The New American articles from November 2002

The New American archives from November 2002

Rockefeller speaks up for the Earth Charter. (Letters to the Editor).
November 4, 2002... THE NEW AMERICAN essay on "The New World Religion" by William F. Jasper (September 23rd issue), contains some misunderstandings about the Earth Charter Initiative which I would like to address. 1. The Earth Charter is the product of a...

Congress abdicates war powers. (Insider Report).
November 4, 2002... The October 11th AP report on Congress' approval of a "use of force" resolution against Iraq appeared pretty definitive: "Congress approved the use of America's military might against Iraq, reinforcing President Bush's insistence that Saddam...

Communism's lethal afterlife. (Insider Report).
November 4, 2002... While the apparent fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 is ritually celebrated as the triumph of the West, "I find very little to celebrate," observes Soviet-era dissident Vladimir Bukovsky in an essay published in the Autumn 2002 Salisbury Review....

Globalizing the Supreme Court. (Insider Report).
November 4, 2002... Writing in the September/October American Spectator, Jeremy Rabkin, a professor of government at Cornell, highlighted a constitutional "iceberg" lurking in a footnote to a recent Supreme Court decision. Last June, in its Atkins v. Virginia...

IRA murders revealed. (Insider Report).
November 4, 2002... "Gerry Adams, the Sinn Fein president, formed a special unit within the IRA which was responsible for the execution of a mother of 10 in 1972," reported the September 30th London Daily Telegraph. Although Adams has always claimed that he was...

The border war continues. (Insider Report).
November 4, 2002... After listening to radical activists in Tucson, a group of Mexican senators demanded U.S. action "to help reduce the record death toll at the Arizona border," reported the October 4th Tucson Citizen. Of course, the admittedly tragic death toll...

Al-Qaeda's Balkan presence. (Insider Report).
November 4, 2002... While the Bush administration redirected its focus in the "war on terror" to Iraq, U.S. troops under UN/NATO command are scouring the Balkans for al-Qaeda agents. StrategyPage.com reported in late September that "NATO troops continue to comb...

Global warming models flawed. (Insider Report).
November 4, 2002... Predictions generated by computer models have formed the basis for many claims that the Earth is warming. But U.S. scientists at the Amundsen-Scott station at the South Pole have found that the atmosphere over the pole is 20 to 30 degrees...

Should we trust feds with guns? (Insider Report).
November 4, 2002... Most who oppose the individual right to armed self-defense believe that only "public servants" such as police and military personnel should be trusted to carry firearms. This assumes that government personnel--unlike civilians--are paragons of...

Compelled interdependence. (Insider Report).
November 4, 2002... "President George Bush decided to turn to the United Nations after being advised that the U.S. military was unprepared for a war with Iraq," reported World Tribune.com on September 24th. "Western diplomatic sources said Bush's surprise call for...

Bones of contention: infamous for reportedly bizarre initiation rituals, Yale's secret society Skull and Bones serves as a recruiting ground for entrants into the covert international Power Elite. (Conspiracy).
November 4, 2002... How did George W. Bush become president? This question is not meant to address his election, but rather his means of ascent as a viable candidate for the office. Whatever one thinks of Mr. Bush's character, abilities, and policies, there are...

Rebutting Rockefeller: the chairman of the Earth Charter drafting committee takes issue with this magazine's expose, "The New World Religion." The facts show that his objections are not sustainable. (Earth Charter).
November 4, 2002... Professor Steven C. Rockefeller has objected to my critique of the Earth Charter, "The New World Religion," in the September 23rd issue of THE NEW AMERICAN. (See his full letter on page 3). The article, he says, "contains some...

The Potemkin global villages: far from representing "global civil society," the Earth Charter Community Summits were tiny gatherings of ultra-left activists financed by wealthy, one-world elitists. (At a Glance).
November 4, 2002... In the 18th century, Russian Prince Grigori Potemkin pulled off a colossal sham earning his name a place in history. As Catherine the Great's chief administrator, Potemkin endeavored to impress his empress with his industry and skill in...

The conservative index: our final look at the 107th Congress shows how every member of the House and Senate voted on key issues, including war authorization against Iraq, arming pilots, and taxes. (Congress).
November 4, 2002... House Vote Descriptions 61 Welfare Renewal -- Democratic Substitute. The Democratic substitute to the welfare renewal bill (H.R. 4737) would "expand state flexibility to provide training and education to welfare recipients, increase...

Just doing his job. (The Goodness of America).
November 4, 2002... Washington, D.C., firefighter John Turner joined the department as a cadet in 1987. On August 3rd of this year, he nearly lost his life while helping to evacuate residents of a burning apartment building in northwest Washington. The 10-story,...

Jumping in to help. (The Goodness of America).
November 4, 2002... Carolyn Kelly, 81, and Harlem and Nina Hutchinson (90 arid 83, respectively) had been residents of the Glen Retirement Village in Shreveport, Louisiana, for about a year when, shortly after 4:30 p.m. on September 1st, the Hutchinsons were...

