The New American articles from October 2008

The New American archives from October 2008

Bulgarian ballyhoo.(LETTERS TO THE EDITOR)(Letter to the editor)
October 13, 2008... I am a Bulgarian citizen who just read your article "Visa Waiver for Bulgaria Is Good for U.S. Security?" (August 4 issue), which ridiculed the U.S. plan to allow Bulgarians to travel to the United States for up to 90 days without having to...

Election-day dilemma.(LETTERS TO THE EDITOR)(Letter to the editor)
October 13, 2008... The July 21 article "Apples to Oranges?" peeled away for me much of the rhetoric surrounding our presidential race. I hope that many Americans will become acquainted with this information. Most of us who agree with this article will be...

Two-party system.(LETTERS TO THE EDITOR)(Letter to the editor)
October 13, 2008... As a Christian conservative activist and as a subscriber to THE NEW AMERICAN and to the constitutional principles upon which the John Birch Society stands, I must express my concerns on the presidential election. I have read with interest...

Likes electric cars.(LETTERS TO THE EDITOR)(Letter to the editor)
October 13, 2008... In the August 18 issue of THE NEW AMERICAN, Ed Hiserodt doesn't give electric cars a fair shake in his article touting algae as a principal energy source for the future ("Algae May Be an Energy Answer"). He neglected to point out the many ways...

Correction.(LETTERS TO THE EDITOR)(Correction notice)
October 13, 2008... CORRECTION: In "Ron Paul's 'Rally for the Republic'" in our September 29 issue, we misquoted Dr. Thomas Woods' opening remark at the rally. Dr. Woods referred to the GOP convention attendees as "those poor souls stuck at that snorefest down...

Henry Paulson to become overseer of American economy?(Inside Track)(Brief article)
October 13, 2008... Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is on the verge of becoming the most influential man to hold that post since Alexander Hamilton, and the most powerful Secretary of the Treasury in U.S. history, if the massive $700 billion bailout legislation...

McCain wants new federal agency to deal with financial crisis.(Inside Track)(John McCain)(Brief article)
October 13, 2008... Speaking in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on September 19, Republican presidential candidate John McCain said he would create a new federal agency, called the Mortgage and Financial Institutions Trust (MFI), which would work to head off the financial...

Global financial ministry on the way?(Inside Track)(Brief article)
October 13, 2008... In the midst of the hubbub in Washington over the proposed $700 billion congressional bailout, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling are promoting a long-term international solution: a new global...

AIG, the Fed, and accelerating socialism.(Inside Track)(American International Group, Inc., Federal Reserve Board )
October 13, 2008... America's headlong rush into full-blown socialism accelerated on September 16 with the Federal Reserve's takeover of American International Group, Inc. (AIG), one of the world's largest insurance companies. Following on the heels of the...

Mary Jane looks to prop up the 10th Amendment.(Inside Track)(Brief article)
October 13, 2008... In California on August 20, U.S. District Court Judge Jeremy Fogel denied a request by the federal government in Santa Cruz v. Mukasey to dismiss a lawsuit brought by Santa Cruz city and the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana that accuses...

Gorbachev honored with Liberty Medal.(Inside Track)(Mikhail Gorbachev)
October 13, 2008... Mikhail Gorbachev, former General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, was welcomed to Philadelphia as the conquering hero on September 18 to receive America's Liberty Medal. Former President George H.W. Bush presented the...

Globalists push climate-change controls, open borders.(Inside Track)
October 13, 2008... "John McCain has shown far more commitment to confronting climate change than Bush has, but his teaming up with Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who doubts that climate change is man-made, should raise worries," say Michael A. Levi and Scott G....

Problems related to Fannie and Freddie impact average American.(QuickQuotes)(Brief article)
October 13, 2008... "If you already have a fixed-rate mortgage, nothing will change, except for a rising feeling of righteous indignation that you as a taxpayer are footing the bill for the mistakes of borrowers who got in over their heads and lenders who let...

The truth hurts this columnist.(QuickQuotes)(Paul Krugman)(Brief article)
October 13, 2008... "I wish that people wouldn't say that Fannie and Freddie have been nationalized. I mean, it's basically accurate, but it conveys the wrong impression." New York Times columnist Paul Krugman doesn't want to admit that socialism is what the...

