The New American articles from November 2008

The New American archives from November 2008

Media mischief.(Letter to the editor)
November 10, 2008... Why is there this media upheaval bordering, in some cases, upon disgust in the selection of Sarah Palin? ("Sarah Who?" September 29 issue of TNA; "Media Darlings," October 13 issue) Could it be as simple as the media's injured vanity since...

Election selections.(Letter to the editor)
November 10, 2008... In response to two Letters to the Editor (by Ken Ward and Shirley Spellerberg) in the October 13 issue of THE NEW AMERICAN, I wish to offer a suggestion to them and others on election day, which comes from Ron Paul. He said, "A recent poll...

Corrections.(Correction notice)
November 10, 2008... In a photo caption in "Hazards for Habeas Corpus" (October 13 issue), we incorrectly stated that six of the eight Nazi saboteurs were hanged. They were electrocuted. In the article "Obama: Messiah?" (October 13), we incorrectly stated that...

McCain & Obama's ongoing debate on taxes ignores inflation tax.(Inside Track)(John Mccain and Barack Obama)(Brief article)
November 10, 2008... John McCain and Barack Obama have accused each other of offering tax proposals that would hurt the middle class. On October 18, McCain said that Obama's tax plan "would convert the IRS into a giant welfare agency, redistributing massive amounts...

Colin Powell's admission about WMDs and Iraq War widely overlooked.(Inside Track)(weapons of mass destruction)(Brief article)
November 10, 2008... When former Secretary of State Colin Powell announced his support for Barack Obama during his October 19 Meet the Press appearance, his endorsement was widely publicized. Not widely reported was what he said on the same program about the...

Buffett good choice for Treasury secretary, say McCain & Obama.(Inside Track)(John McCain and Barack Obama on Warren Buffett)(Brief article)
November 10, 2008... The passage of the bailout bill has given the U.S. secretary of the Treasury extraordinary powers to control the U.S. financial sector. Tom Brokaw of NBC News was very much aware of this when he asked both McCain and Obama during the second...

Hawaiian healthcare holdup.(Inside Track)(Brief article)
November 10, 2008... Seven months after instituting the only state child universal healthcare program in the country, Hawaii is dropping the plan. According to an October AP report, the state could no longer afford the plan though it only enrolled about 2,000 of...

Connecticut court supports same-sex marriage.(Inside Track)(Brief article)
November 10, 2008... The Supreme Court of the State of Connecticut ruled 4-3 on October 10 that same-sex marriage must be allowed in that state. The case was initiated by eight homosexual couples in Connecticut over four years ago, and was spearheaded by attorneys...

EU leaders push for climate control.(Inside Track)(European Union)(Brief article)
November 10, 2008... During a two-day European Union summit held in Brussels from October 15-16, French President Nicolas Sarkozy stressed that the European Union would maintain its stringent goals to reduce carbon emissions, despite economic objections from some...

Bailout rushed through congress.(QuickQuotes)(Congressman Joe Barton)(Brief article)
November 10, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "Just because God created the world in seven days doesn't mean we have to pass this bill in seven days." After attending Dick Cheney's arm-twisting meeting with House Republicans, Congressman Joe Barton (R-Texas)...

Bulletproof clothing gaining popularity in Mexico.(QuickQuotes)(Brief article)
November 10, 2008... "Nobody should feel like Superman. But if the criminal does shoot, we give our customers a chance to run away." The marketing manager for a Mexico City shop offering bulletproof clothing, Javier DiCarlo, sells to politicians, movie stars,...

Investor calls for abolishing the fed.(QuickQuotes)(Brief article)
November 10, 2008... "I know they can run their printing presses forever, but that is not good for the world. Inflation is not good for the world. A collapsing currency is not good for the world. It means worse recession in the end. I would abolish the Federal...

