The Grievous Lies of Barack Obama
The Grievous Lies of Barack Obama
(October 27, 2008) Michael Master lives in McLean, Virginia. He is 61 and as concerned about the presidential elections as the rest of us, but he does a better job than most at putting it all into a very logical letter.
An Open Letter to Barack Obama (by Michael Master):
The New York Times carried a story on Saturday, October 4, 2008 that proved you had a significantly closer relationship with Bill Ayers than what you previously admitted. While the issue of your relationship is of concern, the greater concern is that you lied to America about it.
The Chicago Sun reported on May 8, 2008 that FBI records showed that you had a significantly closer relationship with Tony Rezko than what you previously admitted. In the interview, you said that you only saw Mr. Rezko a couple of times a year. The FBI files showed that you saw him weekly. While the issue of your relationship is of concern, the greater concern is that you lied to America about it.
Your speech in Philadelphia on March 18, 2008 about ‘race’ contradicted your statement to Anderson Cooper on March 14 when you said that you never heard Reverend Wright make his negative statements about white America While your attendance at Trinity Church for 20 years is of concern, the greater concern is that you lied to America on March 14.
In your 1st debate with John McCain, you said that you never said that you would meet with the leaders of Cuba, Venezuela, Iran, and North Korea without ‘preparations’ at lower levels … Joe Biden repeated your words in his debate with Sarah Palin … while the video tape from your debate last February clearly shows that you answered ‘I would’ to the question of meeting with those leaders within 12 months without ‘any’ preconditions. While your judgment about meeting with enemies of the USA without pre-conditions is of concern, the greater concern is that you lied to America in the debate with McCain.
On July 14, 2008, you said that you always knew that the surge would work while the video tapes of you from more than a year ago show that you stated that the surge would not work. While your judgment about military strategy as a potential commander in chief is of concern, the greater concern is that you lied to America on July 14.
You now claim that your reason for voting against funding for the troops was because the bill did not include a time line for withdrawal while the video tapes of you from more than a year ago show that you voted against additional funding because you wanted our troops to be removed immediately … not in 16 months after the 2008 election as you now claim. While your judgment about removing our troops unilaterally in 2007 is of concern, the greater concern is that you lied to America about your previous position.
You claim to have a record of working with Republicans while the record shows that the only bill that you sponsored with a Republican was with Chuck Lugar … and it failed. The record shows that you vote 97% in concert with the Democrat party and that you have the most liberal voting record in the Senate. You joined Republicans only 13% of the time in your votes and those 13% were only after agreement from the Democrat party. While it is of concern that you fail to include conservatives in your actions and that you are such a liberal, the greater concern is that you distorted the truth.
In the 2 primary debates of last February, 2008, you claimed to have talked with a ‘Captain’ of a platoon in Afghanistan ‘THE OTHER DAY’ when in fact you had a discussion in 2003 with a Lieutenant who had just been deployed to Afghanistan . You lied in that debate.
In your debates last spring, you claimed to have been a ‘professor of Constitutional law’ when in fact you have never been a professor of Constitutional law. In this last debate, you were careful to say that you ‘taught a law class’ and never mentioned being a ‘professor of Constitutional law.’ You lied last spring.
You and Joe Biden both claimed that John McCain voted against additional funding for our troops when the actual records show the opposite. You distorted the truth.
You and Joe Biden claim that John McCain voted against funding for alternate energy sources 20 times when the record shows that John McCain specifically voted against funding for bio fuels, especially corn .. and he was right … corn is too expensive at producing ethanol, and using corn to make ethanol increased the price of corn from a bushel to a bushel for food. You distorted the truth.
You and Joe Biden claim that John McCain voted like both of you for a tax increase on those making as little as ,000 per year while the voting record clearly shows that John McCain did not vote as you and Joe Biden. You lied to America .
You and Joe Biden claim that John McCain voted with George W. Bush 90% of the time when you know that Democrats also vote 90% of the time with the President (including Joe Biden) because the vast majority of the votes are procedural. You are one of the few who has not voted 90% of the time with the president because you have been missing from the Senate since the day you got elected. While your absence from your job in the Senate is of concern, the greater concern is that you spin the facts.
You did not take an active role in the rescue plan. You claimed that the Senate did not need you while the real reason that you abstained was because of your close relationships with the executives of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Countrywide, and Acorn … who all helped cause the financial problems of today … and they all made major contributions to your campaign. While your relationship with these executives and your protection of them for your brief 3 years in the Senate (along with Barney Frank, Chuch Schumer, Maxine Waters, and Chris Dodd) is of concern, the greater concern is that you are being deceitful.
You forgot to mention that you personally represented Tony Rezko and Acorn. Tony Rezko, an Arab and close friend to you, was convicted of fraud in Chicago real estate transactions that bilked millions of tax dollars from the Illinois government for renovation projects that you sponsored as a state senator … and Acorn has been convicted of voter fraud, real estate sub prime loan intimidation, and illegal campaign contributions. Tony Rezko has contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to your political campaigns. You personally used your political positions to steer money to both Tony Rezko and Acorn and you used Acorn to register thousands of phony voters for Democrats and you. While your relationships with Rezko and Acorn are of concern, the greater concern is that you omitted important facts about your relationships with them to America .
During your campaign, you said: ‘typical white person.’ ‘they cling to their guns and religion.’ ‘they will say that I am black.’ You played the race card. You tried to label any criticism about you as racist. You divide America .
You claim that you will reduce taxes for 95% of America , but you forgot to tell America that those reductions are after you remove the Bush tax reductions. You have requested close to Billion in earmarks and several million for Acorn. Your social programs will cost America Trillion per year and you claim that a reduction in military spending (0 billion for Iraq ) can pay for it. While your economic plan of adding 30% to the size of our federal government is of concern, the greater concern is that you are deceiving America .
The drain to America ‘s economy by foreign supplied oil is 0 Billion per year (5% of GDP) while the war in Iraq is 0 Billion (less than 1% of GDP). You voted against any increases to oil exploration for the last 3 years and any expansion of nuclear facilities. Yet today, you say that you have always been for more oil and more nuclear. You are lying to America .
Mr. Obama, you claimed that you ‘changed’ your mind about public financing for your campaign because of the money spent by Republican PACs in 2004. The truth is that the Democrat PACs in 2004, 2006, and 2008 spent twice as much as the Republican PACs (especially George Soros and MoveOn.org). You are lying to America
Mr. Obama, you have done nothing to stop the actions of the teachers’ union and college professors in the USA . They eliminated religion from our history. They teach pro gay agendas and discuss sex with students as young as first grade. They bring their personal politics into the classrooms. They disparage conservatives. They brainwash our children. They are in it for themselves ….. not America Are you reluctant to condemn their actions because teachers/professors and the NEA contribute 25% of all money donated to Democrats and none to Republicans? You are deceiving America .
Oh Mr. Obama, Teddy Roosevelt said about a hundred years ago that we Americans should first look at the character of our leaders before anything else.
Your character looks horrible. While you make good speeches, motivating speeches, your character does not match your rhetoric. You talk the talk but do not walk the walk.
1. You lied to America . You lied many times. You distorted facts. You parsed your answers like a lawyer.
2. You distorted the record of John McCain in your words and in your advertisements.
3. You had associations with some very bad people for your personal political gains and then lied about those associations.
4. You divide America about race and about class.
Now let me compare your record of lies, distortions, race baiting, and associations to John McCain: War hero. Annapolis graduate with ‘Country first.’ Operational leadership experience like all 43 previously elected presidents of the USA as a Navy Officer for 22 years. 26 years in the Senate. Straight talk. Maverick. 54% of the time participated on bills with Democrats. Never asked for an earmark. The only blemish on his record is his part in the Keating 5 debacle about 25 years ago.
Mr. Obama, at Harvard Law School, you learned that the end does not justify the means. You learned that perjury, false witness, dishonesty, distortion of truth are never tolerated. Yet, your dishonesty is overwhelming. Your dishonesty is tremendously greater than the dishonesty that caused the impeachment and disbarment of Bill Clinton. Your dishonesty is tremendously greater than the dishonesty of Scooter Libby. You should be ashamed.
Mr. Obama, it is time for us Americans to put aside our differences on political issues and vote against you because of your dishonest character. It is time for all of us Americans to put aside our political issues and vote for America first. It is time for America to vote for honesty.
Any people who vote for you after understanding that you are dishonest should be ashamed of themselves for making their personal political issues more important than character. Would these same people vote for the anti-Christ if the anti-Christ promised them riches? Would they make a golden calf while Moses was up the mountain? Would they hire someone for a job if that someone lied in an interview? … of course not. So why do some of these people justify their votes for you even though they know you are dishonest? Why do they excuse your dishonesty? Because some of these people are frightened about the future, the economy, and their financial security …. and you are praying on their fears with empty promises … and because some (especially our young people) are consumed by your wonderful style and promises for ‘change’ like the Germans who voted for Adolf Hitler in 1932. The greed/envy by Germans in 1932 kept them from recognizing Hitler for who he was. They loved his style. Greed and envy are keeping many Americans from recognizing you .. your style has camouflaged your dishonesty …. but many of us see you for who you really are … and we will not stop exposing who you are every day, forever if it is necessary.
Mr. Obama, you are dishonest. Anyone who votes for you is enabling dishonesty.
Mr. Obama , America cannot trust that you will put America first in your decisions about the future.
Mr. Obama, you are not the ‘change’ that America deserves. We cannot trust you.
Mr. Obama, You are not ready and not fit to be commander in chief.
Mr. Obama, John McCain does not have as much money as your campaign to refute all of your false statements. And for whatever reasons, the mainstream media will not give adequate coverage or research about your lies, distortions, word parsing, bad associations, race bating, lack of operational leadership experience, and general dishonest character. The media is diverting our attention to your relationships and ignoring the fact that you lied about those relationships. The fact that you lied is much more important than the relationships themselves …. just like with Bill Clinton and Richard Nixon .. Monica Lewinski and Watergate were not nearly as bad as the fact that those gentlemen lied about the events … false witness … perjury … your relationships and bad judgement are bad on their own …. but your lies are even worse.
Therefore, by copy of this memo, all who read this memo are asked to send it to everyone else in America before it is too late. We need to do the job that the media will not do. We need to expose your dishonesty so that every person in America understands who you really are before election day.
Mr. Obama, in a democracy, we get what we deserve. And God help America if we deserve you.
Michael Master
McLean, Virginia
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Eric Wallace speaks at the freedom rally in Bloomington, Illiniois. The event occurred on Sept. 12, 2009 and was sponsored by the Bloomington Area 912 Project.
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The New South in 2010: Looking Below the Surface, Seeking Truth and a Spirit and Sense of Place That Gives the New South Meaning
The New South in 2010: Looking Below the Surface, Seeking Truth and a Spirit and Sense of Place That Gives the New South Meaning
The New South in 2010: Looking Below the Surface
Seeking Truth and a Spirit and Sense of Place That Gives the New South Meaning
Donald R. Wire
Cuiridh mi clack ‘nad charn. To add a stone each time I pass. The Highland Scots brought their proclivities for war to North Carolina, the Cape Fear region and the South. Relentlessly they were on the warpath in the Scottish Highlands, defending their homes and lives. The quote in italics at the beginning of this paragraph is in their native tongue, Gaelic, a branch of the Celtic language, and translates to “to add a stone each time I pass.” When one of their kilted warriors fell in battle the war party marked the grave with one stone and then added another stone each time they passed. The piles of stones, marking the graves of their heroes were called cairn and grew over time, stretching up toward the sky as they took the worn path to war. The cairn proliferated throughout the regions where they fought their battles. To survive, the Scots obsessively maintained their weapons and always kept them by their side. The Celtic-Gaelic covenant at the beginning of this essay anoints and ignites the spirits of their Southern descendants, burning brightly like the tree limb torches that lit their passages across the rivers at night. Upon my visits to the local shrine and cairn in Wade, North Carolina on the grounds of the Old Bluff Celtic Church circa 1753 and its contiguous cemetery, I am inspired and moved to shed tears as I do when I go to the graves of our fallen heroes on Fort Bragg.
The purpose of this essay is to identify the New South through its spirit and sense of place and that which gives it and its people meaning. I am using a snapshot of Fayetteville as a basis for guidance and comparison. I have lived in Fayetteville, North Carolina since 1965 and believe that I have experienced it and know it well in the same way that I know the friends with whom I have grown up and lived. I know them not as objects recorded and perceived scientifically for the purpose of prediction or control but rather as subjects with whom I have interacted dialectically and historically over time. Therefore, I am not using empirical data alone, that from the US Bureau of Economic Analysis, the US Census Bureau, polls and monographs on the New South. As another tenet of my epistemology, I am also using myths, oral tradition and Southern literature as human creations of the South.
The Definitions
Now I must define what I mean by the South and what I mean by the New South. The South and the New South are comprised of the eleven states which seceded from the United States union between 1960 and 1961 and the New South is the entity which has emerged between the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001 and the present, 2010.
Who am I as the perpetrator of this adventure and challenge, navigating through the phantasmagoria of what has been labeled “Dixie”, “red neck” and “sleepy hollow” to mention a few? I came to Fayetteville, North Carolina in 1965 with the conventional stereotypes of the local color, all of which were perpetuated by my family and local community in Danville, Illinois and by Hollywood. The experiences that I had at work and play within the first year in North Carolina changed my perspective. Today I consider myself a Southerner and feel that I can appreciate the realities of the New South and at the same time not be reluctant to face directly what is often avoided by the media and editorialists inside and outside the New South. I have no compunction about hitting the raw nerve of truth about the New South and I am not trying to be politically correct. The editors must sell newspapers to survive within our capitalistic system which has exported itself to its own ongoing demise, but I do not.
Looking Beneath the Surface
The Economies
Fort Bragg is the US Army post which is located partially within Fayetteville and one that has had a precipitous impact upon the local economy. This fact in itself makes Fayetteville’s culture different in at least one way from that of most other cities of the New South. Both Fort Bragg and Fayetteville lie within the Statistical Metropolitan Area of Cumberland County with a 2009 reported population of 315, 207 and a 2008 reported per capita income of , 054. One compares this to the Southern state mean of , 699, a gap of only 5 between Fayetteville and the South with respect to per capita income. When both the New South and Fayetteville are compared to the nation’s per capita income of , 208 for the same year, the contrast indicates that the per capita income of the Fayetteville Metropolitan area and that of the New South are ,000-,000 below that of the nation. Even with the addition of Fort Bragg’s population and income Fayetteville falls below the national average and continues to reflect the recession economy of the New South.
The Crime Rates
The New South has the highest overall crime rate within the nation. Fayetteville fits within this extreme. One of the major premises for Fayetteville’s annexation of one third of Fort Bragg’s territory is to lower its crime rate by increasing its population. One of the assets of Fort Bragg is that its crime rate is negligible by contrast to that of the civilian populace of the metropolitan area. According to data from the US Department of Justice the Fayetteville metropolitan area’s property and violent crime rates for 2007 were respectively 5879 and 618 per 100,000 people which is in stark contrast to that of the New South’s average crime rates for the same property and violent crimes respectively, 3802 and 549 per 100,000 people in 2007. Fayetteville clearly surpasses the New South in overall crimes and crime rate. The national mean in the same year, 2007, was 3126 property crimes and 449 violent crimes per 100,000 people. This places the crime rate for the New South substantially above that of the nation as a whole and above that of any other region of the nation. The most recent data, 2010, substantiates this pattern and trend.
War and the Military
The federal government’s Base Realignment and Closings plan is becoming reality as of September 2010. Fort Bragg is being recreated as the home of the Army Headquarters with additions that augur for a combined force of 40, 000 soldiers, family members, civilians and defense contractors at Forth Bragg and therefore within the Fayetteville-Cumberland County metropolitan area. The “BRAC” impact intrinsically distinguishes the Fayetteville metropolitan area from the rest of the New South.
Both the New South and Fayetteville are an eclectic mix of Gothic and warrior traditions and Yankee capitalism. The South and New South are historically connected to a bellicose, armed and aggressive hunter-warrior culture, the body of which evolved eristically with a genteel smile of chivalry. The North has not been able to accomplish the genocide of its mind nor even a lobotomy of its frontal lobes. Fayetteville like its ancestral South has a penchant for loving eccentric aesthetes, freaks and those sensually self indulgent and prodigious. It and the New South are within the creative interchange of a dynamic dialectic of heroic patriotism and self righteous distaste for centralized government.