Canadian "human rights group" terrorizing traditionalists.(QuickQuotes)(Brief article)
October 13, 2008... "The process is the punishment." Canadian journalist David Warren pointed to the charges placed against a Catholic priest for defending marriage as an exclusive union between one man and one woman. Even though the charges of "hate speech"...

Constitutional scholar offers his definition of Constitution Day.(QuickQuotes)(Brief article)
October 13, 2008... "Constitution Day: Observed on September 17, the day on which federally funded American educational institutions, themselves unconstitutional, are unconstitutionally required to teach about the Constitution." Best-selling author Thomas...

Lehman Brothers employees in shock.(QuickQuotes)(Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.)(Brief article)
October 13, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "Everyone is walking around like they have just been tasered. We were all hoping that we would pull through. Now that is not really an option." When the firm they never thought would fail collapsed into...

Federal employees regularly cavorted with energy executives.(QuickQuotes)(Brief article)
October 13, 2008... "Employees frequently consumed alcohol at industry functions, had used cocaine and marijuana, and had sexual relationships with oil and natural gas company representatives." The Interior Department's Inspector General reported that...

Convicted espionage agent indicts the Rosenbergs.(QuickQuotes)(Ethel Rosenberg)(Brief article)
October 13, 2008... "Ethel Rosenberg was aware of her husband's espionage, but did not actively participate." After spending 19 years behind bars for his own role as a spy for the USSR, Morton Sobell put to rest the claims that Julius Rosenberg was innocent...

Biden would have picked Hillary.(QuickQuotes)(Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton)(Brief article)
October 13, 2008... "Hillary Clinton is as qualified or more qualified than I am to be vice president of the United States of America. Quite frankly, it might have been a better pick than me." While campaigning in New Hampshire, Joe Biden gave a surprising...

Obama: messiah? Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama sells himself as being the one who will "change" the country's direction and improve our lives. But does reality match rhetoric?(ELECTIONS)(Cover story)(Viewpoint essay)
October 13, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Barack Obama aspires to run the largest enterprise on the face of the Earth--the U.S. government. From the beginning of his campaign for president, he deliberately positioned himself as a messianic figure,...

Biden as backup: although U.S. Senator Joe Biden appears to be a "safe" choice as a running mate for presidential candidate Barack Obama, he may prove to be controversial on many fronts.(ELECTIONS)
October 13, 2008... The cliche might be that U.S. Senator Joe Biden "needs no introduction" to the American voting public, since he has run for president twice. But many Americans may have only the sketchiest knowledge of the Delaware senator's checkered career...

Fanning the flames in Georgia: an American defense of Georgia could risk nuclear war, yet the Bush administration seems determined to turn this brush fire into a Cuban Missile Crisis-like stare-down.(WORLD)(Viewpoint essay)
October 13, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Occupying the territory between the Black and Caspian Seas, the rugged Caucasus Mountains, where Europe and Asia meet, is a rough neighborhood. Home to dozens of different languages belonging to three entirely...

Must our fate be tied to NATO: the NATO Charter, forged during the long-dead Cold War, still binds all NATO members to wage war if any member is attacked. Is this treaty in our nation's best interests?(WORLD)
October 13, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The U.S. Constitution assigns the power to declare war to Congress. The North Atlantic Treaty issued by the United States and other founding members of NATO in 1949 states that an attack on any member of the military...

Media darlings: positive or negative media coverage can make or break a political campaign, especially in a presidential race. Both McCain and Obama have received favorable coverage, but will it continue?(MEDIA)
October 13, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "It almost never happens that there are two media favorites in one political race--and yet this year, there are," said David Folkenlik on National Public Radio. Both Senators John McCain and Barack Obama can...

Politics and personality: in The Obama Nation, author Jerome Corsi offers some devastating critiques of Barack Obama, including his ties to radical leftists and his "cult of personality.".
October 13, 2008... The Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality, by Jerome R. Corsi, Ph.D., New York: Threshold Editions, Div. of Simon & Schuster, Inc., 2008, 364 pages, hardcover, $28.00. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] When Jerome Corsi's...