After condemning the bill, he voted for it.(QuickQuotes)(Congressman Lee Terry)(Brief article)
November 10, 2008... "Those greedy pigs on Wall Street don't deserve help from hard-working Americans." [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] After sharply condemning the bailout package and initially voting against it, Congressman Lee Terry (R-Neb.) pointed to...

Study blames U.S. culture for poor math record.(QuickQuotes)(Brief article)
November 10, 2008... "Kids in high school, where social interactions are really important, think, 'If I'm not an Asian or a nerd, I'd better not be on the math team.'" The lead author of a study published in Notices of the American Mathematical Society, Janet...

A pithy assessment of the Wall Street bailout.(QuickQuotes)(Brief article)
November 10, 2008... "For a family rendered starving by a gambling parent, should we repay the bookie or instead afford food to hungry children?" Bailing out the debts of banking institutions won't solve the "nightmare of foreclosures, layoffs and the...

Candidate points his finger at the fed.(QuickQuotes)(Chuck Baldwin)(Brief article)
November 10, 2008... "Virtually our entire financial system is based on an illusion. We spend more than we earn; we consume more than we produce; we borrow more than we save; and we cling to the fantasy that this can go on forever. The glue that holds this...

He says there's no need to worry about the deficit.(QuickQuotes)(Paul Krugman)(Brief article)
November 10, 2008... "Now is not the time to worry about the deficit." Evidently unconcerned about the burden of our nation's massive indebtedness, Nobel Prize winner, Princeton University professor, and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, already in his...

The panic of 2008: thanks to Congress, the American taxpayer has been stuck with the bill for the bailout plan--but that is only the beginning. Where else could the Panic of 2008 take us?(ECONOMY)(Cover story)
November 10, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] On Monday, October 13, the first business day following an eight-day market swoon that saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average lose more than 2,000 points, the Bush administration announced new steps to "rescue" a...

Alinsky: a radical who matters: Barack Obama has been greatly influenced by Saul Alinsky's radical theories of political organizing. What effect is this likely to have on an Obama presidency?(ELECTIONS)
November 10, 2008... Saul Alinsky, who died 36 years ago and is only dimly known today, has had a major impact on the 2008 presidential election from the grave. He is a radical who matters, whose theories of political organizing are the lifeblood of the Obama...

50 years and beyond: John Birch Society CEO Art Thompson and President Jack McManus talk about the goals and accomplishments of their organization during its 50-year history. And they lay out the framework of the future they foresee.(Interview)
November 10, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The John Birch Society, founded 50 years ago this December, recently celebrated its golden anniversary a bit early at a resort hotel located not far from its headquarters in Appleton, Wisconsin. This publication, an...

Bedrock of the constitution: understanding how the Constitution was based on the Declaration of Independence provides the knowledge needed to defend our God-given rights.(CONSTITUTION CORNER)
November 10, 2008... Would any reasonably prudent businessman sign a proposed contract involving a large-scale venture to be conducted over many years, if the other party admitted that most of the contract's terms were undefined, that some terms were so vague as to...

A really convenient book: anyone concerned about the environment and seeking the best solutions for how to protect it will find The Really Inconvenient Truths, by Iain Murray, to be a valuable, fact-filled resource that is both informative and entertaining.(Book review)
November 10, 2008... The Really Inconvenient Truths: Seven Environmental Catastrophes Liberals Don't Want You to Know About--Because They Helped Cause Them, by Iain Murray, Regnery 2008, 354 pages, hardcover. A man named Benjamin Cone from North Carolina bought...

As storm raged, neighbors helped neighbors.(THE GOODNESS OF AMERICA)
November 10, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Tropical Storm Fay pounded Florida relentlessly last summer, striking the state multiple times from the Keys to the Northeast Atlantic coast, then traveling westward to the Panhandle. However, as is often the case...