Like the South but even more so Fayetteville has had a salient, strategic position in the nation’s wars which is a dramatic stroke in its signature. Fayetteville is where the first radicals among the colonies published their resolutions (The Liberty Point Resolves) almost one year before the Philadelphia Declaration of Independence. The Resolves proclaimed natural rights for all citizens and independence from British rule.
During the consequent war the Red Coat army under Lord Cornwallis invaded and bivouacked in Cross Creek (Fayetteville) a day and night as it continued on its pompous march towards King’s Mountain, South Carolina to meet its tragic fate. The South played a crucial role in this war.
During the Civil War General Sherman’s army in its infamous “March Through the South” met Confederate Army and citizen resistance in Cumberland County and Fayetteville in the form of two skedaddle skirmishes, the construction of breastworks and domestic efforts to hide and bury valuable heirlooms of precious metal to protect them from the scavengers. General Sherman’s soldiers in contradiction to his own propaganda pamphlet were encouraged to spread out across the contiguous counties and pilfer food wherever and however possible. In that process the Yankees also allegedly raped and burned in the surrounding counties. Some family and other museums have evidence to support this claim. The victims of destruction within Fayetteville proper were six hundred buildings and the last standing Confederate arsenal, the relics of which survive today. The swath of destruction cut through Southern civilization and Fayetteville and Cumberland County is written indelibly upon the hearts and spirits of our homegrown Southern warriors as well as upon Southern warriors who hail from other regions of the nation. In numbers disproportional to the population of the South Southern men and women today 2010 volunteer to protect their homeland from terrorists and other intractable enemies of Christianity and democracy.
Camp Bragg was established in 1918 as an artillery training ground with an adjacent airfield which was set in the midst of the arid sandhills and long leaf pine forests which were occupied by earlier warrior hunter societies beginning around 12, 000 BC. The garrison was closed temporarily in 1921 after the end of World War I and then between 1940 and 1951 it evolved into Fort Bragg with a populace that mushroomed from 5400 to 159, 000 warriors. It also became the domicile of the XVIII Airborne Corps. Subsequently it became the center for unconventional warfare and the home of the Fifth Special Forces Group in 1961. The economy of the area has been dominated through the years by Fort Bragg’s expanding mission, population and income. Without the presence of the warrior tradition in spirit, space and time, Fayetteville and the South would have languished as a ubiquitous entities within the nation. Fayetteville’s motto asserts that it is “the home of history and heroes” as many cities and counties in the New South have claimed and continue to do so, but Fayetteville’s leaders also claim that “it is the nation’s friendliest military city.” In having traveled through other military communities and researched others, my experience supports this claim.
Southern Time Like the River Bends Back Upon Itself
The South like Fayetteville has a military spirit and sense of place which honors warriors as heroes. The historiography of the Southern states from its colonial period onward has displayed an independent intractibleness not manifest within the rest of the nation. The nullification of federal laws has been enacted by Southern legislatures and governors to intervene between the federal government and their citizens to protect them from abrogation of the Tenth Amendment and starts rights. The philosophy of Thomas Jefferson articulated within the Tenth Amendment has been asserted boldly by the political leaders and citizens of the South and now by those of the New South, 2010. One can observe this in the Tea Party movement among other popular movements. The Southern states have been ready to support with armed militias their own interpretation of the US Constitution. For this purpose they educated many of their young men in military academies whatever their economic classes. The Southern states charged these young men with the responsibility of protecting their armaments and armories while northern politicians and citizens did not rally behind this style of indoctrination of their young men. In military academies the record shows that North Carolina and Fayetteville were equally enthusiastic for education in the martial arts. According to statistics presented on the Wikipedia website about forty percent (40 %) of the military prep schools, colleges and universities are located within the New South, 2010, which comprises thirty-six per cent (36 %) of the nation’s total number.
A 2001 national poll, not recent enough, showed that at the time forty per cent (40 %) of Southerners contrasted with fourteen per cent (14 %) of those in the Northeastern cities owned a pistol. That percentage has surely increased even though I haven’t been able to update the data. The citizens of the New South as in Fayetteville are covetous of their right to possess and use arms when needed and many keep them nearby at all times as did the Highland Scots of the same area. In 2010 the opposition to the centralized national government is at an all time high in 2010 throughout the New South. Southerners continue to perpetuate and enrich the hunter-warrior predilections of the South as hunting season is never very far away.
Illusion Thinly Disguised as Truth
In Fayetteville and the rest of the South the blacks who attain wealth and power with the exception of the affluent drug dealers are still largely those who have gained the favor and support of the white power elite who reside in the upscale neighborhoods. The Southern and other conservative politicians would have us believe that integration in the South is an fait accompli and that black politicians arise to power strictly based on their own black support and votes. The attitudes of Jim Crow endure in Fayetteville and in the New South, 2010 as the reported violence and levels of tension indicate. Most of the intensity of feelings lies just beneath the surface, obscure to many first time visitors, the vibrations from below reach the surface and create waves of emotional and economic destruction, overwhelming the instrument on which they are played.
Even where there is a large but not a majority black population the blacks have let the whites into their economic and political lives while the whites have not done the same. This is the pattern in the New South and in Fayetteville today, something even audaciously attested to by a popular local journalist in the society where a relatively large number of its citizens are functionally illiterate; therefore they don’t read or understand the editorial columns. Black politicians are viewed by many other blacks as pawns in the game of politics which is like chess in the white elite structures and checkers in the ubiquitous black precincts of the New South. Blacks don’t have access to the same power brokering skills that maintain the white aristocrats through primaries and general elections. The blacks represent forty-three percent of the population but only thirty-eight per cent of the voting population of Fayetteville in national elections.
Blacks who are professionals and businessmen have had difficulty securing loans at local banks and avoiding foreclosures on their businesses and property in Fayetteville. However, local governments have given grants and backing to black businessmen.
New Carpetbaggers Within
One of Fayetteville’s realtors who has been a resident and citizen of Fayetteville for years has assured me that realtors have come here from other states because the Fayetteville market appears recession proof as property values have not shrunk as they have in other states in the South. These realtors indicated that they would return to their home states after property values begin to fall in Fayetteville.
The news media publishes information on foreclosures which continue to occupy many pages of small print and reflect the true state of economics in Fayetteville and the New South. Other tabloids within the New South such as the Charleston newspaper record and publish foreclosure and homeless information. The media of the New South in general has not made the homeless families and tent cities clearly visible. I believe that they are reluctant to reveal more because they are attempting to prevent panics among the local and national populaces. The New South has been ravaged by the recession more than any other section of the nation according to the data from the US Bureau of Economic Analysis. The politicians and managers of local governments often prefer to budget their funds for pet construction and beautification projects rather than assist the jobless and homeless. According to local reports there are about one thousand homeless families with five hundred homeless children in Fayetteville alone and there is not sufficient shelter to house all of the families with and without children.
The Greatest Need Is the First Cut
According to the data provided by the State Master site more than eighty percent of the Southern states rank nationally in the lower fifty percent of states for educational achievement. An analysis of the high school dropout ranks the Southern states in the lower third of all states while North Carolina in the analysis registers forty-seventh among fifty. The statistics provided by State Master are for the period 2007 through 2009 and can be located on the internet at www.statemaster.com/index.php. The primary source for educational data is the National Center for Educational Statistics from which State Master has derived much of its raw data and ranking components. The same eleven states considered in this essay place in the highest one third of all states for the percentage of their population living below the national poverty level for 2007 through 2009. There is in the data an obvious correlation between the parameters of poverty and educational achievement among the states. I have never seen the comparative realities of Southern and national educational achievement in presented in the local media. The local media place a positive spin on the paucity of statistics which they infrequently present and don’t explain or clarify the meaning of the ones reported.
As far as education is concerned the Cumberland County schools largely fall below the national average in the percentage of students who pass their end of grade tests. Because of the low performance of the students in Cumberland County North Carolina state officials considered plans to close a school which scored especially low i.e. where fifty percent or fewer students passed the end of course tests. The lack of discipline in the Cumberland County schools is one of the major factors contributing to its traditionally low performances. The media have avoided discussing the role which local school administrators play in setting the rules and enforcing them.
Heisting Heroes’ Homes
In a recent edition of the Fayetteville Observer as in other newspapers throughout the New South, those that I have analyzed through the Monod website, there are often ten or more pages of at least 100 home foreclosures on each small print page. It is obvious to me that many of these have been foreclosures on the homes of our heroes, the soldiers who fought in Iraq and of those who are presently fighting in Afghanistan. In Fayetteville, Cumberland County I can discern the identities from the location of the neighborhoods involved. Looking at the extent of this devastation is disgusting and makes me feel alien to the society in which I live. Almost everyday I have been saddened and depressed for those here and throughout the New South (such as in Jacksonville, North Carolina), those who are losing their homes while they fight for our freedom. I am outraged by this greed in our capitalistic system in the supposed military South and New South. The real estate brokers in Fayetteville claim that Fayetteville is one of the least hard hit by foreclosures in the South, a claim that obfuscates the local tragedies.
The Spirit and Sense of Place That Gives Meaning
Encyclopedic entries on the culture of the South miss or overlook major truths such as those revealed by Southern writers such as Carson McCullers, William Faulkner and Tennessee Williams to mention just a few. Hollywood has artfully dealt with many of these such as the spin on Southern sexuality. These so-called deviations or perversions seem to have a special degenerate quality when they appear within Southern literature and the critiques on it, emotions which are characterized as depraved although truly a part of human nature. The reality of the South today eludes the vision of many Northern whites and politicians as the New South struggles through the recession with the greatest poverty and lowest standard and quality of life in the nation. Few news commentators face the ongoing tragedies within the New South forthrightly. Look at the emphasis upon politics in most of these rather than upon the physical and emotional torment of the South. The commentators avoid transmitting the trauma of the acrid pain and virulent suffering endured by our Southern citizens today.
There is a spirit that seeps through the tragedies and gives Southerners enduring meaning. Fayetteville is representative of the Old South and the New South in many ways from the Paleo-Indian era forward to the present. The hunter-warrior culture stalked, speared and drove mammoths and mastodons over the arroyos of rivers such as the Neuse and the Cape Fear. The hunting culture was and is the warrior culture of the South. Their footprints are visible here and around the world where we fight our wars. They are encrusted here and everywhere with the blood of their prey as far off as the Near and Far East. The Native American ritual of taking prisoners and trophies is profoundly embedded within the civilized souls of our Southern warriors. They are constrained by the rules of combat and international law and yet operantly conditioned to respond to enemies. Warriors on all levels and missions have in anonymous interviews testified to the increased intensity of operant conditioning after they understand what it is in their training. Ernest Hemingway said that the hunters of animals become the hunters of men and that given enough experience doing it actually prefer it. Chris Hedges, a former Ranger soldier who is now an author asserted in War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning, 2003 that war is a force that gives us meaning. Another current author, Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, also a Ranger qualified soldier, claims in On Killing, published in2009, that the increasing effectiveness of operant conditioning can endanger the United States’ society.
Although many will disagree with my assertions and tenets concerning what is the spirit of the South and New South and that which distinguishes it from the rest of the nation in its intensity and relentlessness, that which most gives the South and New South a sense of place and meaning, is the obsession with arms, the military, defense of the people and heroic sacrifice. It is the same ceaseless spirit, refreshing, provocative and sobering, as if flowing from a hidden well spring into the heart of the South, making it ethereal and providing it with faith and hope. Pernicious events such as the Katrina hurricane and the Gulf Coast oil spill of 2010 have tempered that spirit. As I see it, it is this same spirit which drives the New South through the excruciating and debilitating recession which has wreaked tragedy in most Southern cities, large and small and in the fields. The South will not merely endure because it is immortal. Even with the inexhaustible voice, it is not because of that but rather because it has the same souls which it always has, one of daring, courage, stubborn independence, social conservatism and romantic sacrifice.
The author attended Purdue University and Southern Illinois University where he earned BA and MA degrees in Government with minors in history and philosophy. He continued his graduate education at the University of Kentucky in Lexington where he was a Graduate Assistant in Political Science. He earned his PhD at Walden University in 1978.
He has instructed political science at North Carolina State University, history, political science and mathematics at Campbell University and history, political science and mathematics at Fayetteville Technical Community College , all in North Carolina.
The author served as a dean at three two year colleges and instructed mathematics at each of them.
He has received the following rewards, honors and invitations to present and participate on panels, 1965-2010: Excellent evaluations by the students at North Carolina State University, 1965-1970; Bowie Knife presentation by My Special Forces Troopers at Fort Bragg, NC, 1967; Keynote Speaker for the Independent Business Schools of North Carolina Annual Meeting;1979; Presenter of a Mastery Learning Workshop at Wayne Community College, Goldsboro, NC, 1980; Grant from the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation for the North Carolina Native American Literature and Writers Conferenve, 1994; Grant for the same Native American Conference, 1995, referred to above; Eagle Presentation by the North Carolina Native Americans for contributions to the advancement of their culture, 1996; Panel Discussion member at the Second and Third Native American Writers Conferences: Co-producer and participant in the documentary, “The Storyteller,” financed by the NC Humanities Council; 1996; Excellence in Teaching Evaluations by the students at Campbell University Fort Bragg; two Writers in Residence Awards for the Weymouth Center for the Arts and Humanities Writers in Residency; Southern Pines, NC, 1998 and 1999; Trustee on the Board of the North Carolina Writers Network, 1997-1999; Appointment to the Leadership Institute of Cumberland County, 2010.
The author has writen and had published academic articles, poetry, short stories and creative nonfiction.
He was born and raised in Danville, Illinois. Birthday: 7/16/1940. He is married with a son and daughter and four dogs and one cat.
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Karen Green, co-founder of the McLean County Freedom Coalition, speaks at the freedom rally in Bloomington, Illiniois. The event occurred on Sept. 12, 2009 and was sponsored by the Bloomington Area 912 Project.
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The Journey Less Spoken
The Journey Less Spoken
In 2004, I watched the news media declare Bush the projected winner; again. I knew then it was going to be the longest four years of my life. Two years later, on October 18, 2006, I was flipping through the channels on my television and decided to stop and watch the Oprah Show, which was all ready in progress. Since I started watching sometime after the show began, I had no idea who the man was that Oprah was talking with, or what they had been talking about. However, something about this man fascinated me and I began to listen to what he was saying.
I watched this man, a man who was discussing ideas about his vision for a better America. I was very intrigued with his comments about “beneath the surface, we all have the same hopes and dreams and fears and that the human story is universal.” I also heard him discuss what we needed to instill in our country and in our children was a sense of “are you useful, to others and are you making other people’s lives a little bit better.” Are you Useful? That statement was such a novel idea for me. By the time he said “there’s a wonderful saying that…the most important office in a democracy is the office of citizen;” this man, had my complete attention. I was so captivated by his progressive ideas that a quite unusual thought crossed my mind; “I wish that man would run for President.” I had now idea at the time my wish would set me on a journey less spoken because my support and admiration of this man could cause trouble for me if people were to discover that I was supporting an African-American who may become the President of the United States.
I knew nothing at all about the man I was introduced to for “the very first time” when Oprah was interviewing him about his book. At the time of the interview, I had tuned in too late to know what this man’s name was or the name of the book that I now know was “The Audacity of Hope.” Although I knew nothing about him or his life, I did know one important thing about him; he needed to become “my” President.
Several minutes after I had made my wish for this unknown man to run for President, Oprah spoke up and asked him, “would you run for President?” So, now there were at least two people who wanted him to become President, but one of us had no clue who he was. Although I didn’t know anything about the man, I wondered if he could become President; not because of the color of his skin, but because I was clueless about the political process and if there were any rules and qualifications for a person to become President; other than you had to be a naturally born citizen of the United States.
Time past; and as the months went by, the memory of my introduction to this man faded. So when he announced he would begin a campaign to become the President. I recognized him immediately. I don’t know how I knew it was him, but I knew. I paid close attention and found out his name was Senator Obama. I don’t think I heard his first name; just “Senator Obama.” There that man stood; at last I knew his last name and I discovered he was a Democratic Senator from Illinois. Not only did I feel something greater than me had heard my wish; but my journey less spoken had begun and I was committed to make my wish come true!
As soon as I heard his announcement on that cold February day, I began my search for a way to become involved in his political campaign. I need to say that prior to Senator Obama’s announcement, I had never participated in any political campaign, nor had I ever volunteered or donated to any political party. I had at least voted, but as an “unaffiliated voter,” I was usually voting for the “lesser of two evils,” not “for” a candidate I actually wanted to be President.