Thug takes a beating. (The Goodness of America).
November 4, 2002... On September 18th, a would-be robber entered a store in New Kensington, Pennsylvania. He grabbed the cashier by the wrists and threatened to cut her with a metal can opener that he then used in an attempt to open the cash register. A...

Artist of the American Revolution: both soldier and artist, John Trumbull saw the war for independence firsthand and was moved to memorialize the historic events on canvas. (History: Struggle for Freedom).
November 4, 2002... Reflecting on our nation's glorious and providential founding automatically brings to mind the images created by the brush of Connecticut's John Trumbull. Rightly viewed as the "Artist of the American Revolution," Trumbull was also a combat...

The wrong target. (Exercising the Right).
November 4, 2002... At around 10 p.m. on September 21st, two men bent on burglary broke into a Dallas, Texas, residence. They could hardly have been less astute in selecting a target. Homeowner Chris Gilliam is a senior corporal with, and a spokesman for, the...

Close call. (Exercising the Right).
November 4, 2002... Shortly after 1 a.m. on September 18th, four armed thugs approached a 25-year-old St. Louis, Missouri, man, who has requested anonymity. Outnumbered, the would-be victim initially did not resist, telling them that they could take whatever they...

Still a fighter. (Exercising the Right).
November 4, 2002... Harvey Keefe of North Minneapolis, Minnesota, recently celebrated his 80th birthday. As a young Marine during World War II, he fought the Japanese at Iwo Jima and Guam, receiving two Purple Hearts for the wounds he suffered. At around 11...

Belligerent bobcat. (Exercising the Right).
November 4, 2002... On the afternoon of August 29th, brothers John and Bryan Stynchula were working on a cabin three miles west of Del Norte, Colorado, when a bobcat emerged from the woods and attacked them. John climbed a scaffolding to safety, while Bryan ran...

Correction, please!
November 4, 2002... Taking Leave of Your Cents ITEM: California Governor Gray Davis signed a bill "creating the nation's first comprehensive paid family leave," reported the Los Angeles Times for September 24th. The governor and other "advocates of the bill...

"Citizen of the world" Clinton. (The Last Word).
November 4, 2002... For close to an hour on October 3rd, private citizen Bill Clinton addressed the British Labor Party's annual conference in Blackpool, England. Invited by Prime Minister Tony Blair, his devoted friend and ideological soul mate, the former...

George W. Bush, Saddam Hussein, and the UN. (Letters to the Editor).
November 18, 2002... Frequently THE NEW AMERICAN criticizes our president, especially regarding Iraq. I would never side with Saddam Hussein against George Bush. Perhaps you are on the wrong side of this issue. President Bush says he will act whether the United...

Sniper misfire. (Insider Report).
November 18, 2002... During the Washington, D.C.-area sniper rampage that left 10 innocent people dead, left-wing activist Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at Cal State-San Bernadino, confidently told the Christian Science...

Guns in the wrong hands. (Insider Report).
November 18, 2002... In the outpouring of commentary about the Washington, D.C. area sniper rampage, one fact was almost completely ignored: John Allen Muhammad, the older of the accused snipers, was a disgruntled ex-federal employee. Like Timothy McVeigh, Howard...

Putin's terror war. (Insider Report).
November 18, 2002... On the day after the deadly end of October's hostage crisis in Moscow, Russian ruler Vladimir Putin "empowered the military to wage a broad American-style war against terrorists even outside Russian borders," reported the October 28th...

La reconquista will be televised. (Insider Report).
November 18, 2002... While all but unknown to most Americans, Jorge Ramos, who arrived from Mexico in 1983, is a household name in our nation's growing Mexican subculture. Since 1986, Ramos has been anchorman on Noticieros, the evening news program on the...

FBI opens Beijing office. (Insider Report).
November 18, 2002... On July 4, 1994, then-FBI Director Louis Freeh was in Moscow to sign a cooperation pact between the Bureau and the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), the renamed KGB. This year, Attorney General John Ashcroft chose October 24th -- United...

Marxist axis in Latin America. (Insider Report).
November 18, 2002... Nearly 40 years ago, as Brazil teetered on the precipice of a Marxist coup, that nation's middle class arose in a peaceful counter-revolution preventing the takeover. Ravaged by inflation and subversion, Brazil -- the largest nation in South...

China's economic impact. (Insider Report).
November 18, 2002... Beginning in the early 1980s, the vision of a vast consumer market lured transnational corporations to China. However, instead of becoming a huge market for consumer goods, China is "becoming the world's factory floor," notes the October 17th...

Unmentionable vice goes mainstream: homosexuality's rapid rise from unmentionable vice to celebrated minority status is part of a campaign to subvert Judeo-Christian culture. (Cover Story: Culture War).
November 18, 2002... We [homosexual activists] have gone underground and we have people in every one of the Religious Right's organizations. We're on their mailing lists. We're reading everything they're putting out. We think the words from their mouths trickle...

Why should we care? Natural abhorrence must not prevent Americans from facing homosexuality's threat to the sanctity of our families, the freedom of our beliefs, and the foundation of our society. (Cover Story: Culture War).
November 18, 2002... "Senators, my opponent has the advantage of me," commented the Roman orator Cicero in one of his speeches condemning Marcus Antonius. "He has done things a gentleman cannot discuss in public." A similar reluctance sometimes seizes decent people...

