The New American articles from June 2009

The New American archives from June 2009

Soldiers going everywhere.(Letter to the editor)
June 8, 2009... Thank you for publishing the two articles by Patrick Krey in your February 2, 2009 issue ("Any Volunteers for National Service" and "At Uncle Sam's Service"). We are anxious to see more articles written by this well-informed, courageous writer....

Fewer people, less C[O.sub.2].(Letter to the editor)
June 8, 2009... I read your article by Warren Mass ("The High Cost of Cap and Trade") in the May 11 edition of your magazine. I was looking for some mention of all the carbon dioxide breathed out by humans and animals. Don't they and haven't they been...

Creeping tyranny.(Letter to the editor)
June 8, 2009... The implications of the report authored by the Department of Homeland Security, as noted in the column "Do You Fit the Terrorist Profile?" by William Jasper (THE NEW AMERICAN, April 13) and apparently distributed, according to other sources...

Unemployment smoke and mirrors.(Inside Track)(Brief article)
June 8, 2009... You know the economy is in the tank when officials hail the loss of 539,000 non-farm jobs in the U.S. economy during the month of April as good news. President Barack Obama termed the latest unemployment figures "somewhat encouraging," despite...

Social Security, Medicare running out of money faster than expected.(Inside Track)(Brief article)
June 8, 2009... Social Security and Medicare, Big Government's two most cherished social-welfare programs, are running out of money far faster than expected, thanks to the persistent economic downturn. Medicare, which is already running a deficit, will run out...

Another record-breaking deficit looms.(Inside Track)(budget deficit)(Brief article)
June 8, 2009... The latest budget figures, released in May by the Obama administration contemplate a $1.8 trillion deficit for fiscal 2009 as the United States economy continues to significantly underperform relative to earlier forecasts. This year's...

Montana defies feds on guns.(Inside Track)(Montana Firearms Freedom Act)
June 8, 2009... The state of Montana last month approved what commentators are dubbing a "revolutionary" new law earlier this month. The "Montana Firearms Freedom Act" is set to trigger a legal showdown between the federal government and the state, which is...

Oklahoma rescinds all previous constitutional convention calls.(Inside Track)(Brief article)
June 8, 2009... Oklahoma continues to lead the nation in Constitution-oriented legislation at the state level. The 10th-Amendment resolution introduced in the Oklahoma legislature last year by Rep. Charles Key has led to at least 30 states introducing similar...

A new con-con threat arises.(Inside Track)(constitutional convention)(Brief article)
June 8, 2009... A new constitutional convention threat has arisen this year. Many newly awakened Americans are being mobilized by the Tea Party Movement and the Glenn Beck 9-12 Project to form in favor of some very good causes, such as lower taxes, less...

Credit card meltdown hits banks.(Inside Track)
June 8, 2009... Next up for ailing mega-banks: a credit card meltdown. No surprise here, really; Americans have overused credit cards for years, trusting always in unending economic expansion and plentiful employment to guarantee their ability to service...

Economist expects China to dominate the 21st century.(QuickQuotes)(Nouriel Roubini)(Brief article)
June 8, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "The 19th century was dominated by the British Empire, the 20th century by the United States. We may now be entering the Asian century dominated by a rising China and its currency." New York University professor...

Christianity dying in Arab world.(QuickQuotes)(Christian columnist Sarkis Naoum)(Brief article)
June 8, 2009... "Unless there is a turn toward secularism in the Arab world, I don't think there is a future for Christians here." Sarkis Naoum, a Christian columnist for the Lebanese newspaper Al Nahar, expects a sharply diminishing presence for his...

Columnist urges no on hate-crimes legislation.(QuickQuotes)(Jeff Jacoby)(Brief article)
June 8, 2009... "The best hate-crimes bill Congress can pass is none at all." Pointing out that crimes labeled "hate crimes" are already felonies, Jeff Jacoby disagrees that these transgressions should be considered more grievous because of the motives of...