My first involvement with Senator Obama’s campaign was during the Oregon primaries. Now I, a lowly person, scared to talk to strangers, me, did my first ever canvass just prior to the primary elections. It took all the courage I had while sitting in a borrowed car, and I took at least10 minutes convincing myself that I could overcome my fear of talking to strangers for the GREATER GOOD of our Country. The “GREATER GOOD” won out; and I knocked on my first door. I was fortunate that who I spoke with, were kind and respectful, which gave me the courage to knock on that second door.
Since I had my first experience with canvassing, I continued to face my greatest challenge; stepping out of my home, and even more so, talking to complete strangers. I have knocked on hundreds of doors, spoke to over one hundred complete strangers at outdoor community events, and participated in phone banking. Even after having doors slammed in my face and in one instance, being run of a man’s property, I pushed forward with my fear stuck in my back pocket and continued to knock on door after door.
The night of the Primaries I was glued to the TV to see Obama win the state of Oregon, which for one of the first times, our state mattered to the outcome of an Election. Since the Primaries ended, I became a political junky. I started my personal fund-raising on the Obama website, continued to canvass and make phone calls. I continued to be committed to our Democratic Candidate. Even through all of the attacks against him, I saw him stay firmly committed to his vision and message that drew me to him in the first place. I was confident that when Obama was elected, he would begin the healing of our Country, and little did I know at the time, he would become the healer and President of our world.
Soon after the Oregon primaries, we were assigned an area organizer in my small town. We put on an acceptance speech party that turned into a great resource for volunteers. From that time forward, up through Election Day, we were working night and day to get every Obama vote we could in our “red” rural county.
As much as I could, between watching my grandson so that my daughter could attend college, and taking care of my own special needs son, I was volunteering for the Obama campaign. As Election Day got closer, I donated more and more hours at the O-office. Since I have bad asthma, once the weather changed, I had become an office “assistant.” I had already participated in canvassing, phone banking, data entry, and preparing canvas packets, but as our pool of volunteers grew, the area organizer became extremely busy. He was either training new volunteers, or when the focus of contacting people would change he would have to re-train volunteers.
It soon became obvious to me that we needed someone to organize the check-in and check-out process and assist volunteers with their paperwork when they returned. I decided that I would just do it. I saw the need, I knew I had the skills, so it was natural for me to just step up and do it. I went about making the whole process more efficient and organized; at the time, I had no idea how important that organization would become until one night, even with three of us in the office, it had been so busy that even with all my organization, I was close to being overwhelmed. In the seven hours that I was there we had only one fifteen minute lull in one of our busiest nights. I can’t even begin to explain how exhausted I was; yet I didn’t let it deter me from showing up the next day and night to do it all over again.
I also assisted in another endeavor that many of us were asked to participate in. We were asked to start submitting “letters to the editor” and “Op-eds” targeting battleground states. Our efforts started with few volunteers, but rapidly grew into a movement. We had much success publishing in those battleground states and I regained my writing skills that I use to have before I had a brain injury. As a result of participating in this, I was able to publish many articles, a couple of columns, and had some success in posting in some Florida online newspapers. This volunteering work played a huge role in my increased self confidence and gave me more than I can ever express.
One night, after a very long day and after everyone had left; our area organizer set down on the table, one of the many cell phones he was messing with, and put it on speaker. At this point my area organizer just turned and looked at me with this sheepish grin, but didn’t say a word. All of the sudden a man started talking and said that Obama would soon be on the line to speak with us. I think my mouth dropped clear to the floor. I thought to myself “no way.” But within just a few minutes, I heard his voice. As he spoke to the 20,000 listeners around the Country, I could hear in his voice that he was tired. He had just landed and it was about 10pm in the time zone where he was about to give another speech.
There may have been many defining and memorable moments in my life, but, other than the birth of my children and grandchildren, this was one of them. I had not been able to go see him speak when he was in Oregon, but here I was listening to him on a cell phone. His words were supportive of our efforts, and to remind us that we were not to let up with our efforts, not for one minute. Just having the opportunity to hear his voice, filled me with intense joy and it took everything to keep from having tears run down my cheeks. I was on such an emotional high that I didn’t sleep at all that night. Yet, I went right back to the O-office the next day to work another 7 hours.
The evening before the election it was announced that Obama’s grandmother had passed away. I cried, I sobbed, and cried some more. I wanted her to see her grandson become the 44th President of the United States of America, and she lost her battle with cancer just one day to soon. Then that evening I watched a very moving moment, as Obama spoke about her, I saw him wipe away his tears; as he wept, I cried. But what stirred inside of me, was how could anyone not see, he was “of the people,” no different than the rest of us, and had wept, not just in front of a large crowd of people who had come to see him, but in front of every viewer watching him on TV. I knew the answer to my rhetorical question, but I asked myself, had anyone ever, I mean ever, seen a President or someone who would become President, weep in front of millions?
The day and evening of Nov. 4th there were many volunteers helping us so much, taking two or three packets at a time, and would return to tell me their most moving moments, which made every day they had volunteered worth their effort. I was fortunate to hear their stories as I continued to work hard in the office on up to election night and the excitement and buzz was increasing every hour. We still had volunteers on the phone and canvassing, up until 30 minutes prior to Oregon’s polls closing. Once again I was manning the office, only this time, I was honored that the area organizer had trusted me enough to give me that responsibility. However, in accepting that responsibility, I had no idea, what that meant for me on election night.
I am probably one of two billion around the world, which actually missed all the fun leading up to the media projecting that Obama would be our next President of the United States. For Election night, I had been manning the County Democratic Office of all those who were running for positions in my city and county that were already at the Election party, while I was without a television or the Internet. I was unable to leave until someone returned to lock up and relieve me thirty minutes after the polls closed.
It was a long couple of hours for me, with no contact with another human, and without any idea how the election was going. It soon became evident that having the honor of being trusted by the area organizer to “hold down the fort” while he stayed at the elections office to be a “watcher,” would cause me to miss what everyone else, all the volunteers, all of those running for local office were watching at the election party.
In my predicament, I did experience one bit irony that momentarily brightened my night. The phone rang, thinking it was my area organizer, I answered it. However, it was actually a young republican volunteer, doing last minute phone banking. He was as confused as I was about why he called the Country Democratic office to talk to a “republican” about making sure that their “republican” ballot got turned in before the polls closed in fifteen minutes. He really was quite baffled, but I was cordial and said, “I realize that you are just doing your phone banking job, but I don’t think you realized that you have called the County Democratic office,” I heard a awkward laugh from him and I ended the call saying have a good night. I couldn’t hang up the phone fast enough before I fell on the floor and laughed my head off.
Eventually I was relieved of my duty and arrived at what was left of the Election party, just one minute before our President-elect’s acceptance speech. As I watched, I was astonished at the beauty of all the faces that looked upon this man, as their new great hope. I saw tears of joy not only on women and young ones faces, but on the cheeks of grown men who were openly sobbing; a sight I had not seen before. Not only was it the grandest moment of the accumulation of nearly two years of my effort, but it was an amazing, historic event that I was thankful I had been given the opportunity to be a part of.
On my drive home, after his historic speech, I had some time to reflect upon my journey less spoken, and how my journey had come full circle. I started my less spoken journey two-years ago not knowing who this great man was, but having an unspoken wish that someday he could be my President; that night, November 4th, 2008, he became everyone’s President; and while on my journey, I was thoroughly introduced to that man I once knew nothing about. I am so grateful that my unspoken wish from two-years ago has now become our 44th President of the United States of America, President Barack Obama.
Beth holds a Master Degree in Mental Health Counseling and an undergraduate degree in Psychology and Criminal Justice. She is a single mother of a special needs child and volunteers and supports Barack Obama for President.
This year’s presidential campaign has prompted her to become actively involved in the political process for the very first time in her life. Some of the support she has participated in is through volunteering, voter registration, publishing article and columns, and donating money to a campaign for the first time in her life.
Five days after the tragic 9/11 attack on America’s soil, she organized a “Petition for Peace 2001″ event. Included in the event, were approximately 17 different religions, cultures, race, etc.; even two Muslim men who attended were very grateful to be a part of the event.
In 2002 she volunteered over 100 hours at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. On the heels of 9/11. This Olympic event was a welcome time in America and the author’s involvement in the Olympics was one of the most memorable times in her life; the only exception would be the event she organized just four months before.
Since the tragic day of 9/11 she has waited for an exceptional candidate that would lead our Country to peace and regain the positive leadership that other countries use to respect. She feels Obama is that exceptional person to lead this Country into the positive change that Americans have needed for a long time.
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ETHICAL DILEMMAS IN POSTMODERNISM
ETHICAL DILEMMAS IN POSTMODERNISM
Dr.M.Susithra
The Dept. of Philosophy &Centre for Philosophical Research
The Madura College (Autonomous),Madurai-11,T.N.,India.
Introduction to Postmodern Thoughts:
A serious intellectual disorder that is widespread today amongst literary persons and even philosophers is Pomophobia (Postmodernism phobia). This is because postmodernism is always related with the notorious slogan ‘break the rules’. When it comes to ethics, postmodernism which is condemned as an intellectual terror is concluded to have nothing to say or do productively.
This is a bad reading of postmodernism. In this juncture this paper intends to surf the venture of postmodernism, so that a clear association between ethics and postmodernism could be brought to the floor.
It is quite known that ethics is a branch of knowledge concerned with moral principles. It deals with the judgments of what is right and wrong, good and evil and many do’s and don’ts. Various schools of thought according to their philosophical position prescribe ethical norms and there would be a linear cum structuralized construction in such moral codes. This is the status in both traditional and modernist thoughts. The point to be emphasized here is that, despite of its name modernity retains much of the traditional bearings. On one hand, it has strengthened some hazardous norms of tradition. On the other hand in spite of the progress in science, reason, technology, liberation, and freedom modernity has incepted many serious problems. What if modernity strengthens tradition is a major question and what has modernity to do with problems would be another question. Wars, terrorism, war on terror, genocide, holocaust, death camps and death squads are some of the burning political issues that the world is witnessing right from industrial revolution in the name of progression. Racism, casteism, and religious fundamentalism are worsening in these times with technocratic face which are no doubt the offspring of tradition. Apart from these issues in the present day there are unthinkable dilemmas around the problems of gender injustice, transgender inequality, and homosexual relationships in social and cultural sphere. In economic sphere the chaos and confusions over liberalization, privatization and globalization is a mammoth problem that has got questions around poverty, unemployment, under-employment, food crisis, junk technology etc. In the ecological sphere the globe confronts the threat of ecological disasters, like extinction of species, globalwarming, nuclear pollution, cyber pollution, gene manipulation, genetic engineering, human experimentation, euthanasia, human cloning etc.,
The link between all these mind-boggling and burning social, cultural, economic, political and ecological issues is all are ethical problems which have been hardly addressed by tradition and modern ethical doctrines. Even if there are explications made by ethical theories they are constructed as grandnarratives which do not pay heed to micro level issues whereas postmodernism endlessly operates with the logic of undecidability. It makes ruptures into well defined norms and in fact ruptures its own path. Postmodernism has got no fixed principle that is why the most controversial postmodern thought, deconstruction is infamously called a philosophy that says nothing.
Postmodernism never encourages lofty principles and is vigilant and critical of the act both universalizing and particularizing. The righteousness in postmodernity is not a transcendental signified that bestows some lofty values. Postmodernism is rebellious to accept a sacred text as ethical encyclopedia. Rather it engages in dialogue with various political, social, cultural, economical, and psychological issues; it endorses the significance of context to decide the meaning. Also in ethical grounds there are varied postmodern thoughts and each postmodernist has got her/his own way of doing philosophy. In fact postmodernism is highly debated even between postmodernists themselves. Nick Lacey describes the mindset of the postmodernists that, the postmodernists resound that post-capitalist society has reduced everything to surface including human beings.1
The postmodernists tend to ‘de-naturalize’2 various beliefs and practices that are part and parcel of our lives. Their writings shatter the dogma of culture, tradition, religion and exhibit that they are made by us and not given to us. But the social and political upliftment of the ‘others’ like the feminist, gay, lesbian, Marxist, ethnic, black is passionately supported by them. The postmodernists stand for the ‘other’ in the face of the power. In such sense the postmodernists have got position. But this position is not a theoretical armchair philosophizing position. Postmodernists have no readymade ethical rules to be applied.
At this outset let us probe into the thoughts of few postmodern map-makers and take a quick look at their ethical discourse. For the ease of our understanding postmodernists are divided into two main camps. According to Shanon Weiss and Karla Wesley they are diametrically opposed as Skeptical Postmodernists and Affirmative Postmodernists. The former are those who disrupt the existing tendencies and the fixities in all systems. They are extremely critical of the modern project and demonstrate their resistance to all structures. To them “theory conceals, distorts, and obfuscates, it is alienated, disparated, dissonant, it means to exclude, order, and control rival powers”3. The latter begin with rupture into the existing structure and then go in search for the alternatives. These postmodernists also reject theory but for them theory need not be abolished but transformed. They in fact support movements organised around peace, environment, and feminism4. According to Linda Hutcheon the postmodern war lies between Radically Antagonistic and the Provisionally Supportive.
Hal Foster expression of these two camps is as a postmodernism of resistance, and the other, of reaction, one poststructuralist and the other neoconservative.
Jean Baudrillard is identified as skeptical postmodernist by Rousenau for the statements like, “everything has already happened….nothing new can occur,” or “there is no real world”5 Ihab Hassan seems to be a neoconservative postmodernist who deliberately comments that postmodernism has become ‘a shibboleth for tendencies in film, theater, dance, music, art, and architecture, in literature and criticism; in philosophy, theology, psychoanalysis, and historiography; in new sciences, cybernetic technologies, and various cultural life styles.6
Postmodernists like Lyotard provoke revolt against modernity by pledging “Let us wage war on totality, let us be witnesses to the unrepresentable; let us activate the differences and save the honour of the name”.7
Roland Barthes, one among the masterminds of postmodernism who is widely known for his statement, ‘author is dead’ reflects his view about the ethical issue whether religion and God are necessary for humans to be humanistic,
“It is important to emphasize at this point that there is no hidden power called Being which designed or operated the escalator. Nobody whispered in the ears of the early Greeks, the poets of the West. There is just us, in the grip of no power save those of the words we happen to speak”8
“We shall not need a picture of ‘the human self’ in order to have morality”9 He said that life in the gulags “Gradually . . . disclosed to me that the line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either — but right through every human heart — and through all human hearts”10
So, Roland Barthes provoking and proclaiming the death of author is not an inhuman stand but vitally a humanistic position to democratize the centre.
Polish postmodern thinker and sociologist Zygmunt Bauman famous for his work Postmodern Ethics delineates Postmodern ethics with the phrase, ‘morality without ethical code’11.
Bauman’s response to the ambiguity of human reality is based in his position that it is our moral capacity that essentially defines us as human beings:
It is society, its continuing existence and its well-being, that is made possible by the moral competence of its members – not the other way round …. Rather than reiterating that there would be no moral individuals if not for the training/drilling job performed by society, we move toward the understanding that it must be the moral capacity of human beings that makes them so conspicuously capable to form societies and against all odds to secure their – happy or less happy – survival …. [I]t is the personal morality that makes ethical negotiation and consensus possible, not the other way round.12
Whatsoever the disagreement may exist between each Postmodernist, postmodernism creates the awareness of the politics of the dominant and the universal privilege granted to White-Male-European-Bourgeois. In supplement it exposes those scheduled for oppression by the dominant culture- the woman, black, gays, lesbian, native people, proletariat, bisexual, ethnics, aborginals.
Deconstruction as Ethics:
This part of the paper elaborates some of the contemporary ethical debates on the socio-political problems carried out by most celebrated cum controversial postmodern intellectual Jacques Derrida.
Derrida’s philosophical inquiry and concern towards the problems of the other (The idea of ‘other’ is drawn by Derrida form Levinas) is evident from an interview in 1981 in which Derrida describes: “deconstruction is always deeply concerned with the “other” of language….The critique of logocentrism is above all else the search for the “other” and the “other of language”"13
The fundamental tendencies within “Western” thought, logocentricism : the belief in “the existence… of a permanent truth”; egocentricism : the belief in a permanent self; phonocentricism : the priority of sound over the written word; phallocentricism : the dominance of the male over the female paradigm; ethnocentrism : the “superiority” of one culture and intellectual traditions over others are the targets of Derrida’s deconstruction.
