor)
August 18, 2008... Becky Akers' historical article about the signing of the Declaration, "That Significant, Sensational Signing" (July 7 issue), was well done. However, the identification of the familiar painting by John Trumbull on page 33 as "The Signing of the...

Christianizing atrocities.(LETTERS TO THE EDITOR)(Letter to the editor)
August 18, 2008... For too long, several members of what Professor Norman Finkelstein has called The Holocaust Industry have slandered Christianity and certain Christians in Europe by blaming them for Nazi atrocities. Thanks to Selwyn Duke's outstanding article...

Going for black gold.(LETTERS TO THE EDITOR)(Letter to the editor)
August 18, 2008... I've worked in the oil and gas industry directly or indirectly for 37 years, and I agree totally with all of Steven Yates' assessments in the article "Why So High" in the July 7 issue, but I do disagree with the picture caption on page 11,...

Correction.(LETTERS TO THE EDITOR)(Correction notice)
August 18, 2008... CORRECTION: In the article "The Bravest of the Brave" in our July 21 issue, we stated that Admiral James B. Stockdale earned his Medal of Honor in 1961. We should have listed the date as 1969.

A housing bill of horrors.(Inside Track)
August 18, 2008... In response to the housing crisis, the American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008 (H.R. 3221) passed in the House (272-152) on July 23 and in the Senate (72-13) on July 26. This legislation added another new agency to the...

Laying down blame for our economic troubles.(Inside Track)
August 18, 2008... After President George W. Bush asked guests at a Republican fundraiser to turn off their cameras--which at least one person failed to do--he proceeded to blame Wall Street for the current financial and housing troubles: "Wall Street got...

Afghan narcotics efforts called into question.(Inside Track)(Brief article)
August 18, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Thomas Schweich, recently retired principal deputy assistant secretary for the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) and coordinator for counternarcotics and justice reform in...

The growing Tehran-Beijing axis.(Inside Track)
August 18, 2008... Communist China's ravenous energy appetite has fueled its growing political and economic ties with Iran's revolutionary government. On July 21, Iran's Pars Oil & Gas Company and China's CNOOC (China National Offshore Oil Corp.) finalized...

Antiterrorism aid to upgrade Pakistan's aging F-16s.(Inside Track)(Brief article)
August 18, 2008... Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the U.S. government has given Pakistan more than $10 billion in military aid to fight terrorism, despite the fact that the country has been a military dictatorship under U.S.-backed Pervez Musharraf, who now...

Running for president of the world?(Inside Track)
August 18, 2008... On July 24, presidential candidate Barack Obama arrived in Berlin in a stop sandwiched between visits to Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Jordan, Israel, and the Palestinian territories beforehand, and subsequent stops in Paris and London before...

Against bailing out Fannie and Freddie.(QuickQuotes)(Quotation)(Brief article)
August 18, 2008... "Congress ought to recognize that these firms are insolvent, that it is allowing these firms to continue to exist as bastions of privilege, financed by the taxpayers." Former St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank president William Poole is a...

Fed chief considers inflation "a tax".(QuickQuotes)(Ben Bernanke)(Brief article)
August 18, 2008... "Congressman, I couldn't agree with you more that inflation is a tax, and that inflation is currently too high." Responding to Congressman Ron Paul's charge that he was "probably the biggest taxer in the country," Federal Reserve Chairman...

Colorado referendum seen as grave threat to abortion.(QuickQuotes)(Quotation)(Brief article)
August 18, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "If we give fertilized eggs legal rights, abortion could be considered murder and a woman could be sent to jail for making the difficult life decision to terminate a pregnancy." As a spokesperson for the organization...

One result of high gasoline prices.(QuickQuotes)
August 18, 2008... "The way gas prices are, people are rediscovering their feet." New Jersey highway traffic safety director Pam Fischer sees more people walking these days.

Nice to see someone building America's manufacturing base.(QuickQuotes)(Quotation)(Brief article)
August 18, 2008... "America got tired of manufacturing. But it remains a great way to make money." After reopening a pots-and-pans factory in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, Tim Martinez is doing well, creating jobs and proving that success can still be had in America.

Budweiser employee unhappy at company's sale to Belgian firm.(QuickQuotes)(Quotation)(Brief article)
August 18, 2008... "The good Lord was sold out for 30 pieces of silver. We were sold out for $70 a share." Condemning the sale to Belgium's InBev, 30-year Budweiser employee Dave Liszewski expressed the view of many of his co-workers about the blockbuster deal.

He's right about two-thirds of his complaint.(QuickQuotes)(AI Gore)(Quotation)(Brief article)
August 18, 2008... "We're borrowing money from China to buy oil from the Persian Gulf to burn it in ways that destroy the planet. Every bit of that has to change." Speaking to a mostly young audience in the nation's capital AI Gore urged doing away with all...

House leader refuses to back need for offshore oil drilling.(QuickQuotes)(Nancy Pelosi)(Quotation)(Brief article)
August 18, 2008... "The president of the United States, with gas at $4 a gallon because of his failed energy policies, is now trying to say that it is because I couldn't drill offshore. That is not the cause and I am not going to let him get away with it." ...