Comedian points to Biden-style hypocrisy.(QuickQuotes)(Jay Leno on Vice President Joe Biden)(Brief article)
June 8, 2009... "Just a day after saying he wouldn't go anywhere in confined places like an aircraft or a subway because of the swine flu, Vice President Joe Biden rode a train from Washington to Delaware. You know what that means? Not even Joe Biden listens...

Taliban influence gaining in Pakistan.(QuickQuotes)(Bruce Riedel)(Brief article)
June 8, 2009... "They smell blood and they are intoxicated by the idea of a jihadist takeover in Pakistan." A former analyst for the CIA, Bruce Riedel has been watching the growth of Taliban and al-Qaeda influence in the shaky nation.

Idahoan chides fellow lawmakers for accepting federal aid.(QuickQuotes)(Monty Pearce)(Brief article)
June 8, 2009... "They lay the bait out and we take it. Then we whine that we've taken it." A state senator who backs state-sovereignty resolutions, Monty Pearce nevertheless knows that some fellow legislators who agree with him still like accepting federal...

Future looking bleak for radio.(QuickQuotes)(Michael Harrison)(Brief article)
June 8, 2009... "AM/FM radio has about five good years left, if that. What we consider radio today will be on the Internet. The Internet is not only going to change radio; it's going to change humanity. That's how profound this revolution in communication will...

He doesn't like what he calls state capitalism.(QuickQuotes)(author Nicholas von Hoffman)(Brief article)
June 8, 2009... "Then not a drop of oil was imported; now over half is. Then we were trying to figure out how to put our idle factories back to work; now we are trying to figure out where our factories went. Then we were the world's largest creditors; now we...

Tracking your digital trail: innocent-seeming questionnaires, tests, and surveys are increasingly being disseminated by government officials so that they have complete histories on every citizen.(SURVEILLANCE SOCIETY)(Cover story)
June 8, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] At this writing, Republican Congresswoman Virginia Foxx of North Carolina is busy apologizing for her politically incorrect gaffe in arguing against legislation that would expand federal hate-crime laws to include...

Controlling thoughts, words, and deeds: the Matthew Shepard Act, "hate-crime" legislation, is supposedly needed to stop violence against people with abnormal sexual orientations, but it's clear that's not its intended goal.(CULTURE)(Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act)
June 8, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] It's ironic that secularists will accuse traditionalists of being hung up on sex, when they are the ones who cannot stop talking about it and reducing it to the stuff of entertainment--and legislating on it. As for...

Notre Dame: tragedy and hope: the storied Catholic university may have honored pro-abortion-"rights" President Barack Obama, but this "honor" gave Catholic and non-Catholic pro-lifers an opportunity to champion principle over expediency.(CULTURE)
June 8, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] At the University of Notre Dame, opposition to the granting of an honorary Doctor of Laws degree to commencement speaker Barack Obama, president of the United States and the nation's most prominent proponent of...

"Merchant of Death" trial still looms: notorious global weapons trafficker Viktor Bout may now be in jail in Thailand, but extraditing him and fully exposing his Russian sponsors is another matter.(TERRORISM)
June 8, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Russian parliament and media refer to him merely as a "Russian businessman." But to much of the rest of the world, Viktor Bout is known as the "Merchant of Death," the most notorious member of the dark fraternity...

Nurturing the Great Depression: Dr. Robert Higgs makes the case that not only did FDR's New Deal exacerbate the Great Depression, but that it altered America's political and economic landscape.(Depression, War, and the Cold War)(Book review)
June 8, 2009... Depression, War, and the Cold War, by Robert Higgs, Oakland, Calif.: Independent Institute, 2006, 286 pages, paperback. (For ordering information, see the ad on the inside back cover.) With all eyes on the precarious global economy,...

Wrong turn?(THE GOODNESS OF AMERICA)(fire hero Adolfo Valle)
June 8, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] UPI reports that on January 30, 2009, 25-year-old Adolfo Valle was on his way to the grocery store when he accidentally turned down the wrong street. Well, the wrong street to take him to the store, anyway. ...

A community steps up.(THE GOODNESS OF AMERICA)(Fort Thomas, Kentucky)(Brief article)
June 8, 2009... Not only were the prayers of Ruby Brown and her children answered in Adolfo Valle's heroic efforts noted above, but the trio were further blessed after the fire. WCPO also reported on how the community stepped up to help the family, who...