Derrida in ‘Afterword: Toward An Ethic of Discussion’ unwinds the confusion over his badly misunderstood phrase, ‘There is nothing outside the text’ (il n’ ya pas de ors-texte) 14 by writing, ‘for some become a slogan, in general so badly misunderstood, of deconstruction.’15. He suggests an alternative formulation that is liable to less confusion: “there is nothing outside context.”16In his other works he even stated that, “there is nothing but context”17 and “No meaning can be determined out of context, but no context permits saturation.”18
Let us take the issue of violence, if it is asked whether postmodernist endorse ahimsa (non-violence) or himsa (violence)? Derrida would give the answer, that it is contextual. But Derrida has been repeatedly explicating the importance of ethics and his statements like “Deconstruction is justice”, “openness towards others”, “democracy to come” are proofs for his ethical concern.In an interview to Richard Kearney on “Hospitality, Justice and Responsibility” Derrida says “Ethics and politics start with undecidability. If we know what to do, if I knew in terms of knowledge what I have to do before the decision, then the decision would not be a decision. It would simply be the application of a rule, the consequence of a premiss, and there would be no problem, there would be no decision…. If there is a decision it has to go through undecidability and make a leap beyond the field of theoretical knowledge. So when I say ‘I don’t know what to do’, this is not the negative condition of decision. It is rather the possibility of decision….”19 Derrida in his interview to Dr. Michal Ben-Naftali at the Shoah Resource Center, International School for Holocaust studies makes it clear that he does not want to make any judgment or conclusion over Jankelevitch standpoint. Derrida holds that regarding the Genocide forgiveness is problematic. He answers the question, with more questions, “Forgive whom, actually? Who forgives whom? It would be up to the victims themselves to forgive or not forgive the butchers. But we are today the heirs of the victims or the heirs of the butchers. And the question of forgiveness cannot be asked today as such, in pure form. But his reference to the Shoah forces us in any case to ask ourselves what forgiveness means, if it is possible, if it is necessary, where it comes from, what is the culture that carries the notion of forgiveness, is there forgiveness in cultures where the Torah is not somehow the origin? These for me are questions, not only speculative questions, but truly the questions of the historical existence in which we are.”20
In his discussion on law and justice, Derrida identifies justice with deconstruction itself. He remarks ‘Deconstructive justice’ is not simply a regulative ideal to which real world law will always be aspiring and failing. Deconstructive justice is that possibility of justice always held open in law even as it fails itself. Deconstructive justice is that irrepressible call for justice that is always active within law, but that law in practice cannot finally achieve….. Since, on the one hand, justice can only appear in the world through the practice of law, and, on the other, law can never satisfactorily fulfill the call to justice, law as it is practised is both the only way in which justice can become real, and simultaneously the clearest indication of the impossibility of complete justice. Law both exhibits and undermines justice at one and the same time.21
Two weeks after the September 11, 2001 twin tower attack at New York, Giovanno Barrodori literally caught hold of philosopher Jacques Derrida and Jurgen Habermas questioning them to respond as philosophers of the time. In his interview Derrida picks up the responsibility of deconstructing terrorism which Giovanna has recorded in her book, “Philosophy in a Time of Terror”.
Derrida raises the question whether terrorism can claim a political content or is it an ordinary criminal activity. Is it that state terrorism acceptable, if not what is the difference between war and terrorism? Derrida clearly comments that terrorism and such deconstructive strains could be detected and named but not wholly conquered or controlled.
Derrida further states that despite all the horror that we witnessed it is not unfeasible that one day we will look back at 9/11 as the last example of a link between terror and territory, as the last eruption of an archaic theater of violence destined to strike the imagination. For further attacks as would be the case with chemical and biological weapons or simply major digital communication disruptions. May be silent, invisible, and ultimately unimaginable. 22
For this devastating problem, Derrida calls for a planetary response involving a transition from classical international law, still anchored in the nineteenth century model of the nation-State to a new cosmopolitan order in which multilateral institutions and continental alliances would become the chief political actors. Has international law become obsolete in the face of the new subnational and cross national threats? Is the heart throbbing question that is raised here by Derrida.
Derrida himself is one who has “participated in campaigning against apartheid, the imprisonment of Nelson Mandela, and racism; and in campaigns for immigrants’ and refugees’ rights. He also strongly opposed totalitarian Communism, particularly in Czechoslovakia, where he participated in a group campaigning for solidarity with intellectual dissidents. As a consequence he was arrested in Prague on absurd charges of drug trafficking in 1981 and was only released after diplomatic protest.”23
Forgiveness, tolerance, death, hospitality, justice are key areas discussed by Derrida in his writings which make it clear that Derrida is much concerned about ethics. He has even dedicated his works like Of Hospitality, Politics of Friendship to ethical dialogues.
Hence the philosophy of deconstruction is not aimed at destruction or annihilation or anything negative rather it engages decentering. In fact it encourages reconstruction but “How could you reconstruct anything without deconstruction?”24 is his question. All that deconstruction aims at is to celebrate the pluralities, differences. Never is derrida against ethics but that of a categorical framing of ethical principles
Conclusion:
Postmodernism as a movement (which has been very much instilled by modernity) distorts modernity on the grounds of fixity, totality, institutionalization, centrality, rigidity. Instead it takes up those issues of issues like plurality, irrationality, fragmentation, sin, suicide, and sexuality which were ignored by modernity.25
Postmodern thought rejects homogenization of culture that modernism had been consistently upholding. It conducts the fragmentation of modern culture by encouraging the decentralization and diversity of life forms. It sees no difference such as ‘high’ culture and ‘low’ culture. As it protests against totalitarianism of rationality, instead it suggests narrations and irrational behavior. But this does not mean postmodernism simply supports all sorts of narrations and myths. It vehemently condemns grand narratives and replaces them with local cum micro narratives. Particularly when it comes to metaphysical aspects, it demolishes foundationalism, essentialism, and absolutism. It denies absolute objectivity of truth, reality and knowledge and supports plurality of truths, multiplicity of meaning and celebration of difference. When it comes to epistemology, postmodernism deliberately refuses reason as an ultimate instrument of knowledge. In social and political sphere it closely observes the disparity, coercion and domination implanted by the utopian concepts of universalism, transcendentalism. In turn postmodernism develops “incredulity toward metanarratives”26 andrejects any foundational or universalistic account of existence. It invokes de-naturalization of hierarchy and topsy-turvy of centrality. In ethical grounds though postmodernists are groundless, they value plurality of cultural, ethnic and religious “small narratives”. They aim to (re)conceptualize a pluralistic justice which takes into account the concern for the “other”, the “excluded”, “unrepresented”, “unknown” or “marginalized”: the postmodern ethico-political project constitutes a response to “difference, exclusion and marginalisation”27 produced by modernity. Except for the distrust in systematic moral codes and integrated forms of life, postmodernism shows respect to moral relativism and promote diversity of all kinds.
Hence, an extensive examination of postmodernism indicates that postmodernism revisits modernity, modernism and modernization and unearths the damages caused by them. It opens up various other possibilities that rejoice fluidity, variations, multiplicity, diversity, plurality, difference, etc., without prescribing any final solution.
END NOTES:
Nick Lacey, Introduction to Film
Linda Hutcheon, The Politics of Postmodernism, (London and New York: Routledge Taylor and Francis Group, 2003), p.2.
3. (Rosenau 1992: 81)
4. (Rosenau 1993: 42)
5. (Rosenau 1992: 64, 110)
6. Ihab Hassan, The Postmodern Turn: Essays in Postmodern Theory and Culture,(n.p.: Ohio State University Press, 1987), p.xi.
Jean-Francois Lyotard, The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge, trans. Geoff Benniengton & Brian Massumi (Manchester University Press, 1984), p.81-2
Essays on Heidegger and Others: Philosophical Papers, v 2. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991. p.36)
9. Ibid., p.160
10. Ibid., p.615.
11. Zygmunt Bauman, Postmodern Ethics (Blackwell, 1993),p. 31
12. Ibid., p.32, p.34
13. ‘Deconstruction and the Other’, Interview with Richard Kearney, in Kearney, Dialogues with Contemporary Continental Thinkers (Manchester: Manchester University Press: 1984), p.123.
14. Of Grammatology, p.158
15. Jacques Derrida, ‘Afterword: Toward An Ethic of Discussion’, trans. Samuel Weber, in Limited Inc (Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern University Press, 1988), p.136
16. Ibid.,
17. Jacques Derrida, ‘Biodegradables’, trans. Peggy Kamuf, Critical Inquiry, 15:4 (1989), p.873.
18. Jacques Derrida, ‘Living On’ trans. James Hulbert, in Harold Bloom et al., Deconstruction and Criticism (New York: Seabury Press, 1979), p.81)
19. Richard Keraney and Mark Dooley ed., Questioning Ethics: Contemporary Debates in Philosophy, Hospitality, Justice and Responsibility, (Routledge: London and New York, 1999), p.66)
20. An Interview With Professor Jacques Derrida, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris, January 8, 1998, Jerusalem, Interviewer: Dr. Michal Ben-Naftali, translated from French by Dr. Moshe Ron.
21. Nick Mansfield, Derrida and the Culture Debate: Autoimmunity, Law and Decision, Macquarie University Press.
22. Philosophy in a Time of Terror: Dialogues With Jürgen Habermas and Jacques Derrida (University of Chicago Press, 2003), pp.xiii.
23. Barry Stocker, “Derrida on Deconstruction”, Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, London and New York, 2006, p. 6)
24. Richard Kearney and Mark Dooley ed., Questioning Ethics: Contemporary Debates in Philosophy, Hospitality, Justice and Responsibility, (Routledge: London and New York, 1999),p.77
25. Hari Shankar Prasad, “Looking for the Postmodern Ideas in the Buddha and Nagarjuna”, p.221 ed. R.P.Singh, “Reason, Dialectic and Postmodern Philosophy: Indian and Western Perspectives”, Om Publications, Faridabad, 2001).
26. J.F.Lyotard, The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 19884, p.xxiv)
27. A.Giddens, Modernity and Self-Identity: Self and Society in Late modern Age, Oxford: Polity Press, 1991, p.6 (emphasis in original))
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Medical Transcription Service – US States
Medical Transcription Service – US States
iSource – client focused medical transcription company in US, also providing medical transcription service outsourcing using toll free medical dictations, computer dictations, digital recorder dictations with emphasis on providing quality medical transcription as a company that does outsourcing that is HIPPA compliant, 128 bit encrypted outsourcing service. As a professional healthcare services company, we understand our client’s requirements and provide quality service at a rapid turnaround time and at unbelievable low rates at just 40% of the local US rates.
A specific team caters transcription to specific country in order to provide the high quality based transcription service and to satisfy the client’s requirements. We provide medical transcription services to individual doctors, practices, hospitals throughout the United States and internationally.
List of some of the states which Medical Transcriptions Service is handling efficiently are:
Medical Transcription California
Medical Transcription Florida
Medical Transcription Pennsylvania
Medical Transcription Michigan
Medical Transcription New York
Medical Transcription Louisiana
Medical Transcription Oklahoma
Medical Transcription New Mexico
Medical Transcription Massachusetts
Medical Transcription New Jersey
Medical Transcription North Carolina
Medical Transcription Illinois
Medical Transcription Washington
Medical Transcription Texas
Medical Transcription Ohio.
With the economy in the US showing ‘no’ signs of recovery and with the ‘fourth’ largest bank going bust, companies which earlier had said an emphatic ‘no’ to outsourcing, will have to rethink.
High Capital Costs
The burgeoning ‘operational’ costs a company based in the US incurs for basic back office functions such as payroll processing, accounting, distribution and other important functions adds to the high capital cost of a product or service rendered by companies there.
A new ‘strategy’
A new mind-set is the need of the hour; entrepreneurs need to harness new technologies, outsource assembly lines across the globe to offset the high labor costs at home, this trend adopted by some of the companies a couple of years ago has turned the corners for them, ever since they started moving some of their tasks to overseas companies based in India, operational cost were reduced by one third.
Internet the ‘messiah’
The vast avenues of communication made possible by Internet has made it possible for enormous levels of information that is exchanged, unlike the pre-Internet days where communication was possible only through a telephone, a fax or a personal face-to-face meeting, now entire board room meetings can be held on the Internet regardless of the physical presence of members.
Cost ‘benefits’ of outsourcing
When a company based in the US ships a to an hour transcription job assignment to India where a transcriber is paid just an hour, consider the cost benefits the company will receive, in comparison to the in-house service maintained by the company.
How will ‘US’ benefit from outsourcing
US companies will be able to enjoy reduced costs, and the large profits that will result can be re-invested in new ventures or expanding the existing ones, thus the outsourced new contractors can in fact create new markets for American products, and displaced US workers will have the opportunity to find newer jobs in vibrant new enterprises. The US companies will have the advantage of developing newer products with better features and thus antiquated products or services can be handled by the ‘contracted’ offshore companies.
Advantage of a different time zone of an ‘offshore’ company :
The operations of a US based company will never come to a stand-still, even after the staff has left for the day, the off-shore company based in India will take over and complete your unfinished task, thus projects get a round-the-clock attention, giving the companies an effective lead in completing projects with a quick turn-around-time. Client is therefore assured of an ‘on time’ delivery of his project, and in the bargain the company will have the benefit of maintaining the customer retention ratio.
Why choose ‘transcriptionstar.com’ as your vendor
As a transcription company we have the process expertise and an effective track record of experience and knowledge, we also are very flexible in adapting to newer technologies and since our operations are India based, where employ wages are one fifth of the their counterpart’s in US, an effective price advantage can raise profit margins of US companies to new heights.
Avert ‘Costs’ from sneaking up and corrode ‘Savings’:
medicaltranscriptionsservice.com can effectively ensure that companies outsourcing transcription requirements to us can save 40% to 50% on costs, whether it is for applications for Business Transcriptions, Media Transcriptions, Legal Transcriptions or Medical Transcriptions, we are the ‘source’ that you can ‘outsource’ and avert costs from sneaking up and corrode savings.
Advantage outsourcing from India:
With a vast reservoir of English speaking university graduates and a vibrant democracy, India can virtually ‘clone’ the operations of US companies at one fifth of the cost, and still maintain the standards of quality required by clients in the US, remember it is time to act now than wait, ‘outsourcing’ is the solution.
“A Stitch in Time saves nine”
iSource recognizes the necessity of upgradation of their services with day-to-day advancements in scientific technology. iSource caters to the medical transcription requirements worldwide, from globally recognized research hospitals to individual physician practices and physical laboratories.
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Chevron Corporation – china Machinery parts – Brass Water Valves
Chevron Corporation – china Machinery parts – Brass Water Valves
History
Chevron traditionally traces its roots to an oil discovery in Pico Canyon (now the Pico Canyon Oilfield) north of Los Angeles. The discovery led to the formation, in 1879, of the Pacific Coast Oil Company, the oldest predecessor of Chevron Corporation. Another side of the genealogical chart points to the founding of The Texas Fuel Company in 1901, a modest enterprise that started out in three rooms of a corrugated iron building in Beaumont, Texas. This company would later become known as Texaco.
Chevron Corporation was originally known as Standard Oil of California, or SoCal, and was formed amid the antitrust breakup of John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil company in 1911. It was one of the “Seven Sisters” that dominated the world oil industry in the early 20th century. In 1933, Saudi Arabia granted SoCal a concession to find oil, and oil was found in 1938. In the early 1950s, SoCal discovered the world’s largest oil field (Ghawar) in Saudi Arabia. SoCal’s subsidiary, California-Arabian Standard Oil Company, developed over years, to become the Arabian American Oil Company (ARAMCO) in 1944. In 1973, the Saudi government began buying into ARAMCO. By 1980, the company was entirely owned by the Saudis, and in 1988, the name was changed to Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco).
Standard Oil of California and Gulf Oil merged in 1984, the largest merger in history at that time. Under the antitrust regulation, SoCal divested many of Gulf’s operating subsidiaries, and sold some Gulf stations and a refinery in the eastern United States. SoCal changed the name to Chevron Corporation.
In June 1992, Dynegy, Inc. (NYSE: DYN) was created from the merger of Chevron’s former natural gas and natural gas liquids business with Dynegy’s predecessor, NGC Corp. (formerly NYSE: NGL). NGC had been an integrated natural gas services company since around 1994.
In a merger completed February 1, 2000, Illinova Corp. (formerly NYSE: ILN) became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dynegy Inc., in which Chevron also took a 28% stake.
In 2001, Chevron Corporation acquired Texaco to form ChevronTexaco.