Welcoming veterans.(THE GOODNESS OF AMERICA)
October 13, 2008... Annie Nelson, a Minnesota native who grew up in Southern California, has worked as a sports broadcaster, a flight attendant, and a special-events coordinator, but when she became aware of the plight of many soldiers returning home from Iraq and...

Helping flood victims.(THE GOODNESS OF AMERICA)(Brief article)
October 13, 2008... When the Cedar River rose over 19 feet above flood stage last June, it first covered Cedar Rapids, Iowa, with river water, and after it receded it left behind water-damaged homes filled with thick layers of mud. More than 25,000 of the city's...

Washington state rescue.(THE GOODNESS OF AMERICA)(Brief article)
October 13, 2008... Back on August 13, 13-year-old Thomas Brown of Bremerton, Washington, looked up and saw a 6-year-old girl dangling from a third-floor window sill. "She was just hanging there, just trying to hold on," Thomas told KOMO News in Seattle. ...

Hazards for Habeas Corpus: justice demands that an accused criminal be given the right of "habeas corpus," the ability to challenge the legality of his detention, but this right is being steadily eroded.(HISTORY--PAST AND PERSPECTIVE)
October 13, 2008... Rogue public officials consolidating a police state dispatch jackbooted thugs to arrest dissidents. Their victims defend themselves with firearms. Those who are captured are branded "enemy combatants," and held indefinitely, incommunicado,...

Interception.(EXERCISING THE RIGHT)
October 13, 2008... One wonders if three Oakland, California, men--18-year-old Adrian Dantoc and 19-year-olds John Catalos and Julian Logan--literally said to themselves on August 3, "Let's go ambush some people, beat the tar out of 'em, and if they fight back,...

Turn for the worse.(EXERCISING THE RIGHT)(Brief article)
October 13, 2008... In Avondale, Arizona, an attempted robbery on July 5 briefly turned to the surreal when the robbers attempted to steal the victims' infant before some judicious shooting ended the incident. An "Avondale family had started to unload...

What would you do?(EXERCISING THE RIGHT)
October 13, 2008... On June 28, 50-year-old Brian Fentimen stopped to render aid to people involved in a rear-end collision, only to experience "a defining moment" in his life: he shot and killed a man. Fentimen and his fiancee, Maria, had just ended a day...

Not in front of the window.(EXERCISING THE RIGHT)(Brief article)
October 13, 2008... Two would-be robbers in DeKalb County, Georgia, made the mistake of changing clothes and putting on masks in the parking lot of the auto parts store they planned to rob--where a store employee could see them. When the two robbers entered...

Bailing out scam artists (aka Fannie and Freddie).(Correction, Please!)(Federal National Mortgage Association, Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation)
October 13, 2008... ITEM: The New York Times for September 9 editorialized: "As an act of crisis management, the government takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage-finance giants, was a reasonable and reassuring move. It ensures the flow of mortgage...

The bailout & the average American.(THE LAST WORD)
October 13, 2008... As our nation experiences an economic meltdown, those who brought it on are guaranteeing that it will get worse without massive government intervention. Yet they refuse to take the proper action that will solve the problem in the long run. Just...

Dog show.(Letter to the editor)
October 27, 2008... "Pavlov's Dogs and American Education," by Samuel L. Blumenfeld (TNA, September 29, 2008), is a very informative and educational essay on who was responsible for American education going to socialism's (progressive) "dogs" by way of John...

Reason for the principles.(Letter to the editor)
October 27, 2008... Shirley Spellerberg, in her letter to the editor (October 13, 2008), takes issue with THE NEW AMERICAN'S articles promoting third parties because she believes that McCain must be elected as the lesser of two evils. The stated goal of the John...

Source of solace.(Letter to the editor)
October 27, 2008... Our only reason for not continuing to purchase your magazine is economic. We have been on a low and fixed income for two decades. As you know, cost-of-living adjustments are a cruel joke. We have not enjoyed winter heat for 13 years, and each...

Bailout mania.(Inside Track)
October 27, 2008... Step by step, through both laws and regulatory flat, the Federal Reserve and the federal government are socializing the American economy, with the advocates of government intervention claiming the government must intervene to prevent financial...