Honesty in the little things.(THE GOODNESS OF AMERICA)(Greg Ghetti)(Brief article)
June 8, 2009... If you were to find a large amount of cash, you might assume it were funny money or crime related; and if you carne across, say, a cashier's check or money order for an exorbitant amount, you may be hesitant to take it to a bank to cash it for...

Another random act of kindness.(THE GOODNESS OF AMERICA)(Brief article)
June 8, 2009... Speaking of what could be considered "little things," KXLY Channel 4 in Spokane, Washington, reported on April 29 how an unnamed good Samaritan spontaneously paid for the groceries of four customers in his checkout line at the grocery store....

The flag of our nation: Americans have a deep-seated love and respect for Old Glory, even if they cannot always express their feelings in words.(HISTORY--PAST AND PERSPECTIVE)
June 8, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The start of a baseball game, a football game, a NASCAR race, or a rodeo is predictable: crowds turn to face the American flag; men doff their hats: women put their hands on their hearts; and the "Star-Spangled...

Second Amendment seesaw.(EXERCISING THE RIGHT)
June 8, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The May 6 Racine County Journal-Times, reporting on a recent attack by four teenaged assailants on a 42-year-old victim, pointed out the unintended consequences of having too many gun-control laws on the books. It...

Armed citizen intervenes, stops fleeing motorist.(EXERCISING THE RIGHT)
June 8, 2009... Shyla Aston, age four, of Mishawaka, Indiana, is dead. Her six-year-old sister Shianna remains in critical condition. But because an armed citizen chose to act, the driver responsible will face an investigation and whatever justice requires....

One saves ten.(EXERCISING THE RIGHT)(Brief article)
June 8, 2009... May 3, College Park, Georgia. Some students were throwing a birthday party at Charles Bailey's abode when, just before 3 a.m., two masked men forced their way inside. Bailey related in the May 4 Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he felt...

Foreign policy dogmatism, not pragmatism.(Correction, Please!)
June 8, 2009... ITEM: A May 6 Reuters article, detailing President Obama meeting with Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, described the president's approach as "pragmatic," "measured"--and of course "diplomatic," "After...

Obama's IMF sneak attack.(THE LAST WORD)(President Barack Obama on financing the International Monetary Fund)
June 8, 2009... A hundred and eight billion dollars--$108,000,000,000. Not exactly an eye-popping sum anymore, in an era of multi-trillion-dollar annual budgets and multi-trillion-dollar annual deficits. Still, even with government spending streaking into the...

Monetary mayhem.(Letter to the editor)
June 22, 2009... THE NEW AMERICAN has again shown the light of truth on the greatest scam in all history--the Federal Reserve System. James Perloff's "How the Monetary Mayhem Began" was superb (April 13)! I have it as essential required reading for my friends...

On the subject of torture.(Letter to the editor)
June 22, 2009... The fact that America has implemented a policy of torture as a routine method of interrogation is a clear indicator that an ugly, tyrannical spirit has subverted our government. What could be more enlightening to know that this and other...

Disagrees about doom.(Letter to the editor)
June 22, 2009... I agree with you folks on, let's say, 95 percent of your positions, but the one you take on global warming (human-cause global warming) just makes you look foolish. The scientific evidence for AGW is overwhelming. I'm certain that intelligent...

Army Chief of Staff says our troops could be in Iraq another 10 years.(Inside Track)(Gen. George Casey)(Brief article)
June 22, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] U.S. Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey told reporters on May 26 that a "reality scenario" for Iraq means "we're going to have 10 Army and Marine units deployed for a decade in Iraq and Afghanistan." Casey's...

Defense Secretary Gates requests more aid for Afghanistan.(Inside Track)(Robert Gates)(Brief article)
June 22, 2009... The "international community" needs to do more to help Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Robert Gates told the eighth Asia Security Summit on May 30. The weekend meeting with Asian defense ministers in Singapore concluded the following day with...