On May 9, 2005, ChevronTexaco announced it would drop the Texaco moniker and return to the Chevron name. Texaco remains as a brand under the Chevron Corporation. On August 19, 2005, Chevron acquired the Unocal Corporation. Because of Unocal’s large South East Asian geothermal operations, Chevron became the world’s largest producer of geothermal energy. Overview
Chevron employs approximately 67,000 people worldwide (of which 27,000 are U.S.-based) and had approximately 12 billion barrels (1.9 km) of oil-equivalent net proved reserves at December 31, 2003. Daily production in 2003 was 2.5 million net oil-equivalent barrels (400,000 m) per day. In addition, the company had a global refining capacity at year-end 2003 of 2.2 million barrels (350,000 m) of crude oil per day. The company has a worldwide marketing network in 84 countries with approximately 24,000 retail sites, including those of affiliate companies. The company also has interests in 13 power generating assets in the United States, Asia, and Europe. Chevron also has gas stations in Western Canada.
Chevron was headquartered in San Francisco for nearly a century before it relocated across the bay to San Ramon, CA. The headquarters at 555 and 575 Market Street, built in the mid-1960s, in San Francisco were sold in December 1999. Its original headquarters were at 225 Bush St., built in 1912. Now, their headquarters are at 6001 Bollinger Canyon Road, San Ramon, CA.
Chevron is the owner of the Standard Oil trademark in 16 states in the western and southeastern U.S. To maintain ownership of the mark, the company owns and operates one Standard-branded Chevron station in each state of the area. Chevron also owns the trademark rights to Texaco brand gasoline. Chevron’s network of wholesalers supplies Texaco fuels.
Several automakers, including General Motors and Toyota, use gasoline only from Chevron when they test vehicles. (Ford uses Chevron gas, too, despite its strategic alliance with BP.) Chevron also has often had one of the highest brand loyalty for gasoline in America, with only Shell and BP (through Amoco) having equally high loyalty.[citation needed]
Chevron Shipping Company is a wholly owned subsidiary company which handles the maritime transport operation for Chevron Corporation. The fleet comprises crude oil and product tankers, as well as three gas tankers operated by Chevron Shipping for other companies. The fleet is divided into two sections: The US fleet transports oil products from Chevron refineries to customers in the US. The ships are manned by US citizens and are flagged in the US. The International fleet vessels are flagged in the Bahamas and have officers and crews from many different nations. The largest ships are 308,000 tonne VLCCs. The job of the international fleet is to transport crude oil from the oilfields to the refineries. The international fleet mans two LPG tankers and one LNG tanker.
Chevron ships originally had names beginning with “Chevron”, such as the Chevron Washington and Chevron South America, or were named after former or serving directors of the company. Samuel Ginn, William E Crain, and most notably Condoleezza Rice were amongst those honored, but the ship named after Rice was subsequently renamed as Altair Voyager. All the ships were renamed in 2001 to reflect the corporate merger with Texaco. Ships in the international fleet are all named after celestial bodies or constellations, such as Orion Voyager and Altair Voyager, and the American ships are named after the states in the country, as in Washington Voyager and Colorado Voyager. Alternative energy
The company is developing technology for alternative energy, including fuel cells, photovoltaics, advanced batteries, and hydrogen fuel for transport and power. Biofuels
Chevron is investing 0M USD a year into alternative fuel sources, and has created a biofuels business unit.
Chevron and US-DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) announced that they had entered into a collaborative agreement to produce biofuels from algae. Chevron and NREL scientists would develop algae strains that can be economically harvested and processed into transportation fuels, such as jet fuel. Controversy Tax evasion
Chevron was found to have evaded .25 billion in federal and state taxes from 1970 to 2000 through a complex petroleum pricing scheme involving a project in Indonesia. Chevron and Texaco, before they merged in 2001, each owned 50 percent of a joint venture called Caltex, which pulled crude oil from the ground in a project with the Indonesian state oil company, Pertamina. Chevron was accused of reducing its tax liabilities in the U.S. by buying oil from Caltex at inflated prices. One internal Chevron document set the price it paid Pertamina for oil at .55 a barrel higher than the prevailing market price. Chevron was then able to overstate deductions for costs on its U.S. income tax returns. Indonesia appeared to levy tax on this oil at 56%, a rate far higher than the corporate tax rate in the U.S. Because the United States gives companies a credit for taxes paid to foreign governments, tax paid to the Indonesian government reduces tax to the U.S. government.
Caltex transferred fund out of the U.S. to Indonesia, because the Indonesian government compensated Caltex for the excessively priced oil and the extra taxes paid by giving oil for free. Because Caltex had to pay taxes on that oil, too, the Indonesian government gave it even more oil to cover the taxes. Environmental damage in Ecuador
From 1965 to 1993, Texaco operated development of the Lago Agrio oil field in Ecuador. Chevron is now being sued for extensive environmental damage caused by these operations. An Ecuadorian court could impose a legal penalty of up to billion in a class action lawsuit filed on behalf of Amazonian villagers in the region. Chevron claims that agreements with the Ecuadorian Government exempt the company from any liabilities. In September 2009 a documentary on the issue, Crude, premiered. Pollution in Richmond, California
Chevron activities in Richmond, California have been the subject of ongoing controversy. The project generated over 11 million pounds of toxic materials and caused more than 304 accidents. Chevron Richmond refineries paid 0,000 in 1998 for illegally bypassing waste water treatments and failing to notify the public about toxic releases. Overall, Chevron is listed as potentially liable for 95 Superfund sites, with funds set aside by the EPA for clean-up. In October, 2003, the state of New Hampshire sued Chevron and other oil companies for using MTBE, a gasoline additive that the attorney general claimed polluted much of the state’s water supply. Oil spills in Angola
Chevron operations in Africa have also been criticized as environmentally unsound. In 2002, Angola became the first country in Africa ever to levy a fine on a major multinational corporation operating within its borders, when it demanded million in compensation for oil spills allegedly caused by Chevron. Violation of the Clean Air Act in the USA
On October 16, 2003, Chevron U.S.A. settled a charge under the Clean Air Act, which reduced harmful air emissions by about 10,000 tons a year. In San Francisco, Chevron was filed by a consent decree to spend almost 5 million to install and utilize innovative technology to reduce nitrogen and sulfur dioxide emissions at its refineries. After violating the Clean Air Act at an offline loading terminal in El Segundo, California, Chevron paid a million penalty as well as million for environmental improvement projects. Chevron also had implemented programs that minimized production of hazardous gases, upgraded leak detection and repair procedure, reduced emissions from sulfur recovery plants, and adopted strategies to ensure the proper handling of harmful benzene wastes at refineries. Chevron also spent about 0,000 to install leakless valves and double-sealed pumps at its El Segundo refinery, which could prevent significant emissions of air contaminants.
Defenders of Chevron environmental record point to recent changes in the corporation, particularly its pledge in 2004 to combat global warming. NiMH battery technology for automobiles
ECD Ovonics founder, Stan Ovshinksy, and Dr. Masahiko Oshitani of the Yuasa Company, invented the NiMH technology used in hybrid vehicles . In 1994, General Motors acquired a controlling interest in Ovonics’s battery development and manufacturing business. On October 10, 2001, Texaco purchased GM’s share in GM Ovonics, and Chevron completed acquisition of Texaco six days later. In 2003, Texaco Ovonics Battery Systems was restructured into Cobasys, a 50/50 joint venture between Chevron and Energy Conversion Devices (ECD) Ovonics. Chevron’s influence over Cobasys extends beyond a strict 50/50 joint venture. Chevron holds a 19.99% interest in ECD Ovonics. In addition, Chevron maintains the right to seize all of Cobasys’ intellectual property rights in the event that ECD Ovonics does not fulfill its contractual obligations. On September 10, 2007, Chevron filed a legal claim that ECD Ovonics has not fulfilled its obligations. ECD Ovonics disputes this claim. Since that time, the arbitration hearing was repeatedly suspended while the parties negotiate with an unknown prospective buyer. No agreement has been reached with the potential buyer. Cobasys’s patents relating to NiMH batteries expire in 2015.
Sometimes gas stations (oftentimes Chevrons) have restaurants in them, such as this one in Chilliwack, British Columbia, which has a White Spot inside of it.
In her book, Plug-in Hybrids: The Cars that Will Recharge America, published in February 2007, Sherry Boschert argues that large-format NiMH batteries are commercially viable but that Cobasys refuses to sell the batteries or license the technology to small companies or individuals. Boschert argues that Cobasys accepts only very large orders for the batteries. Major automakers showed little interest in placing large orders for large-format NiMH batteries. However, Toyota complained about the difficulty in getting smaller orders of large format NiMH batteries to service the existing 825 RAV-4EVs. Because no other companies were willing to place large orders, Cobasys was not manufacturing or licensing large format NiMH battery technology for automobiles. Boschert concludes that “it’s possible that Cobasys (Chevron) is squelching all access to large NiMH batteries through its control of patent licenses in order to remove a competitor to gasoline. Or it’s possible that Cobasys simply wants the market for itself and is waiting for a major automaker to start producing plug-in hybrids or electric vehicles.”
In an interview with Economist, Ovshinsky subscribed to the former view. “I think we at ECD we made a mistake of having a joint venture with an oil company, frankly speaking. And I think it not a good idea to go into business with somebody whose strategies would put you out of business, rather than building the business.”
In December 2006, Cobasys and General Motors announced that they had signed a contract under which Cobasys provides NiMH batteries for the Saturn Aura hybrid sedan. In March 2007, GM announced that it would use Cobasys NiMH batteries in the 2008 Chevrolet Malibu hybrid as well.
In October 2007, International Acquisitions Services and Innovative Transportation Systems filed suit against Cobasys and its parents for refusing to fill an order for large-format NiMH batteries to be used in the electric Innovan.
In August 2008, Mercedes-Benz U.S. International filed suit against Cobasys, on the ground Cobasys did not tender the batteries it agreed to build for Mercedes-Benz planned hybrid SUV. Niger Delta incident
On May 28, 1998, activists staged a demonstration and took several individuals hostage on a company oil platform in the Niger Delta, Nigeria. Nigerian police and soldiers were allegedly flown in with Chevron helicopters. Soldiers shot at the activists and subsequently two activists (Jola Ogungbeje and Aroleka Irowaninu) died from their wounds. Chevron describes the situation as “a violent occupation of private property by aggressors seeking to extort cash payments from the company.” The Nigerian government is reportedly 80% dependent upon oil production and is condemned by many for its reported treatment of environmentalists. The documentary “Drilling and Killing” covers these and other topics.
U.S. District Judge Susan Illston, allowing a lawsuit brought by victims and victims’ families against Chevron to proceed, said that there may be evidence that Chevron has hired, supervised, and/or provided transportation to Nigerian military forces known for their “general history of committing abuses.” In March 2008, the plaintiffs’ lawyers, without explanation, “quietly moved to withdraw half of their claims” against Chevron.
On December 1, 2008, a federal jury cleared Chevron of all charges brought against them in the case. The jury deliberated for less than two hours and the verdict was unanimous. Chevron had claimed that the military intervention was necessary to protect the lives of its workers and considers the jury’s decision vindication for the accusations of wrongdoing. New policy and development
Chevron’s 500kW Solarmine photovoltaic solar project in Fellows, California
Chevron has taken steps to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and pursue cleaner forms of energy. Chevron has scored highest among U.S. oil companies for investing in alternative energy sources and setting targets for reducing its own emissions. Chevron is the world’s largest producer of geothermal energy, providing enough power for over 7 million homes. Board of directors
As of Janaury 2010 :
John Watson (Chairman & CEO)
Samual Armacost
Linnet F. Deily
Robert Denham
Robert James Eaton
Sam Ginn
Franklyn Jenifer
Sam Nunn
Donald Rice
Peter Robertson
Charles Shoemate
Ronald Sugar
Carl Ware
Condoleezza Rice is a former member of the board of directors, and also headed Chevron’s committee on public policy until she resigned on January 15, 2001, to become National Security Advisor to President George W. Bush.
On September 30, 2009, John Watson, age 52, was elected Chairman of the Board and CEO, effective at the December 31, 2009 retirement of David J. O’Reilly Marketing brands
The typical Chevron gas station design that was used until 2006.
In 2006, Chevron began phasing in this gas station design. Fuel
Chevron
Standard Oil (in limited circumstances)
Texaco
Caltex
Gulf
Unocal Convenience stores
Star Mart
Extra Mile
Redwood Market
Town Pantry Lubricants
Delo (sold by Caltex and Chevron)
Havoline (sold by Caltex and Texaco)
Revtex (sold by Caltex)
Ursa (sold by Texaco) Fuel additives
Techron – Chevron, Texaco (phased in during 2005), Caltex (phased in during 2006 and later)
Clean System 3 – Texaco (phased out during 2005 in favor of Techron) See also
Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc.
Jack 2
Trans-Caribbean pipeline References
^ Chevron Products Homepage
^ a b CHEVRON CORP. APPLAUDS DYNEGY-ILLINOVA MERGER, Chevron Press Release Archives, February 2, 2000
^ “Chevron claims energy debate”, BBC News, 2006-02-19, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4716334.stm, retrieved 2009-12-31
^ Chevron leaving San Francisco – Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal:
^ http://www.sfbctc.org/highrise-91701.htm
^ Standard Oil Today
^ Marinucci, Carla (2001-05-05). “Chevron redubs ship named for Bush aide”. San Francisco Chronicle. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2001/05/05/MN223743.DTL. Retrieved 2008-10-13.
^ BBC NEWS | Business | Chevron claims energy debate
^ Reuters.com
^ NREL: Chevron and NREL to Collaborate on Research to Produce Transportation Fuels using Algae
^ http://www2.hawaii.edu/~gramlich/caltex/financials
^ Johnston, David C. (2003). Perfectly Legal. New York: Penguin Group. pp. 253255. ISBN 1591840694.
^ 60 Minutes “Amazon Crude”, May 3, 2009
^ Chevron annual meeting heats up over Ecuador suit
^ Environmental Justice Case Study: Richmond, CA
^ CHEVRON RICHMOND REFINERY TO PAY 0,000 ENVIRONMENTAL PENALTY | Newsroom | US EPA
^ Responsible Shopper Profile: Chevron
^ Knowmore.org – Question Your Goods. Vote With Your Wallet
^ AfricaResource.com – Chevron, Oil Pollution, and Human Rights
^ BBC NEWS | Business | Angola fines Chevron for pollution
^ a b “Environmental Protection Agency”. 2003-10-16. http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/b1ab9f485b098972852562e7004dc686/0fd3f9216a2c5fbf85256dc10054c376?OpenDocument. Retrieved 2008-05-06.
^ “Department of Justice”. 2003-10-16. http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2003/October/03_enrd_575.htm. Retrieved 2008-05-06.
^ [http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2000/August/493enrd.htm "CHEVRON AGREES TO RECORD MILLION ENVIRONMENTAL SETTLEMENT"]. 2000-08-11. http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2000/August/493enrd.htm. Retrieved 2008-05-06.
^ “CHEVRON AGREES TO RECORD MILLION ENVIRONMENTAL SETTLEMENT”. 2000-08-11. http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2000/August/493enrd.htm. Retrieved 2008-05-06.
^ Quest for clean energy / Chevron, PG&E cited for positive steps to combat global warming
^ http://www.greencar.com/article/nickel-metal-hybrid-batteries/
^ http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/ovshinsky.html.
^ Roberson, J. (March 14, 2007) “Supplier Cobasys exploring more hybrid batteries” Detroit Free Press
^ ECD Ovonics Definitive Proxy Statement of January 15, 2003
^ ECD Ovonics Amended General Statement of Beneficial Ownership of December 2, 2004
^ ECD Ovonics 10-Q Quarterly Report for the period ending September 30, 2007
^ a b ECD Ovonics 10-Q Quarterly Report for the period ending March 31, 2008
^ Boschert, S. (2007) Plug-in Hybrids: The Cars that Will Recharge America (Gabriola Island, BC: New Society Publishers) ISBN 9780865715714
^ http://www.theenergyroadmap.com/futureblogger/show/1030-stanford-ovshinsky-and-the-future-of-energy-interview-part-1
^ Abuelsamid, S. (December 6, 2006) “Cobasys providing NiMH batteries for Saturn Aura hybrid” Autobloggreen.com
^ “Mercedes sues Cobasys over battery deal” Automotive News Europe
^ Democracy Now! | Transcript of Drilling and Killing Documentary
^ “Nigerians pull half of claims in Chevron suit”. Walter Olson, Pointoflaw.com. Published April 7, 2008. Last accessed April 8, 2008.
^ ^ Chevron can be sued for attacks on Nigerians, U.S. judge rules
^ Nigerians pull half of claims in Chevron suit, Bob Egelko, San Francisco Chronicle. March 12, 2008.