From "Henny Penny" Morgenthau to Henry Paulson: the circumstances of today's $700 billion bailout are eerily similar to those of FDR's New Deal, and today's Pied Pipers are playing the same bipartisan, power-grabbing tune.(HISTORY--past and perspective)
November 10, 2008... "It's not based on any particular data point," a Treasury Department spokeswoman told Forbes.com concerning how the figure of $700 billion was arrived at for the financial bailout package. "We just wanted to choose a really large number." ...

Not much brotherly love.(EXERCISING THE RIGHT)(Brief article)
November 10, 2008... In the city famous for the Constitutional Convention, which framed our rights, an incident involving four men, one a gun owner, recently confirmed the value of our Second Amendment. Heading home on Sunday morning, September 28, in Southwest...

Gun beats scissors.(EXERCISING THE RIGHT)
November 10, 2008... Running with scissors--to commit robbery--certainly proved unwise in Woodbridge, Virginia. Would-be criminals staked out a small retail establishment called Tienda Hispana Esperanza and entered the store owned by Esperanza Salazar. According to...

Burglar gets "the chair".(EXERCISING THE RIGHT)(Brief article)
November 10, 2008... A sharp-eared and armed resident of an apartment complex in Bloomington, Illinois, heard loud noises on September 30. According to police spokesman Duane Moss, the resident correctly judged the sounds to be someone kicking in a door to a...

Enough is enough!(EXERCISING THE RIGHT)(Brief article)
November 10, 2008... Her car stereo having been lost to thieves three weeks earlier, liana Lopez responded when thieves struck a second time as she and her boyfriend were at home. Miami's NBC Channel 6 reported that the couple caught three thieves in the act of...

Parity's poison pill.(Correction, Please!)
November 10, 2008... ITEM: The New York Times for October 6 reported: "More than one-third of all Americans will soon receive better insurance coverage for mental health treatments because of a new law that, for the first time, requires equal coverage of mental and...

No chiding Charlie.(THE LAST WORD)(Charlie Reese)
November 10, 2008... Journalist Charlie Reese recently opined on the Salem-News.com that "545 human beings out of 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country." According to him, those...

Twisted titles.(Letter to the editor)
November 24, 2008... I thoroughly enjoyed Selwyn Duke's article "Hitler and Christianity" from the June 9, 2008 issue, but I would make one minor correction. On page 37 of his article, Duke mentions that the Nazi Party's High Commissioner for Philosophy &...

Sunrise on socialism.(Letter to the editor)
November 24, 2008... Well, we all woke up Thursday, October 3 to find ourselves in the U.S.S.A.! No longer are we creeping toward socialism in this country. The Senate bailout vote was a giant leap. (See the "Freedom Index" in our October 27 issue to find out how...

Backing up Barack.(Letter to the editor)
November 24, 2008... I have been an avid reader of THE NEW AMERICAN for the last two decades. Your articles against the practice of outsourcing manufacturing jobs were revealing and welcomed. During this period I owned a manufacturing business in Chicago and felt...

No work, no pay.(Letter to the editor)
November 24, 2008... For some time, we have been given a steady stream of articles about presidential candidates, and their campaign activities. The Democrat and Republican candidates are both currently U.S. senators. They are paid handsome salaries, medical care...

White House to banks: lend more money!(Inside Track)(Brief article)
November 24, 2008... On October 28, as the Treasury Department announced a series of steps to begin delivering infusions of a $250 billion government bank-recapitalization plan, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino made clear the intent was to get the nation's banks...

That's "Comrade Bush," according to Hugo Chavez.(Inside Track)(Brief article)
November 24, 2008... If Hugo Chavez, the Marxist president of Venezuela, has his way, the legacy of President George W. Bush will be that he brought America "surging" to the left of even the regime Chavez has established in Central America. "Bush is to the...

Marriage defined by voters in California.(Inside Track)(Brief article)
November 24, 2008... Voters in California approved their Ballot Proposition 8 by 52 percent to 48 percent, which amended the state constitution to define marriage as between one man and one woman. It inserts the following brief 14-word sentence into the California...