"Missing Link" media coverage went amiss.(Inside Track)(Brief article)
June 22, 2009... "Fossil Ida: extraordinary find is 'missing link' in human evolution," ran the Guardian headline on May 19. The media was abuzz with excitement over the find. As the website of New Scientist magazine pointed out, even "Google's homepage...

Group claims global warming is causing 300,000 deaths per year.(Inside Track)(Global Humanitarian Forum)(Brief article)
June 22, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Global Humanitarian Forum, an organization headed by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, announced on May 29 that climate change is responsible for 300,000 deaths per year throughout the world. The group's...

Obama administration engages in "non-denial denial" on abuse photos.(Inside Track)
June 22, 2009... THE NEW AMERICAN reported in a May 29 online article that the Obama administration and Pentagon were engaging in "non-denial denial" when they supposedly denied a London Daily Telegraph story that they were suppressing photos of female rape and...

A startling result of abortion.(QuickQuotes)(Brief article)
June 22, 2009... "The great irony is that abortion has done what the Klan only dreamed of.... Roughly one quarter of the black population is now missing." [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Dr. Alveda King, the niece of Martin Luther King, Jr., has long been a...

Columnist notes the real issue regarding court nominees.(QuickQuotes)(Thomas Sowell)(Brief article)
June 22, 2009... "Contrary to what many say in the media, or even in academia, it is not a question of whether a judge is personally 'conservative' or 'liberal.' The real question is whether he believes he is there to uphold the Constitution, or the...

The cost of the Afghan war.(QuickQuotes)(Former Air Force Chief of Staff Michael Moseley)(Brief article)
June 22, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "Keeping one U.S. soldier in Afghanistan costs $330,000 annually. The U.S. military has been engaged in various conflicts abroad for 17 years and much of its equipment is seriously run down. The Iraq and Afghan wars...

President states his goal for the U.S. military.(QuickQuotes)(President Barack Obama)(Brief article)
June 22, 2009... "As long as I am your commander in chief, I will only send you into harm's way when it is absolutely necessary, and with the strategy and the well-defined goals, the equipment and the support that you need to get the job done." Delivering...

Secretary of State backs benefits for diplomatic corps same-sex partners.(QuickQuotes)(Hillary Rodham Clinton)(Brief article)
June 22, 2009... "Like all families, our Foreign Service families come in different configurations. At bottom, the department will provide these benefits for both opposite-sex and same-sex partners because it's the right thing to do." In an internal memo,...

If only he always practiced what he now preaches!(QuickQuotes)(congressman Barney Frank)(Brief article)
June 22, 2009... "Most actions the government should stay out of." Liberal congressman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) made this statement when considering a bill that would roll back a ban on Internet gambling, an activity he believes the government should stay out...

Madoff scheme very costly to American Jews.(QuickQuotes)(professor Jonathan Sarna on Bernard Madoff)(Brief article)
June 22, 2009... "The American Jewish community has probably lost 30 percent of its wealth." Jonathan Sarna, a professor of American Jewish history at Brandeis University, has carefully examined the losses incurred by those who trusted Bernard Madoff.

Opponent of "gay" marriage dismayed by lack of concern.(QuickQuotes)(Assemblyman Dov Hikind)(Brief article)
June 22, 2009... "Wake up! Where are you? It's the bottom of the ninth, two outs, and you're losing--big time." New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind has felt the effect of proponents of "gay" marriage, and he wonders why those who oppose legalizing the...

Green fairy tales: the Obama administration's energy policy revolves around cutting energy usage and increasing "green" energy supplies. We examine the odds of the plan's success.(ENERGY)(Cover story)
June 22, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Many factors have enabled the United States to become the wealthiest nation on Earth: limited government, secure property rights, a free-market capitalist economic system, a relatively stable currency, and an...

Government motors: General Motors, once a proud success story of American free-enterprise capitalism, is now in the vanguard of our nation's precipitous plunge into full-blown socialism.(ECONOMY)
June 22, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Monday, June 1, was the end of an era for the American automotive industry. As nearly everyone not living in the jungles of Borneo knows by now, once-mighty General Motors, the flagship corporation of American...