^ S.F. jury clears Chevron of protest shootings. Bob Egelko, sfgate.com. Published December 2, 2008. Last accessed December 3, 2008.
^ a b Quest for clean energy / Chevron, PG&E cited for positive steps to combat global warming
^ Chevron – Chevron Stories External links
San Francisco Bay Area portal
Companies portal
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Chevron (company)
Chevron Corporate Site
Chevron Alumni Site
Chevron Proposed Oil Refinery in Scotland
SWOT Analysis of Chevron Corporation
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Donate or buy DVD here goldenruledocumentary.blogspot.com “A most important project” -Noam Chomsky, Institute prof. MIT “…a magnificent and entertaining introduction and elaboration upon an important way to understand the crisis in American democracy today” -Robert W. McChesney, University of Illinois prof. “I like it a lot…[its] segments ‘move’ [and] are both appropriate to the themes and hold the viewers interest.” -Thomas Ferguson, UMass professor “…excellent” -David Cromwell, editor medialens
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Robin Williams
Robin Williams
Early life
Williams was born in Chicago, Illinois. His mother, Laura (ne Smith, 19222001), was a former model from New Orleans, Louisiana. His father, Robert Fitzgerald Williams (September 10, 1906 October 18, 1987) was a senior executive at Lincoln-Mercury Motorship in charge of the Midwest area. Williams was raised in the Episcopal Church, though his mother practiced Christian Science. He grew up in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, where he was a student at the Detroit Country Day School, and Marin County, California, where he attended the public Redwood High School. Williams also attended Claremont McKenna College (then called Claremont Men’s College) for four years.
He has two half-brothers: Todd (who died August 14, 2007) and McLaurin.
Williams has described himself as a quiet child whose first imitation was of his grandmother to his mother. He did not overcome his shyness until he became involved with his high-school drama department.
In 1973, Williams was one of only 20 students accepted into the freshman class at the Juilliard School, and one of only two students to be accepted by John Houseman into the Advanced Program at the school that year, the other being Christopher Reeve. In his dialects class, Williams had no trouble mastering all dialects quickly. WIlliams left Juilliard in 1976.
Television career
After appearing in the cast of the short-lived The Richard Pryor Show on NBC, Williams was cast by Garry Marshall as the alien Mork in the hit TV series “Happy Days”. As Mork, Williams improvised much of his dialogue and devised plenty of rapid-fire verbal and physical comedy, speaking in a high, nasal voice. Mork’s appearance was so popular with viewers that it led to a spin-off hit television sitcom, Mork and Mindy, which ran from 1978 to 1982. Although playing the same character as in his appearance in Happy Days, the show was set in the present day, in Boulder, Colorado, instead of late ’50s in Milwaukee. Mork was an extremely popular character, featured on posters, coloring books, lunchboxes, and other merchandise.
Starting in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, Williams began to reach a wider audience with his standup comedy, including three HBO comedy specials, Off The Wall (1978), An Evening with Robin Williams (1982), and Robin Williams: Live at the Met (1986). Also in 1986, Williams reached an ever wider audience to exhibit his style at the 58th Academy Awards show; noting the Hollywood writers strike that year he commented that the Hollywood writer… “is the only man in the world that can blow smoke up his own ass.” As a result, Williams has never hosted the Academy Awards again.
His standup work has been a consistent thread through his career, as is seen by the success of his one-man show (and subsequent DVD) Robin Williams Live on Broadway (2002). He was voted 13th on Comedy Central’s list “100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time” in 2004.
After some encouragement from his friend Whoopi Goldberg, he was set to make a guest appearance in the 1991 Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, “A Matter of Time”, but he had to cancel due to a scheduling conflict; Matt Frewer took his place as a time-traveling con man, Professor Berlingoff Rasmussen.
Williams also appeared on an episode of the American version of Whose Line Is It Anyway? (Season 3, Episode 9: November 16, 2000). During a game of “Scenes from a Hat”, the scene “What Robin Williams is thinking right now” was drawn, and Williams stated “I have a career. What the hell am I doing here?”
Cinema career
Most of Williams’ acting career has been in film, although he has given some performances on stage as well (notably as Estragon in a production of Waiting for Godot with Steve Martin). His performance in Good Morning, Vietnam (1987) got Williams nominated for an Academy Award. Many of his roles have been comedies tinged with pathos, for example The Birdcage and Mrs. Doubtfire.
His role as the Genie in the animated film Aladdin was instrumental in establishing the importance of star power in voice actor casting. Williams also used his voice talents in Fern Gully, as the holographic Dr. Know in the 2001 feature A.I. Artificial Intelligence, the 2005 animated feature Robots, the 2006 Academy Award winning Happy Feet, and an uncredited vocal performance in 2006′s Everyone’s Hero. Furthermore, he was the voice of The Timekeeper, a former attraction at the Walt Disney World Resort about a time-traveling robot who encounters Jules Verne and brings him to the future.
Williams has also starred in dramatic films, which got him two subsequent Academy Award nominations: First for playing an English teacher in Dead Poets Society (1989), and later for playing a troubled homeless man in The Fisher King (1991); that same year, he played an adult Peter Pan in the movie Hook. Other acclaimed dramatic films include Awakenings (1990) and What Dreams May Come (1998). In the 2002 dramatic thriller Insomnia, Williams portrays a writer/killer on the run from a sleep-deprived Los Angeles policeman (played by Al Pacino) in rural Alaska. And also in 2002, in the psychological thriller One Hour Photo, Williams played an emotionally disturbed photo development technician who becomes obsessed with a family for whom he has developed pictures for a long time.
In 1998, he won an Oscar as Best Supporting Actor for his role as a psychologist in Good Will Hunting. However, by the early 2000s, he was thought by some to be typecast in films such as Patch Adams (1998) and Bicentennial Man (1999) that critics complained were excessively maudlin. In 2006 Williams starred in The Night Listener, a thriller about a radio show host who realizes he has developed a friendship with a child who may or may not exist.
He is known for his improvisational skills and impersonations. His performances frequently involve impromptu humor designed and delivered in rapid-fire succession while on stage. According to the Aladdin DVD commentary, most of his dialogue as the Genie was improvised.
In 2006, he starred in five movies including Man of the Year and was the Surprise Guest at the 2006 Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards. He appeared on an episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition that aired on January 30, 2006.
At one point, he was in the running to play the Riddler in Batman Forever until director Tim Burton dropped the project. Earlier, Williams had been a strong contender to play the Joker in Batman. He had expressed interest in assuming the role in The Dark Knight, the sequel to 2005′s Batman Begins, although the part of the Joker was played by Heath Ledger, who went on to win, posthumously, the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
He was portrayed by Chris Diamantopoulos in the made-for-TV biopic Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of Mork & Mindy (2005), documenting the actor’s arrival in Hollywood as a struggling comedian.
Disputes with Disney
In gratitude for his success with the Disney/Touchstone film Good Morning, Vietnam, Robin Williams voiced the Genie in the Disney animated film Aladdin for SAG scale pay (,000), on condition that his name or image not be used for marketing, and his (supporting) character not take more than 25% of space on advertising artwork, since Toys was scheduled for release one month after Aladdin’s debut. The studio went back on the deal on both counts, especially in poster art by having the Genie in 25% of the image, but having other major and supporting characters portrayed considerably smaller. Disney’s Hyperion book, Aladdin: The Making Of An Animated Film, listed both of Williams’ characters “The Peddler” and “The Genie” ahead of main characters, but was forced to refer to him only as “the actor signed to play the Genie”.
Williams and Disney had a bitter falling-out, and as a result Dan Castellaneta voiced the Genie in The Return of Jafar, the Aladdin animated television series, and had recorded his voice for Aladdin and the King of Thieves. When Jeffrey Katzenberg was fired from Disney and replaced by former 20th Century Fox production head Joe Roth (whose last act for Fox was greenlighting Williams’ film Mrs. Doubtfire), Roth arranged for a public apology to Williams by Disney. Williams agreed to perform in Hollywood Pictures’ Jack, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, and even agreed to voice the Genie again for the King Of Thieves sequel (for considerably more than scale), replacing all of Castellaneta’s dialogue.
When Williams re-teamed with Doubtfire director Chris Columbus for 1999′s Bicentennial Man, Disney asked that the budget be cut by approximately million, and when the film was released on Christmas Day, it flopped at the box office. Williams blamed Disney’s marketing and the loss of content the film had suffered due to the budget cuts. As a result, Williams was again on bad terms with Disney, and Castellaneta was once again recruited to replace him as Genie in the Kingdom Hearts video game series and the House of Mouse TV series. The DVD release for Aladdin has no involvement whatsoever from Williams in the bonus materials, although some of his original recording sessions can be seen.
Robin Williams has recently made peace with the Walt Disney Company and in 2009 agreed to be inducted into the Disney hall of fame, designated as a Disney Legend.
Stand-up career
Robin Williams has done a number of stand-up comedy tours since the early 1970s. Some of his most notable tours include An Evening With Robin Williams (1982), Robin Williams: At The Met (1986) and Robin Williams LIVE on Broadway (2002). The latter broke many long held records for a comedy show. In some cases, tickets were sold out within thirty minutes of going on sale.
After a six-year break, in August 2008 Williams announced a brand new 26-city tour titled “Weapons of Self Destruction”. He was quoted as saying that this was his last chance to make cracks at the expense of the current Bush Administration, but by the time the show was staged only a few minutes covered that subject. The tour started at the end of September 2009, finishing in New York on December 3, and was the subject of an HBO special on December 8, 2009.
Controversy
Robin Williams gained a reputation for stealing material from other comics to the extent that David Brenner claims that he confronted Williams personally and threatened him with bodily harm if he heard Williams utter another one of his jokes.
Personal life
Robin Williams’ first marriage was to Valerie Velardi on June 4, 1978, with whom he has one child, Zachary Pym (Zak) (born April 11, 1983). During Williams’ first marriage, he was involved in an extramarital relationship with Michelle Tish Carter, a cocktail waitress whom he met in 1984. She sued him in 1986, claiming that he did not tell her he was infected with the herpes simplex virus before he embarked on a sexual relationship with her in the mid-1980s, during which, she said, he transmitted the virus to her. The case was settled out of court.
On April 30, 1989, he married Marsha Garces, his son’s nanny who was already several months pregnant with his child. They have two children, Zelda Rae (born July 31, 1989) and Cody Alan (born November 25, 1991). However, in March 2008, Garces filed for divorce from Williams, citing irreconcilable differences.
During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Williams had an addiction to cocaine; he has since quit. Williams was a close friend and frequent partier alongside John Belushi. He says the death of his friend and the birth of his son prompted him to quit drugs: “Was it a wake-up call? Oh yeah, on a huge level. The grand jury helped too.”
On August 9, 2006, Williams checked himself in to a substance-abuse rehabilitation center (located in Newberg, Oregon), later admitting that he was an alcoholic. His publicist delivered the announcement:
“After 20 years of sobriety, Robin Williams found himself drinking again and has decided to take proactive measures to deal with this for his own well-being and the well-being of his family. He asks that you respect his and his family’s privacy during this time. He looks forward to returning to work this fall to support his upcoming film releases.”
On August 20, 2007, Williams’ elder brother, Robert Todd Williams, died of complications from heart surgery performed a month earlier.
Williams is a member of the Episcopal Church. He has described his denomination in a comedy routine as “Catholic Lite ; same rituals, half the guilt.”
While studying at Juilliard, Williams befriended Christopher Reeve. They had several classes together in which they were the only students, and they remained good friends for the rest of Reeve’s life. Williams visited Reeve after the horse riding accident that rendered him a quadriplegic, and cheered him up by pretending to be an eccentric Russian doctor (similar to his role in Nine Months). Williams claimed that he was there to perform a colonoscopy. Reeve stated that he laughed for the first time since the accident and knew that life was going to be okay.
Health
Williams was hospitalized in March 2009 due to heart problems. Williams postponed his one-man tour in order to undergo surgery to replace his aortic valve. The surgery was successfully completed on March 13, 2009, at the Cleveland Clinic.
Other interests
Williams speaking at the 2008 BBC World Debate
Williams is an avid enthusiast of games (even naming his daughter after Princess Zelda from The Legend of Zelda video game series), enjoying pen-and-paper role-playing games and online video games, recently playing Warcraft 3, Day of Defeat, Half-Life, and the first-person shooter Battlefield 2 as a sniper. On January 6, 2006, he performed live at Consumer Electronics Show during Google’s keynote. In the 2006 E3, on the invitation of Will Wright, he demonstrated the creature editor of Spore while simultaneously commenting on the creature’s look: “This will actually make a platypus look good.” He also complimented the game’s versatility, comparing it to Populous and Black & White. Later that year, he was one of several celebrities to participate in the Worldwide Dungeons & Dragons Game Day.
Williams has gone on record as a fan of the anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion, and incorporated a scene referencing it in One Hour Photo where he purchases a model kit from it as a gift.
A fan of professional road cycling, he was a regular on the US Postal and Discovery Channel Pro Cycling team bus and hotels during the years Lance Armstrong dominated the Tour de France. He owns over 50 bicycles.
He also enjoys rugby union and is a big fan of former All Black, Jonah Lomu.
Williams is a supporter of eco-friendly vehicles. He currently drives a Toyota Prius, but is on the waiting list to be an early adopter of the Aptera 2-series electric vehicle.
Charity work
Williams and his former wife, Marsha, founded the Windfall Foundation, a philanthropic organization to raise money for many different charities. Williams devotes much of his energy doing work for charities, including the Comic Relief fund-raising efforts. In December 1999, he sang in French on the BBC-inspired music video of international celebrities doing a cover of the Rolling Stones’ “It’s Only Rock & Roll” for the charity Children’s Promise.
Williams has performed with the USO for U.S. troops stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Filmography
Year
Film
Role
Notes
1977
Can I Do It ‘Till I Need Glasses?