The persistent question of Barack Obama's citizenship.(Inside Track)
November 24, 2008... It has been alleged that presidential aspirant Barack Obama is ineligible to become president because, it is claimed, he was not born in the United States--but rather born in Kenya to a Kenyan father, making him a Kenyan citizen. The story has...

What happened to the third-party presidential candidates?(Inside Track)(Brief article)
November 24, 2008... During the presidential campaign, as well as on election night, the major media generally ignored the third-party candidates who threw their hats into the presidential ring. These largely ignored candidates, none of whom attained one percent of...

House leader urges soaking the rich.(QuickQuotes)(Barney Frank)(Brief article)
November 24, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "I think there are a lot of rich people out there whom we can tax at a point down the road to recover some of this money." Interviewed on CNBC, House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.), who helped...

Newspaper circulation dramatically down--and continuing downward.(QuickQuotes)(Clay Shirky)(Brief article)
November 24, 2008... "The older customers like the older products and the new customers like the new ones." While older Americans still rely on the daily newspaper, today's youth get their news from computers, BlackBerrys, and other electronic devices, prompting...

Waterford crystal company abandoning Ireland.(QuickQuotes)(John Foley)(Brief article)
November 24, 2008... "We regret the necessity of ending large-scale manufacturing in Waterford, but we reaffirm our commitment to the city." Announcing the impact of foreign competition, the layoff of most of the company's workers, and the transfer of...

Left-leaning pundit names her surprising favorite in Congress.(QuickQuotes)(Rachel Maddow)(Brief article)
November 24, 2008... "I like congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul because I understand what he believes, and he is fearless and civic-minded in his beliefs, rather than personally zealous." Though she admits being left of center, TV/radio chat-show...

When government offers aid, applications swell.(QuickQuotes)(Brief article)
November 24, 2008... "Why am I being punished for having bought a house I could afford? I am beginning to think I would have rocks in my head if I kept paying my mortgage." Though he has a sufficient income to pay all his bills, Connecticut homeowner Todd...

Conservative leader says stop imitating Democrats.(QuickQuotes)(Governor Mark Sanford)(Brief article)
November 24, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "Compassionate conservatism was a disaster. Our niche is maximizing individual liberty." One of a growing number of conservatives wanting to get back to basics, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford is perfectly...

She identified the housing problem 16 years ago!(QuickQuotes)(Jane H. Ingraham)(Brief article)
November 24, 2008... "One of the Bush Administration's most politicized banking rules is the Community Reinvestment Act [of 1977], which requires banks to make loans in all areas of their communities, even the lowest income ones. This egalitarian act turns banks...

In a free market, money doesn't grow on trees: supporters of big government have been blaming the current economic crisis on the free market. We shoot down five of their anti-free-market fallacies and show where the fault really lies.(ECONOMY)(Cover story)(Company overview)
November 24, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "Economics is haunted by more fallacies than any other study known to man," economist and journalist Henry Hazlitt once pointed out. "The inherent difficulties of the subject... are multiplied a thousandfold by a...

The bailout and the Constitution: the $700 billion bank bailout plan will use taxpayer money to purchase troubled assets. How does this stack up against the limited federal powers granted by the Constitution?(ECONOMY)
November 24, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] It is sadly ironic that one of the first things new law students get is a pocket Constitution because, over the next three years, they learn that modern federal laws have nearly nothing to do with what is...

How the Republicans blew it: for the last eight years, the Republicans have rivaled the Democrats in making government bigger, costlier, and more intrusive. Now they have paid the price.(ELECTIONS)
November 24, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] For Republicans, it might have been a good night to watch Casablanca. John and Cindy McCain are not Bogart and Bergman, but they made a handsome couple facing a grim reality in what must be the American war hero and...