Behind the Olympic news: as the 2008 Olympic Games approach, Chinese authorities are working overtime to make sure that the world sees only a positive image of their oppressive regime.(CHINA)(Cover story)
August 18, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] On July 19, the Washington Post Foreign Service published an article about China's preparations for the Olympic Games. For a glimpse of the continued communist-style repression in that huge country, we offer part of...

Senate races: in this year's Senate races, the Democrats are positioned to not only solidify their gains from two years ago, but to threaten some of the Republicans' former strongholds.(POLITICS)
August 18, 2008... With an unpopular Republican president presiding over a slumping economy, soaring fuel prices, and two wars in the Middle East, Republicans face an uphill battle in many of this year's Senate races. Republicans must defend 23 of their 49 seats...

Algae may be an energy answer: ethanol production from corn and soybeans is pummeling the world's hungry, and biodiesel is following the same track. Will crude oil from algae result in a third failure or lead to biofuel's Shangri-La? You decide.(ENERGY)
August 18, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A modern society such as that in the United States requires personal transportation--cargo trucks, planes, and cars--to make a market economy work. Any serious effort to move our country to mass transportation, such...

Champion family: a single-parent household overcomes obstacles to demonstrate the power of family, faith, and academic freedom.(CULTURE)(Interview)
August 18, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] On February 28 of this year, California's 2nd Appellate Court in Los Angeles ruled that home schooling is illegal in California unless done by a certified teacher, and that parents do not have a constitutional right...

Fifth grader to the rescue.(THE GOODNESS OF AMERICA)(Ryan Tyler)(Brief article)
August 18, 2008... On May 19, Ryan Tyler, a 10-year-old fifth grader at Maplewood Elementary School in Puyallup, Washington, was eating lunch in the school cafeteria when he noticed that a classmate seemed to be in trouble. The classmate, whose name is...

A four-generation Eagle-Scout family!(THE GOODNESS OF AMERICA)(Boggess family)(Brief article)
August 18, 2008... Reaching the rank of Eagle Scout is the highest honor in Scouting, and a family that counts even a single Eagle Scout among its members has justifiable reason to feel proud. Needless to say, members of the Boggess family of Arizona, which...

Supporting local police.(THE GOODNESS OF AMERICA)(Brief article)
August 18, 2008... On May 20, Knoxville, Tennessee, police officer Norman Rickman responded to a burglary alarm at a city home. While attempting to apprehend a suspect, the officer was shot. Meanwhile, across the street, Tim Hall, who is a registered nurse,...

On the way to prom, students stop for rescue.(THE GOODNESS OF AMERICA)(Brief article)
August 18, 2008... On a night in May, Sarah Ridgeway and her prom date, Andrew Voiles, of Brownsburg, Indiana, were as excited as any young couple going to the prom. After posing for photos at Sarah's house, they left for Andrew's to take more pictures. As they...

Nazi counterfeiters: the story of a Nazi counterfeiting scheme during WWII illustrates the clear difference between governments that are free and those that are totalitarian.(HISTORY--PAST AND PERSPECTIVE)
August 18, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Imagine a situation in which billions of expertly counterfeited dollars have suddenly flooded our streets and rooftops--literally dropped from airplanes. Some of the counterfeit bills would be turned in, but others...

Mentalities mined.(EXERCISING THE RIGHT)
August 18, 2008... A June 9, 2008 story about a homeowner shooting a burglar, printed in the Contra Costa Times (California), provides some interesting perspective on the mind-sets of some of the people involved in the story. First, of course, is the...

Bank bust.(EXERCISING THE RIGHT)(Brief article)
August 18, 2008... Nabil Fawzi was at his bank in Canton Township, Michigan, when he noticed that the bank teller who was helping him seemed out of sorts. He asked her what was the matter, and she told him that she thought the bank was being robbed. The bank...

Two against three.(EXERCISING THE RIGHT)(Brief article)
August 18, 2008... Chris Ricketts of Lebanon, Tennessee, had already left for work by 7:00 a.m. on June 19 when three individuals--22-year-old Timmy Tomlinson, 26-year-old Jeffrey Craddock, and 29-year-old Shanna Seibers--broke into his house, but that didn't...

Bad bear.(EXERCISING THE RIGHT)(Brief article)
August 18, 2008... On June 14 at about 1:30 a.m., some residents in the Alaskan town of Galena heard noises outside and investigated. When they did, a bear rushed toward a young man, Christopher Kriska, and his younger sister, Cecily Settle. The two were saved...

Bailout for Fannie and Freddie.(Correction, Please!)
August 18, 2008... ITEM: The president said that Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae should remain private enterprises, reported USA Today for July 15. "President Bush sought to reassure Americans Tuesday about the strength of the nation's banking and mortgage lending...

Gorbachev to receive Liberty Medal.(THE LAST WORD)(Mikhail Gorbachev)
August 18, 2008... "I think history will be very kind to Gorbachev." That's the opinion of 84-year-old ex-president George H.W. Bush concerning former Soviet dictator Mikhail Gorbachev, as expressed recently to reporters at the Bushes' luxurious Kennebunkport...