Himself
1980
Popeye
Popeye
1982
The World According to Garp
T.S. Garp
1983
The Survivors
Donald Quinelle
1984
Moscow on the Hudson
Vladimir Ivanov
Nominated Golden Globe Award for Best Actor Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1986
Seize the Day
Tommy Wilhelm
Club Paradise
Jack Moniker
The Best of Times
Jack Dundee
1987
Good Morning, Vietnam
Adrian Cronauer
Golden Globe Award for Best Actor Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
Nominated Academy Award for Best Actor
Nominated BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
1988
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
King of the Moon
Credited as Ray D. Tutto
Portrait of a White Marriage
Air Conditioning Salesman
Rabbit Ears: Pecos Bill
Narrator
Voice
1989
Dead Poets Society
John Keating
Nominated Academy Award for Best Actor
Nominated BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
Nominated Golden Globe Award for Best Actor Motion Picture Drama
I’m from Hollywood
Himself
1990
Awakenings
Dr. Malcolm Sayer
Nominated Golden Globe Award for Best Actor Motion Picture Drama
Cadillac Man
Joey O’Brien
Back to Neverland
Himself
1991
Hook
Peter Banning / Peter Pan
The Fisher King
Parry
Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
Nominated Academy Award for Best Actor
Dead Again
Doctor Cozy Carlisle
“Rabbit Ears: The Fool and the Flying Ship”
Narrator
Voice
1992
Toys
Leslie Zevo
voice
Aladdin
Genie/Merchant
Voice
The Timekeeper
The Timekeeper
FernGully: The Last Rainforest
Batty Koda
Voice
Shakes the Clown
Mime Class Instructor
1993
Mrs. Doubtfire
Daniel Hillard/Mrs. Doubtfire
Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
Being Human
Hector
1994
In Search of Dr. Seuss
Father
1995
Aladdin and the King of Thieves
Genie
Voice
Jumanji
Alan Parrish
To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar
John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt
Nine Months
Dr. Kosevich
1996
Hamlet
Osric
The Secret Agent
The Professor
Jack
Jack Powell
The Birdcage
Armand Goldman
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
1997
Good Will Hunting
Sean Maguire
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Nominated Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor Motion Picture
Nominated Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
Flubber
Professor Philip Brainard
Deconstructing Harry
Mel/Harry’s Character
Fathers’ Day
Dale Putley
1998
Patch Adams
Hunter “Patch” Adams
Nominated Golden Globe Award for Best Actor Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
Junket Whore
Himself
What Dreams May Come
Chris Nielsen
1999
Bicentennial Man
Andrew Martin
Jakob the Liar
Jakob Heym/Narrator
Get Bruce
Himself
2000
Model Behavior
Faremain
2001
A.I. Artificial Intelligence
Dr. Know
voice
2002
The Rutles 2: Can’t Buy Me Lunch
Hans Hnkie
Insomnia
Walter Finch
Death to Smoochy
‘Rainbow’ Randolph Smiley
One Hour Photo
Sy Parrish
2004
Noel
Charlie Boyd/The Priest
House of D
Pappass
The Final Cut
Alan W. Hakman
2005
The Big White
Paul Barnell
Robots
Fender
voice
The Aristocrats
Himself
2006
Man of the Year
Tom Dobbs
Night at the Museum
Theodore Roosevelt
Happy Feet
Ramon/Lovelace
(voice)
Everyone’s Hero
Napoleon Cross
(voice)
RV
Bob Munro
The Night Listener
Gabriel Noone
2007
License to Wed
Reverend Frank
August Rush
Maxwell “Wizard” Wallace
2009
Shrink
Holden
World’s Greatest Dad
Lance Clayton
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
Theodore Roosevelt
Old Dogs
Dan Rayburn
2010
Wedding Banned
John Fischer
In development
2011
Happy Feet 2 in 3D
Ramon/Lovelace
Voice role
Filming
Television
Year
Title
Role
Notes
1977
Richard Pryor Show
Himself
Writer
“Man with Bad Arm,” “John Brownstein, Defense Attorney/Archeologist/Shopper,” “Himself,” “Himself/Titanic Survivor/Voice of Gun”
Laugh-In
Eight is Enough
Episode: “The Return of Auntie V”
1978
Happy Days
Mork
Episode: My Favorite Orkan
America 2-Night
Jason Shine
Episodes: “Jason Shine” and “Olfactory Distosis Telethon”
19791982
Mork & Mindy
Mork
Appeared in 92 episodes
1979
Happy Days
Mork
Episode: “Mork Returns”
Out of the Blue
Episode: “Random’s Arrival”
1981
Saturday Night Live
Himself
Host/Various
1982
The Billy Crystal Comedy Hour
Himself
Episode: #1.1
Faerie Tale Theatre
Frog/Prince Robin
Episode: “Tale of the Frog Prince”
SCTV Network 90
Various
Episode: “Jane Eyrehead”
1984
Saturday Night Live
Himself
Host/Various
Pryor’s Place
Gaby
Episode: “Sax Education”
1986
Saturday Night Live
Himself
Host/Various
The Max Headroom Show
Himself
Episode: “Max Headroom’s Giant Christmas Turkey”
1988
Saturday Night Live
Himself
Host/Various
Wogan
Himself
1991
Wogan
Himself
1992
The Larry Sanders Show
Himself
Episode: “Hank’s Contract”
1994
Homicide: Life on the Streets
Robert Ellison
Episode: “Bop Gun”
Live & Kicking
Himself
The Larry Sanders Show
Himself
Episode: “Montana”
Nyhetsmorgon
Himself
Episode: “Filmen ‘Mrs. Doubtfire’ svensk premir”
In the Wild
Himself
Episode: “In the Wild: Dolphins with Robin Williams”
1995
Primer Plano
Himself
1996
American Masters
Himself
Episode: “Take Two: Mike Nichols and Elaine May”
Primer Plano
1996
Friends
Tomas
Uncredited
HBO First Look
Himself
Episode: “Fathers Day”
1998
Nyhetsmorgon
Himself/Sean Maguire
Episode: “Filmen ‘Good Will Hunting”
Hollywood Squares
Himself
Guest appearance
Noel’s House Party
Himself
Episode: #8.10
1999
L.A. Doctors
Hugo Kinsley
Episode: “Just Duet”
2000
Whose Line Is It Anyways?
Himself
Episodes: #3.4 and #3.9
2002
Comedy Central Canned Ham
Himself
Episode: “Death to Smoochy”
Leute heute
Himself
Supermarket Sweep
Himself
2003
Player$
Himself
Episodes: “E3 03, Playa;” “Players Halloweenie Televizzie”
Freedoom: A History of Us
Josiah Quincy/Ulysses S. Grant/Missouri Farmer/Wilbur Wright/Orville Wright
Episodes: “Wake Up America,” “A War to End Slavery,” “Liberty for All,” and “Safe for Democracy”
Life With Bonnie
Kevin Powalski
Episode: “Psychic”
2004
This Hour Has 22 Minutes
Himself
2005
Just For Laughs
Himself
2006
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
Himself
Mind of Mencia
Himself
Episode: “That’s F**king Historical”
Getaway
Himself
Episode: #15.15
2008
American Idol: The Search for a New Superstar
Ivan “Bob” Poppanoff the “Russian Idol”/Himself
Episodes: “Idol Gives Back” and “Live Results Show: One Contestant Eliminated”
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Merrit Rook
Episode: “Authority”
2009
SpongeBob SquarePants
Himself
Episode: “Truth or Square”
TV Land Moguls
Himself
Episode: “The 80s”
Discography
Williams sings a version of “Come Together” with Bobby McFerrin on In My Life, a Beatles tribute album produced by George Martin. He also sings “A Mi Manera (My Way)”, on the Happy Feet soundtrack. For the 1993 soundtrack of Mrs. Doubtfire, and the film, he sings a rendition of a fragment of Gioachino Rossini’s “Largo al factotum” from The Barber of Seville.
Williams appeared in the music video of Bobby McFerrin’s hit song “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”.
Reality…What a Concept (1979)
Throbbing Python of Love (1983)
A Night at the Met (1986)
Pecos Bill (1988)
Live 2002 (2002)
DVDs and videos
An Evening with Robin Williams (1982, VHS)
Robin Williams: Live at the Met (1986, VHS)
Robin Williams: Live on Broadway (2002)
Robin Williams: Raul’s House 2 (2009)[citation needed]
Robin Williams: Weapons of Self Destruction (TBA)
References
^ Thomas, Mike (2002-02-24). “A nose for laughs”. Chicago Sun-Times. http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=CSTB&p_theme=cstb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0F360C3C1592F9AE&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM. Retrieved 2009-12-14.
^ McMullen, Marion (2002-10-05). “Article: WEEKEND TV: STAR PROFILE.(Features)”. Coventry Evening Telegraph. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-92577025.html. Retrieved 2009-12-14.
^ Sources conflict. The print biographies The Life and Humor of Robin Williams: A Biography and Robin Williams: A Biography give his birth year as 1952. The Robin Williams Scrapbook also gives a birth year as 1952, as does Encyclopedia Britannica. Williams refers to himself as being “55″ in an interview published July 4, 2007. Monk, Katherine (2007-07-04). “Marriage 101 with Robin Williams”. StarPhoenix. http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/news/lifestyle/news/lifestyle/story.html?id=8b777192-8e77-464d-b8da-0cb90be40901&k=1045. He also verifies his date of birth as July 21, 1951 in a fansite interview: Stuurman, Linda. RWF talks with Robin Williams: Proost!, May 25, 2008.
^ “If Robin Williams’ comedies are inspired by his life no wonder he’s been in therapy”. Sunday Herald. 1999-03-14. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/smgpubs/access/70123882.html?dids=70123882:70123882&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Mar+14,+1999&author;=&pub=Sunday+Herald&desc=If+Robin+Williams’+comedies+are+inspired+by+his+life+no+wonder+he’s+been+in+therapy&pqatl=google. Retrieved 2009-12-14.
^ Gristwood, Sarah (1998-06-18). “Bobbin’ Robin”. Mail & Guardian Online. http://www.chico.mweb.co.za/mg/art/film/9806/980618-robin.html. Retrieved 2007-12-26.
^ Topel, Fred (2007-07-03). “Robin Williams on License to Wed”. CanMag. http://www.canmag.com/nw/8218-license-to-wed-robin-williams. Retrieved 2007-12-26.
^ Detroit Country Day: Frequently Asked Questions
^ McLellan, Dennis (2007-08-18). “R. Todd Williams, 69; winery founder, comic’s brother” (pdf). Los Angeles Times. http://www.toadhollow.com/pdf/memorial/ToddLATimesObit.pdf. Retrieved 2008-02-10.
^ “Robin Williams: ‘The Night Listener’”. Terry Gross (host). Fresh Air from WHYY. National Public Radio. 2006-08-03.
^ a b Reeve, Christopher (1998). Still Me. New York: Random House. pp. 167172. ISBN 978-067945235-5.
^ YouTube – Happy Days – Richie Meets Mork
^ “Comedy Central Presents: 100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time”. Internet Movie Database. http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0429332/. Retrieved 2007-12-26.
^ “Biography for Robin Williams”. Internet Movie Database. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000245/bio. Retrieved 2008-04-13.
^ “Episode 9″. Whose Line Is It Anyway?. 2000-11-16.
^ a b c “Robin Williams”. James Lipton (host). Inside the Actors Studio. Bravo. 2001-06-10. No. 710, season 7.
^ Otto, Jeff (2006-06-26). “Robin Williams, Joker?”. IGN. http://au.movies.ign.com/articles/714/714752p1.html. Retrieved 2007-12-26.
^ “DISNEY’S GOT A BRAND-NEW BAGHDAD”. Entertainment Weekly. 1992-09-04. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,312562,00.html. Retrieved 2007-03-16.
^ Hill, Jim (April 2000). “Be Careful What You Wish For”. Jim Hill Media. http://jimhillmedia.com/blogs/jim_hill/archive/2000/12/31/312.aspx. Retrieved 2008-03-15.
^ “2009 Disney Legends Award Recipients to Be Honored During D23 Expo in Anaheim”. PR Newswire. 2009-09-01. http://news.prnewswire.com/ViewContent.aspx?ACCT=109&STORY;=/www/story/09-01-2009/0005086237. Retrieved 2009-09-01.
^ robinwilliams.com
^ Richard Zoglin (2008). Comedy at the Edge. Bloomsbury USA. ISBN 978-1582346243.
^ Hoffman, Jan (1992-08-09). “THE SEXES; Pillow Talk”. The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE2DF153FF93AA3575BC0A964958260. Retrieved 2007-12-26.
^ Robin Williams’ wife files for divorce after nearly 19 years
^ http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=2515796
^ “Robin Williams Enters Rehab for Alcohol”. People. August 9, 2005. http://www.people.com/people/article/0,26334,1224730,00.html. Retrieved 2007-04-28.
^ http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/tre5247lm-us-williams/
^ Johnson, Caitlin A. (2007-07-03). “A “License” to Laugh”. CBS News. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/07/03/earlyshow/leisure/boxoffice/main3011495.shtml. Retrieved 2009-03-27.
^ “Robin Williams in South Florida hospital”. The Miami Herald. 2009-03-04. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking-news/story/933065.html. Retrieved 2009-03-04.
^ Jones, Kenneth.”Robin Williams’ Spring Broadway Bow Postponed Due to Heart Surgery”,playbill.com, March 5, 2009
^ “Robin Williams’s Heart Surgery Called a Success”. http://www.peop/le.com/people/article/0,,20267281,00.html.
^ “Robin Williams’ heart surgery goes ‘extremely well’”. http://edition.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Movies/03/23/robin.williams.health/.
^ http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3177150
^ Interview at Pro-HL.com
^ “Mork & Me”. The Archies. 2005-12-05. http://thearchies.blogspot.com/2005/12/mork-me.html.
^ Engadget.com
^ Robin Williams plays Spore
^ Dungeons and Dragons Game Day at London Dungeon, ViewLondon.co.uk
^ Murphy, Brian. “Tour de Lance: 100 percent pure”. ESPN. http://espn.go.com/page2/s/murphy/020729.html. Retrieved 2007-06-29.
^ http://www.bikeforums.net/archive/index.php/t-10161.html
^ http://www.ticketsnow.com/Robin-Williams-Tickets.html
^ http://www.granvilleonline.ca/gr/features/2008/11/12/toyota-prius-hybrid-2009
^ http://www.roadandtrack.com/article.asp?section_id=10&article_id=7651
^ “Stones cover enters festive race”. BBC NEWS. 1999-12-10. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/558252.stm.
^ “Good Morning, Iraq”. San Francisco Chronicle. 2005-02-09. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/02/09/DDG5AB3TBJ38.DTL. Retrieved 2009-09-04.
^ World Entertainment News Network. “Williams rekindles failed marriage on film”, San Francisco Chronicle, August 28, 2009. Retrieved August 29, 2009.
^ Bobby McFerrin Homepage
“Road Trip with Robin”
“Robin Williams mimic ends ‘fraud’” (BBC News)
“Robin Williams’ impersonator stopped” (AskMen.com)
“Robin Williams Enters Rehab”, August 9, 2006 (Access Hollywood)
Lovece, Frank, New York Newsday (April 27, 2006)
Bibliography
Jay David (1999). The Life and Humor of Robin Williams: A Biography. New York: Quill. ISBN 978-068815245-1.
Andy Dougan (1999). Robin Williams: A Biography. Thunder’s Mouth Press. ISBN 978-156025213-9.
Stephen J. Spignesi (1997). The Robin Williams Scrapbook. Secaucus, NJ: Carol Pub.. ISBN 978-080651891-6.
External links
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Robin Williams
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Robin Williams
Robin Williams at the Internet Broadway Database
Robin Williams at the Internet Movie Database
Robin Williams at the TCM Movie Database
Robin Williams at TV.com
Robin Williams at Yahoo! Movies
Awards for Robin Williams
v d e
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
John Gielgud (1981) Louis Gossett, Jr. (1982) Jack Nicholson (1983) Haing S. Ngor (1984) Don Ameche (1985) Michael Caine (1986) Sean Connery (1987) Kevin Kline (1988) Denzel Washington (1989) Joe Pesci (1990) Jack Palance (1991) Gene Hackman (1992) Tommy Lee Jones (1993) Martin Landau (1994) Kevin Spacey (1995) Cuba Gooding, Jr. (1996) Robin Williams (1997) James Coburn (1998) Michael Caine (1999) Benicio del Toro (2000)
Complete list (19361940) (19411960) (19611980) (19812000) (2001-present)
v d e
Primetime Emmy Award for Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program
Harvey Korman / Brenda Vaccaro (1974) Jack Albertson / Cloris Leachman (1975) Chevy Chase / Vicki Lawrence (1976) Tim Conway / Rita Moreno (1977) Tim Conway / Gilda Radner (1978) George Hearn (1985) Whitney Houston (1986) Robin Williams (1987) Robin Williams (1988) Linda Ronstadt (1989) Tracey Ullman (1990) Billy Crystal (1991) Billy Crystal (1992) Dana Carvey (1993) Tracey Ullman (1994) Barbra Streisand (1995) Tony Bennett (1996) Bette Midler (1997) Billy Crystal (1998) John Leguizamo (1999) Eddie Izzard (2000)
Complete list: (19742000) (2001resent)
v d e
Golden Globe Award for Best Actor Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
Dudley Moore (1981) Dustin Hoffman (1982) Michael Caine (1983) Dudley Moore (1984) Jack Nicholson (1985) Paul Hogan (1986) Robin Williams (1987) Tom Hanks (1988) Morgan Freeman (1989) Grard Depardieu (1990) Robin Williams (1991) Tim Robbins (1992) Robin Williams (1993) Hugh Grant (1994) John Travolta (1995) Tom Cruise (1996) Jack Nicholson (1997) Michael Caine (1998) Jim Carrey (1999) George Clooney (2000)
Complete List (19501960) (19611980) (19812000) (2001resent)
v d e
Golden Globe Award for Best Actor Television Series Musical or Comedy
Flip Wilson (1970) Carroll O’Connor (1971) Redd Foxx (1972) Jack Klugman (1973) Alan Alda (1974) Alan Alda (1975) Henry Winkler (1976) Henry Winkler (1977) Robin Williams (1978) Alan Alda (1979) Alan Alda (1980) Alan Alda (1981) Alan Alda (1982) John Ritter (1983) Bill Cosby (1984) Bill Cosby (1985) Bruce Willis (1986) Dabney Coleman (1987) Michael J. Fox/Judd Hirsch/Richard Mulligan (1988) Ted Danson (1989)
Complete List (1970-1989) (1990resent)
v d e
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Martin Landau (1994) Ed Harris (1995) Cuba Gooding, Jr. (1996) Robin Williams (1997) Robert Duvall (1998) Michael Caine (1999) Albert Finney (2000)
Complete list (1994-2000) (2001-present)
v d e
MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance
Billy Crystal (1992) Robin Williams (1993) Jim Carrey (1994) Jim Carrey (1995) Jim Carrey (1996) Jim Carrey (1997) Jim Carrey (1998) Adam Sandler (1999) Adam Sandler (2000) Ben Stiller (2001) Reese Witherspoon (2002) Mike Myers (2003) Jack Black (2004) Dustin Hoffman (2005) Steve Carell (2006) Sacha Baron Cohen (2007) Johnny Depp (2008) Jim Carrey (2009)
v d e
Hosts of the Academy Awards ceremonies
Johnny Carson (1981) Johnny Carson (1982) Liza Minnelli / Dudley Moore / Richard Pryor / Walter Matthau (1983) Johnny Carson (1984) Jack Lemmon (1985) Alan Alda / Jane Fonda / Robin Williams (1986) Chevy Chase / Goldie Hawn / Paul Hogan (1987) Chevy Chase (1988) None (1989) Billy Crystal (1990) Billy Crystal (1991) Billy Crystal (1992) Billy Crystal (1993) Whoopi Goldberg (1994) David Letterman (1995) Whoopi Goldberg (1996) Billy Crystal (1997) Billy Crystal (1998) Whoopi Goldberg (1999) Billy Crystal (2000)
Complete List (19291940) (19411960) (19611980) (19812000) (2001-present)
Persondata
NAME
Williams, Robin
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
Williams, Robin McLaurim
SHORT DESCRIPTION
Academy Award-winning American actor and comedian
DATE OF BIRTH
1952-7-21
PLACE OF BIRTH
Chicago, Illinois, United States
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH
Categories: 1951 births | Living people | Actors from California | Actors from Chicago, Illinois | 20th-century American Episcopalians | 21st-century American Episcopalians | American film actors | American impressionists (entertainers) | American stand-up comedians | American television actors | American voice actors | Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe (film) winners | Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe (television) winners | Best Supporting Actor Academy Award winners | MTV Movie Award winners | Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners | California Democrats | People self-identifying as alcoholics | Grammy Award winners | Juilliard School alumni | People from Marin County, CaliforniaHidden categories: Wikipedia indefinitely semi-protected biographies of living people | All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements from November 2009
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Political Parties of the US
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Political Parties of the US
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Political Parties of the US
By: Michael Newman
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Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ – Political Parties of the US
Introduction
The United States is commonly classified as a representative democracy. What is that?