The miracle of recovery: though the ecological legacy of the Yellowstone wildfires is a mixed bag for some species, the forest's remarkable recovery shows how the news media overstated the fire's impact. (Environment).
November 18, 2002... When it comes to sustaining or renewing Earth's resources, man's relatively puny efforts, via such collectivist ploys as Earth Summits and special-interest environmental crusades, pale in comparison to the wondrous checks and balances built...

Passing of a patriot: Hilaire du Berrier -- daredevil pilot, intelligence operative, and hard-hitting journalist -- was literally on the front lines of the freedom fight around the world. He will be missed. (Biography).
November 18, 2002... The American prisoner with the French name was barely conscious as his battered body hit the concrete floor of his 5' x 8' wooden cage. Every muscle, bone, and pore throbbed and screamed with pain. It would be some time before he would...

A model Miss America: as an outspoken abstinence advocate, the reigning Miss America, 22-year-old Erika Harold, hopes to be a positive role model for today's young people. (Cultural Currents).
November 18, 2002... Parents and others concerned about the dearth of constructive role models for America's youth received a boost on September 21st. On that date, Miss Illinois, 22-year-old Erika Harold of Urbana, was crowned Miss America 2003 at the 82nd annual...

Great lesson to pass it on. (The Goodness of America).
November 18, 2002... In February 2001, Lisa Schmidt and her children moved into the home she had purchased in Murray, Utah. Before long, they were plagued with unexplained health problems ranging from headaches and leg aches to diarrhea and bloody noses. ...

Braving fire to save baby. (The Goodness of America).
November 18, 2002... On July 13, 2001 in Otis, Maine, five-month-old Dakota Alley was in a crib in the bedroom of his family's mobile home when a fire erupted in the kitchen and quickly filled the dwelling with smoke. At the other end of the home, Dakota's mother...

Marine nabs mugger. (The Goodness of America).
November 18, 2002... "MARTA" is the acronym for Georgia's Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority. At about 6:30 p.m. on October 17th, Duluth resident Simona Edery, 31, was in the Peachtree Center MARTA Station when a mugger tried to snatch her purse. He had...

The clay springs renegades: when the Rodeo-Chediski fire threatened to destroy clay springs, Arizona, the town's heroic residents battled nature and bureaucracy to save their homes. (Cultural Currents).
November 18, 2002... Clay Springs is a small Arizona community with dirt streets, a general store, and, according to the July 14th Arizona Republic, a volunteer fire department that "comes second only to the local Mormon church as the glue that holds the community...

Financier of freedom: when Robert Morris pledged his fortune as he signed the Declaration of Independence, he meant it. His resources and financial skills helped win America's freedom. (History - Greatness of the Founders).
November 18, 2002... Wealthy Philadelphia businessman Robert Morris probably didn't expect that so quickly he would have to lay his considerable "fortune" on the line to defend the Declaration of Independence he had signed. But as the Declaration's first winter...

Felon rescues woman. (Exercising the Right).
November 18, 2002... Lamont Cunningham (a.k.a. Jarrett McDougle), 43, is hardly an angel. He has served time in a Minnesota prison for aggravated robbery and second-degree assault, and is currently facing charges in Madison County, Illinois, for allegedly punching...

Home invaders. (Exercising the Right).
November 18, 2002... Shortly before 10 a.m. on October 6th, Las Vegas, Nevada, resident "Steve" (who did not want his last name revealed) and his wife were at home when someone began banging on the front door and ringing the doorbell. Steve's wife peered through a...

Timely intervention. (Exercising the Right).
November 18, 2002... During 17 years as a police officer, Tom Burtnett, 53, never had to use his firearm while on duty. But during the past eight years as night shift worker at CC's Food Mart in Birmingham, Alabama, he has been robbed nine times and has shot three...

The no-peace prizewinner. (Correction, Please!).
November 18, 2002... ITEM: The Nobel Peace Prize, said the October 12th Chicago Tribune, capped Jimmy Carter's "rehabilitation and vindication." The paper highlighted the Camp David accords, broke red by Carter, "which brought peace between Israel and Egypt." ...

The world turns balmy. (Correction, Please!).
November 18, 2002... ITEM: The year 2002 "is turning into the second-hottest year on record," said a Knight Ridder report in the Bradenton Herald (Fla.) for Oct. 14th. "One year does not make a trend toward global warming, but putting 2002 together with past years...

Voters under the gun. (Correction, Please!).
November 18, 2002... ITEM: "As the daughter of Robert F. Kennedy, who was killed by an assassin's bullet, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend has always favored gun control," reported Newsweek for October 21st. "But in a perhaps quixotic quest for rural votes, she had...

The gangster state. (The Last Word).
November 18, 2002... "Absent justice," wrote St. Augustine in The City of God, "what are kingdoms but vast robberies?" A recent incident in San Diego illustrates that there isn't nearly enough distance separating the federal government from the criminal underworld....