Notre Dame off course: Notre Dame University veered way off course long before Father John Jenkins invited President Barack Obama to give this year's commencement speech.(EDUCATION)
June 22, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Notre Dame University went ahead with both the honorary degree and the commencement speech for pro-abortion President Barack Obama despite a multiplicity of protests. Seventy Catholic bishops sharply criticized the...

Angels & Demons: the protestations of Ron Howard, the director of Angels & Demons, that this film is not anti-Catholic ring hollow and are an insult to intelligence.(Movie review)
June 22, 2009... Angels & Demons, the controversial film directed by Ron Howard and based on Dan Brown's book by the same name, is as fanciful as it is controversial. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] As it begins, we learn that the pope has just died, and a...

No greater love.(THE GOODNESS OF AMERICA)(Jerry Avant Jr., the hero nurse who died on a shooting incident)
June 22, 2009... The March 29, 2009 shooting rampage by Robert Stewart at the Pinelake Health and Rehab Center in Carthage, N.C., in which seven patients were gunned down, was a terrible tragedy. But within the context of that tragedy comes the heroic story of...

Complimentary critter care.(THE GOODNESS OF AMERICA)(Union Gospel Mission's pet care)
June 22, 2009... The Union Gospel Mission near downtown Spokane, Washington, is an evangelical Christian ministry that provides a variety of services to the homeless, indigent, and people in crisis. You would not be surprised to see, well, homeless and indigent...

Coming of age.(THE GOODNESS OF AMERICA)(Sam Horbal, a 13-year-old boy who donated his money to a adoption service)(Brief article)
June 22, 2009... Bar mitzvah: One to whom the commandments apply. At the age of 13, Jewish young men reach the age of majority and become responsible for their actions. It is a time of great import, and often of great celebration. When Sam Horbal, of Newtown,...

A primer on the Illuminati: the genuine historical evidence on the secret society is every bit as fascinating as the fabrications and fantasies now circulating in our pop culture.(HISTORY--PAST AND PERSPECTIVE)(Essay)
June 22, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Type "Illuminati" into an Internet search engine and you will wind up with an impossible aggregation too numerous and contradictory to be useful. A search on Ask.com yields 1.4 million entries, while the same at...

Carjacking coward.(EXERCISING THE RIGHT)(Brief article)
June 22, 2009... The perpetrators of a rash of carjackings that have taken place in the Tampa, Florida area have concerned Tampa police. Police spokeswoman Laura McElroy told reporters for ABC's WFS TV, "They appear to be very determined because if they're not...

Father defends son.(EXERCISING THE RIGHT)(Brief article)
June 22, 2009... Sixty-six-year-old Talbert Johnson of Weatherford, Texas, was exonerated by a Parker County Grand Jury for his armed defense of his son, according to a report in the April 29 Weatherford Democrat. A grand jury was convened to determine the...

Rifle range road.(EXERCISING THE RIGHT)(Brief article)
June 22, 2009... Nikki McCormick, a 21-year-old car thief, was shot in the head by the owner of a car she helped steal. While she lay bleeding in the passenger seat, a second thief, a male suspect, fled on foot, leaving her to die. The Central Florida News...

Son protects mom.(EXERCISING THE RIGHT)(Brief article)
June 22, 2009... An unidentified young man in Pascagoula, Mississippi, defended his mother on April 24 when the mother woke up just after midnight to discover an intruder breaking into her home through her bedroom window. When the mother saw the man at her...

Overdosing on Obamacare.(Correction, Please!)(President Barack Obama's health care reform)
June 22, 2009... ITEM: George Stephanopoulos informed ABC television watchers on May 11 that this is "probably the best chance we've had in 15 or 16 years to actually get a comprehensive health care plan through." The major difference between now and 1994, when...

Confession of a lawmaking judge.(THE LAST WORD)(appointment of Sonia Sotomayor as Supreme Court Justice)
June 22, 2009... Soon America will move, in all likelihood, from a Supreme Court with a Justice David Souter as a member to a court with a Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Neither the alphabetical order of the justices nor the constitutional disorder will change....