Fed to buy commercial paper.(Inside Track)(Brief article)
October 27, 2008... Following a roller-coaster day on Wall Street that saw the Dow close under 10,000 for the first time in years, the Federal Reserve announced on October 7 that it will invoke emergency powers under which it will buy billions in commercial...

U.S. Army troops now on call for domestic emergencies.(Inside Track)(Brief article)
October 27, 2008... According to the Army Times, beginning on October 1 the 3rd Infantry's 1st Brigade Combat Team, which has spent 35 of the last 60 months in Iraq, will for the next 12 months serve at home "as an on-call federal response force for natural or...

The John Birch Society celebrates its 50th anniversary.(Inside Track)
October 27, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The John Birch Society (JBS) celebrated its 50th anniversary in grand style at a convention center near its headquarters in Appleton, Wisconsin, from Thursday, October 2 through Saturday, October 4. Members and...

Gold getting snapped up.(QuickQuotes)(Brief article)
October 27, 2008... "The U.S. Mint is temporarily halting sales of its popular American Buffalo 24-karat gold coins because it can't keep up with soaring demand as investors seek the safety of gold amid economic turbulence." As reported by Associated Press, demand...

Steven's trial bares incriminating note.(QuickQuotes)(Ted Stevens)(Brief article)
October 27, 2008... "No paper trail... per Bill Allen." Alaska Senator Ted Stevens is on trial for allegedly accepting favors from an oil company headed by Allen. The testimony noted above was supplied by Cheryl Boomershine, a bookkeeper for Allen's company....

Will the United States also bail out foreign banks?(QuickQuotes)(Brief article)
October 27, 2008... "Hank Paulson, Treasury Secretary [of the United States], has said that foreign banks operating in the U.S. will be eligible for federal assistance and he is urging other nations to fashion their own bail-out programmes." While also...

New York congressman claims a language problem.(QuickQuotes)(Charlie Rangel)(Brief article)
October 27, 2008... "Every time I thought I was getting somewhere, they'd start speaking Spanish." Questioned about his failure to pay taxes on income from renting his villa in the Dominican Republic, Charlie Rangel came up with a unique excuse, and then...

Legal and regulatory burdens greatly impede business.(QuickQuotes)
October 27, 2008... "I couldn't have started the company in the current legal environment." Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus pointed to the enormously complex and draconian rules and regulations currently aimed at entrepreneurs.

Leading democrat discovers awesome power of the fed chairman.(QuickQuotes)(Congressman Barney Frank)(Brief article)
October 27, 2008... "He can make any loan he wants under any terms to any entity or individual in America that he thinks is economically justified. I asked the chairman if he had $85 billion to bestow in this way. He said, 'I have $800 billion.'" Clearly...

Are College students wasting their time pursuing a meaningless degree?(QuickQuotes)(Brief article)
October 27, 2008... "Let's stop this business of the B.A., this meaningless credential. And let's talk about having something kids can take to an employer that says what they know, not where they learned it." Claiming that 80percent of college students are unable...

Look what he said only five years ago!(QuickQuotes)(Congressman Barney Frank)(Brief article)
October 27, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "These two entities--Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac--are not facing any kind of financial crisis. The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these two companies, the less we will see in...

McCain: Maverick? John McCain calls himself a maverick and a conservative, and he chose Sarah Palin as his running mate to try to prove it. Does his record really live up to his image as a "maverick conservative"?(ELECTIONS)(Cover story)
October 27, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] What a difference a few weeks can make! In the blink of an eye, politically speaking, Sen. John McCain has gone from pariah to darling among much of the indispensable conservative base of the Republican Party. Early...

Fraught with fraud: the threat of election fraud by illegal voters has been a taboo topic in the major media, vet it may well be the biggest danger to accurate and honest elections this year.(ELECTIONS)
October 27, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] On April 7 of this year, USA Today published a front-page headline article about the recent surge of new voters who participated in the primaries this year. This November, this surge may lead to long lines of voters....

The freedom index: a congressional scorecard based on the U.S. constitution.(CONGRESS)(Table)
October 27, 2008... Our final look at the 110th Congress shows how ever), representative and senator voted on key issues, such as the federal budget, warrantless searches, mortgage relief oil drilling, and the bank bailout. House Vote Descriptions 31...