Border patrol agents still in prison: unjustly imprisoned Border Patrol agents Jose Compean and Ignacio Ramos lost their appeal for a new trial.(IMMIGRATION)
November 24, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Jailed Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean lost their final appeal in July. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed only an obstruction of justice count against the men, leaving their 11- and...

Christians in Iraq: with the dismantling of Saddam's regime, anarchy has reigned in Iraq, and members of religious minorities--especially Christians--have been threatened and persecuted.(IRAQ)
November 24, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Westerners tend to think of Iraq as always having been a Muslim nation, but Christians have an ancient tradition there. Some accounts trace the presence of Christianity in Iraq to the arrival of the apostle Thomas in...

Liberty from global-warming alarmism: when students are being deluged with global-warming propaganda, they desperately need life preservers. Here are some truth-filled DVDs that will help them stay afloat.
November 24, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] If you plan to visit a public-school classroom for the first time in a decade or two, don't expect to see George Washington looking down at you from above the blackboard. He's likely long gone along with the...

Saving a drowning boy.(THE GOODNESS OF AMERICA)
November 24, 2008... Late last summer, Wesley Loper, eight, and his seven-year-old sister, Emily, were swimming at the pool at Charlevoix Estates in Charlevoix, Michigan. Emily was swimming laps in the deep end, and Wes decided to join her. However, not being a...

Toddler doing fine.(THE GOODNESS OF AMERICA)(Brief article)
November 24, 2008... Last April, three-year-old Lazar Ognjenovic's grandfather was walking him in his stroller along the shore of Lake Michigan at Chicago's Belmont Harbor when a strong gust of wind blew both Lazar and the stroller into the lake. Jack Otto,...

The hard truth of hard money: in our Republic's youth, presidential candidates openly debated central banking, and Andrew Jackson even won election as a "hard-money" advocate. Today's economic crisis requires a similar return to sound monetary policy.(HISTORY--PAST AND PERSPECTIVE)
November 24, 2008... An economic crisis struck America seemingly out of nowhere. The nation was firmly in the grasp of a sharp financial downturn. The citizenry was unsure of its cause, how seriously it would endanger the nation's future, and how long it would...

Pet shop owner proves that crime is for the birds.(EXERCISING THE RIGHT)(Brief article)
November 24, 2008... A Cleveland area pet shop owner and spry octogenarian recently used his gun to kill an attacker and protect his employee and his aviary when it became the target of a third attempted robbery on October 27. Expressing great relief that her...

Criminal's number comes up at bingo hall.(EXERCISING THE RIGHT)(Brief article)
November 24, 2008... There is an old saying that you make your own luck. If you engage in criminal acts, sometimes your number comes up prematurely. According to a report on WKRG TV, armed robber Alton Prewitt, 20, charged boldly into a bingo hall in Pensacola,...

Even near a police station, self-defense works best.(EXERCISING THE RIGHT)(Brief article)
November 24, 2008... Two clerks--one uniformed, one not--were working together at a 7-Eleven Store in Kansas City, Missouri, late in the evening of September 23. They work just across the street from the Kansas City Police Department. The clerk who was "out of...

Burglar taught a costly lesson by teacher.(EXERCISING THE RIGHT)(Brief article)
November 24, 2008... Many media accounts frequently give the impression that educators favor civilian disarmament. On October 24 at least one sixth-grade teacher in Tampa Bay, Florida, provided a clear lesson for all students in the value of guns for self-defense....

North Korean blackmail beats the U.S. blacklist.(correction, please!)
November 24, 2008... ITEM: In an article entitled "U.S. says North Korea stuck to nuclear promises," Reuters reported on October 17: "North Korea has kept its promise and reversed steps to restart its nuclear reactor at Yongbyon after an agreement last weekend...

Why McCain & the GOP went down.(THE LAST WORD)
November 24, 2008... During the Republican presidential debate in Durham, New Hampshire, in September 2007, Congressman Ron Paul warned that "we've dug a hole for ourselves and we've dug a hole for our party. We're losing elections and we're going down next year if...