Bystanders lift bus off accident victim.(THE GOODNESS OF AMERICA)
October 27, 2008... New York City traffic agent Donnette Sanz was crossing a street in the Bronx on August 14, when she was struck by a van that pushed her in front of a five-ton bus. The bus came to a stop, pinning the woman underneath. Sanz was six months...

Philadelphia painters catch child.(THE GOODNESS OF AMERICA)(Brief article)
October 27, 2008... On August 26, Daniel Dangler and Donald Miller were working as painters in Philadelphia's Kensington section when they noticed black smoke pouring out of a house down the street. They ran to the scene and saw a father leaning out of a...

Citizen not afraid to "get involved".(THE GOODNESS OF AMERICA)
October 27, 2008... On the morning of September 4, DeShan Fishel dropped off her child at school in Dawson County, Georgia, and started back home. She was driving along behind Dawson County school bus No. 339 as the bus stopped to pick up passengers, not far from...

The panic of '07: as a result of comparatively limited government involvement, the Panic of 1907 ran its course quickly. Could the same happen today if free-market processes were left alone?(HISTORY--PAST AND PERSPECTIVE)
October 27, 2008... The ongoing financial crisis, with its welter of high-profile bank failures and fearsome swings in stock valuations, may seem to those of us perched on the leading edge of the 21st century like an unprecedented calamity, a contagion of turmoil...

Forgetting those left behind: considering that John McCain himself was a POW during the Vietnam War, why is he so dismissive of the evidence that other POWs remained in captivity after the war's end?(PERSPECTIVE)
October 27, 2008... "When the Senate created the Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs in midsummer 1991," writes Vietnam veteran and POW activist Ted Sampley, "a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll showed 69 percent of Americans surveyed believed Americans remained...

Duck or bleed.(EXERCISING THE RIGHT)(Brief article)
October 27, 2008... Joshua Eastman was putting groceries in his car at about 12:45 a.m. when a man wearing a bandanna approached, pointed a gun at him, and demanded money. Eastman told the man that he didn't have any money and that he had "used a debit card to pay...

Greed got him.(EXERCISING THE RIGHT)(Michael Boykin)(Brief article)
October 27, 2008... Michael Angel of Muncie, Indiana, arrived home on the night of August 31 and "found the back door open and several items--including a window air conditioner, two guitars, two mountain bicycles and a shop vac--gone," reported the Indianapolis...

Drunk and dumb.(EXERCISING THE RIGHT)(Damon Smith)(Brief article)
October 27, 2008... At about 10 minutes to midnight, Damon Smith was driving up Table Rock mesa, "a popular sightseeing spot overlooking Boise," according to the Idaho Statesman, when another vehicle passed him. At the top of the mesa at a scenic overlook, Smith...

No gun, use the criminal's.(EXERCISING THE RIGHT)(Gregory Longley)(Brief article)
October 27, 2008... After visiting a couple of friends at the A day Motel in Oldsmar, Florida, 20-year-old Gregory Longley was sitting on the steps outside when three young men with guns forced him to get in their car. The three men--18-year-old Abdusbasiyr Blake,...

Slumber to gunshots.(EXERCISING THE RIGHT)(Brief article)
October 27, 2008... Two armed intruders broke in the side door of a Pensacola, Florida, residence at about 4:30 p.m. on August 9. At least one of the intruders had a weapon. The homeowner, who was sleeping, woke up and shot one of the intruders--27-year-old Rodney...

House passes non-drilling bill.(Correction, Please!)
October 27, 2008... ITEM: On September 16, the House passed the Comprehensive American Energy Security and Consumer Protection Act (H.R. 6899). As described by CNN on the same day, the bill "could clear the way for more drilling in the United States, as the...

Bailout: power brokers 1, constituents 0.(THE LAST WORD)
October 27, 2008... "Madame Speaker, only in Washington could a bill demonstrably worse than its predecessor be brought back for another vote and actually expect to gain votes," Congressman Ron Paul lamented on the floor of the House on Friday, October 3, the day...