In a literal sense, democracy means government by the people. The word democracy originated in two Greek roots—demos, meaning “the populace” or “the common people”; and kratia, meaning “rule.” Of course, in large, populous nations, government by all the people is impractical at the national level. It would be impossible for the more than 246 million Americans to vote on every important issue that comes before Congress. Consequently, democracies are generally maintained through a mode of participation known as representative democracy, in which certain individuals are selected to speak for the people.
The United States is commonly classified as a representative democracy, since Americans elect members of Congress and state legislatures to handle the task of writing laws.
Unlike monarchies, oligarchies, and dictatorships, the democratic form of government implies an opposition which is tolerated or, indeed, encouraged to exist. In the United States, there are two major political parties—the Democrats and Republicans—as well as various minor parties. Sociologists use the term political party to refer to an organization whose purposes are to promote candidates for elected office, advance an ideology as reflected in positions on political issues, win elections, and exercise power.
So in my report I would like to tell you history of American donkey and elephant. Also I used to think that there are no politic parties in the USA except Democrats and Republicans but that was mistake I changed due to that report.
THE TWO MAJOR PARTIES:
The Democratic Party (DNC) today
After the 2002 elections, Democrats control several key governorships (including PA, MI, IL, VA, NJ, NC and WA) and many state legislatures – but lost control of the US House in 1994, narrowly lost control of the US Senate again in 2002 (but they still hold enough seats to block much legislation), and lost control of the White House in the 2000 elections. While prominent Democrats run the wide gamut from the near democratic-socialist left (Barbara Lee, Dennis Kucinich and the Congressional Progressive Caucus) and traditional liberals (Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi and Ted Kennedy) to the center-right (Joe Lieberman, the Congressional Blue Dog Coalition and the New Democrat Network) to the GOP-style conservative right (Ralph Hall and Gene Taylor), most fall somewhere into the pragmatic Democratic Leadership Council’s “centrist” moderate-to-liberal style (Evan Bayh, Dick Gephardt, Tom Daschle).
Brief History of the Democratic Party
At the start of the 21st Century, the Democratic Party can look back on a proud history — a history not just of a political organization but of a national vision. It is a vision based on the strength and power of millions of economically empowered, socially diverse and politically active Americans. Over two hundred years ago, democsatic party’s founders decided that wealth and social status were not an entitlement to rule. They believed that wisdom and compassion could be found within every individual and a stable government must be built upon a broad popular base.
The late Ron Brown — former Chairman of the Democratic Party — put it best when he wrote, “The common thread of Democratic history, from Thomas Jefferson to Bill Clinton, has been an abiding faith in the judgment of hardworking American families, and a commitment to helping the excluded, the disenfranchised and the poor strengthen our nation by earning themselves a piece of the American Dream. We remember that this great land was sculpted by immigrants and slaves, their children and grandchildren.”
Thomas Jefferson founded the Democratic Party in 1792 as a congressional caucus to fight for the Bill of Rights and against the elitist Federalist Party. In 1798, the “party of the common man” was officially named the Democratic-Republican Party and in 1800 elected Jefferson as the first Democratic President of the United States. Jefferson served two distinguished terms and was followed by James Madison in 1808. Madison strengthened America’s armed forces — helping reaffirm American independence by defeating the British in the War of 1812. James Monroe was elected president in 1816 and led the USA through a time commonly known as “The Era of Good Feeling” in which Democratic-Republicans served with little opposition.
The election of John Quincy Adams in 1824 was highly contested and led to a four-way split among Democratic-Republicans. A result of the split was the emergence of Andrew Jackson as a national leader. The war hero, generally considered — along with Jefferson — one of the founding fathers of the Democratic Party, organized his supporters to a degree unprecedented in American history. The Jacksonian Democrats created the national convention process, the party platform, and reunified the Democratic Party with Jackson’s victories in 1828 and 1832. The Party held its first National Convention in 1832 and nominated President Jackson for his second term. In 1844, the National Convention simplified the Party’s name to the Democratic Party.
In 1848, the National Convention established the Democratic National Committee, now the longest running political organization in the world. The Convention charged the DNC with the responsibility of promoting “the Democratic cause” between the conventions and preparing for the next convention.
As the 19th Century came to a close, the American electorate changed more and more rapidly. The Democratic Party embraced the immigrants who flooded into cities and industrial centers, built a political base by bringing them into the American mainstream, and helped create the most powerful economic engine in history. Democratic Party leader William Jennings Bryan led a movement of agrarian reformers and supported the right of women’s suffrage, the progressive graduated income tax and the direct election of Senators. As America entered the 20th Century, the Democratic Party became dominant in local urban politics.
In 1912, Woodrow Wilson became the first Democratic president of the 20th Century. Wilson led the country through World War I, fought for the League of Nations, established the Federal Reserve Board, and passed the first labor and child welfare laws.
A generation later, Franklin Roosevelt was elected president running on the promise of a New Deal. Roosevelt pulled America out of the Depression by looking beyond the Democratic base and energizing citizens around the belief that their government could actively assist them in times of need. Roosevelt’s New Deal brought water to California’s Central Valley, electrified Appalachia and saved farms across the Midwest. The Civilian Conservation Corps, the WPA and Social Security all brought Americans into the system, freeing people from fear, giving to people a stake in the future, making the nation stronger.
With the election of Harry Truman, Democrats began the fight to bring down the final barriers of race and gender. Truman integrated the military and oversaw the reconstruction of Europe by establishing the Marshall Plan and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Truman’s leadership paved the way for civil rights leaders who followed.
In the 1960s, President John F. Kennedy challenged an optimistic nation to build on its great history. Kennedy proclaimed a New Frontier and dared Americans to put a man on the moon, created the Peace Corps, and negotiated a treaty banning atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons. Lyndon Johnson followed Kennedy’s lead and worked to pass the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act. Kennedy and Johnson worked together to end the practice of segregation in many southern states. Following Kennedy’s assassination, Johnson declared a War on Poverty and formed a series of Great Society programs, including the creation of Medicare — ensuring that older Americans would receive quality health care.
In 1976, Jimmy Carter was elected president, helping to restore the nation’s trust in government following the Watergate scandal. Among other things, Carter negotiated the historic Camp David peace accords between Egypt and Israel.
In 1992, Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton was elected the 42nd President of the United States. President Clinton ran on the promise of a New Covenant for America’s forgotten working families. After twelve years of Republican presidents, America faced record budget deficits, high unemployment, and increasing crime. President Clinton’s policies put people first and resulted in the longest period of economic expansion in peacetime history. The Deficit Reduction Act of 1993 — passed by both the House and Senate without a single Republican vote — put America on the road to fiscal responsibility and led to the end of perennial budget deficits. Having inherited a 0 billion deficit in 1992, President Clinton’s last budget was over 0 billion in surplus. The Clinton/Gore Administration was responsible for reducing unemployment to its lowest level in decades and reducing crime to its lowest levels in a generation. In 1996, President Clinton became the first Democratic president reelected since Roosevelt in 1996. In 1998, Democrats became the first party controlling the White House to gain seats in Congress during the sixth year of a president’s term since 1822.
In the 2000 elections, Democrats netted 4 additional Senate seats, one additional House seat, and one additional gubernatorial seat. Vice President Al Gore won the popular vote for President by more than 500,000 votes. In 2001, Democrats regained control of the Senate under Majority Leader Tom Daschle, while Democrats swept to victory in races all across the country, including races for Virginia Governor and Lt. Governor, New Jersey Governor, and 39 out of 42 major mayoral races including Los Angeles and Houston.
While we have accomplished a great deal — as a nation and a Party, we must continue to move forward in the 21st Century. We must work to incorporate all Americans into the fabric of our nation. The history of our next hundred years can be seen in the gorgeous mosaic of America, from the wheat fields of Nebraska to the barrios of New York City, from the mountains of Colorado to the rocky coast of Maine. The Democratic Party is America’s last, best hope to bridge the divisions of class, race, region, religion, ethnicity and sexual orientation. We will succeed if we continue to govern by the same principles that have made America the greatest nation on earth — the principles of strength, inclusion and opportunity. The Democratic Party is ready to take advantage of the opportunities we have and meet the challenges we face.
The Democratic Donkey
When Andrew Jackson ran for president in 1828, his opponents tried to label him a “jackass” for his populist views and his slogan, “Let the people rule.” Jackson, however, picked up on their name calling and turned it to his own advantage by using the donkey on his campaign posters. During his presidency, the donkey was used to represent Jackson’s stubbornness when he vetoed re-chartering the National Bank.
The first time the donkey was used in a political cartoon to represent the Democratic party, it was again in conjunction with Jackson. Although in 1837 Jackson was retired, he still thought of himself as the Party’s leader and was shown trying to get the donkey to go where he wanted it to go. The cartoon was titled “A Modern Baalim and his Ass.”
Interestingly enough, the person credited with getting the donkey widely accepted as the Democratic party’s symbol probably had no knowledge of the prior associations. Thomas Nast, a famous political cartoonist, came to the United States with his parents in 1840 when he was six. He first used the donkey in an 1870 Harper’s Weekly cartoon to represent the “Copperhead Press” kicking a dead lion, symbolizing Lincoln’s Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, who had recently died. Nast intended the donkey to represent an anti-war faction with whom he disagreed, but the symbol caught the public’s fancy and the cartoonist continued using it to indicate some Democratic editors and newspapers.
Later, Nast used the donkey to portray what he called “Caesarism” showing the alleged Democratic uneasiness over a possible third term for Ulysses S. Grant. In conjunction with this issue, Nast helped associate the elephant with the Republican party. Although the elephant had been connected with the Republican party in cartoons that appeared in 1860 and 1872, it was Nast’s cartoon in 1874 published by Harper’s Weekly that made the pachyderm stick as the Republican’s symbol. A cartoon titled “The Third Term Panic,” showed animals representing various issues running away from a donkey wearing a lion’s skin tagged “Caesarism.” The elephant labeled “The Republican Vote,” was about to run into a pit containing inflation, chaos, repudiation, etc.
By 1880 the donkey was well established as a mascot for the Democratic party. A cartoon about the Garfield-Hancock campaign in the New York Daily Graphic showed the Democratic candidate mounted on a donkey, leading a procession of crusaders.
Over the years, the donkey and the elephant have become the accepted symbols of the Democratic and Republican parties. Although the Democrats have never officially adopted the donkey as a party symbol, we have used various donkey designs on publications over the years. The Republicans have actually adopted the elephant as their official symbol and use their design widely.
The Democrats think of the elephant as bungling, stupid, pompous and conservative – but the Republicans think it is dignified, strong and intelligent. On the other hand, the Republicans regard the donkey as stubborn, silly and ridiculous – but the Democrats claim it is humble, homely, smart, courageous and loveable.
Adlai Stevenson provided one of the most clever descriptions of the Republican’s symbol when he said, “The elephant has a thick skin, a head full of ivory, and as everyone who has seen a circus parade knows, proceeds best by grasping the tail of its predecessor.”
The Republican Party (RNC) today
Republicans control a slim majority in the US House, several key Governorships (including NY, TX, OH, GA, MA and FL), recaptured the White House in 2000, and narrowly re-took majority status in the US Senate in 2002. Leading Republicans fall into several different ideological factions: traditional conservatives (President George W. Bush, Denny Hastert, Bill Frist and the Club for Growth), the Religious Right (Trent Lott, John Ashcroft, the National Federation of Republican Assemblies and the Christian Coalition), the old Nixon/Rockefeller “centrist” or “moderate” wing (Colin Powell, George Pataki, the Republican Main Street Partnership, the Republican Leadership Council and the Republican Mainstream Committee), and libertarians (Ron Paul and the Republican Liberty Caucus).
Brief History of the Republican Party
The Republican Party was born in the early 1850′s by anti-slavery activists and individuals who believed that government should grant western lands to settlers free of charge. The first informal meeting of the party took place in Ripon, Wisconsin, a small town northwest of Milwaukee.
The first official Republican meeting took place on July 6th, 1854 in Jackson, Michigan. The name “Republican” was chosen because it alluded to equality and reminded individuals of Thomas Jefferson’s Democratic-Republican Party. At the Jackson convention, the new party adopted a platform and nominated candidates for office in Michigan.
In 1856, the Republicans became a national party when John C. Fremont was nominated for President under the slogan: “Free soil, free labor, free speech, free men, Fremont.” Even though they were considered a “third party” because the Democrats and Whigs represented the two-party system at the time, Fremont received 33% of the vote. Four years later, Abraham Lincoln became the first Republican to win the White House.
The Civil War erupted in 1861 and lasted four grueling years. During the war, against the advice of his cabinet, Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation that freed the slaves. The Republicans of their day worked to pass the Thirteenth Amendment, which outlawed slavery, the Fourteenth, which guaranteed equal protection under the laws, and the Fifteenth, which helped secure voting rights for African-Americans.
The Republican Party also played a leading role in securing women the right to vote. In 1896, Republicans were the first major party to favor women’s suffrage. When the 19th Amendment finally was added to the Constitution, 26 of 36 state legislatures that had voted to ratify it were under Republican control. The first woman elected to Congress was a Republican, Jeannette Rankin from Montana in 1917.
Presidents during most of the late nineteenth century and the early part of the twentieth century were Republicans. While the Democrats and Franklin Roosevelt tended to dominate American politics in the 1930′s and 40′s, for 28 of the forty years from 1952 through 1992, the White House was in Republican hands – under Presidents Eisenhower, Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Bush. Under the last two, Reagan and Bush, the United States became the world’s only superpower, winning the Cold War from the old Soviet Union and releasing millions from Communist oppression.
Behind all the elected officials and the candidates of any political party are thousands of hard-working staff and volunteers who raise money, lick the envelopes, and make the phone calls that every winning campaign must have. The national structure of the party starts with the Republican National Committee. Each state has its own Republican State Committee with a Chairman and staff. The Republican structure goes right down to the neighborhoods, where a Republican precinct captain every Election Day organizes Republican workers to get out the vote.
Most states ask voters when they register to express party preference. Voters don’t have to do so, but registration lists let the parties know exactly which voters they want to be sure vote on Election Day. Just because voters register as a Republican, they don’t need to vote that way – many voters split their tickets, voting for candidates in both parties. But the national party is made up of all registered Republicans in all 50 states. For the most part they are the voters in Republican Presidential primaries and caucuses. They are the heart and soul of the party.
Republicans have a long and rich history with basic principles: Individuals, not government, can make the best decisions; all people are entitled to equal rights; and decisions are best made close to home.
The symbol of the Republican Party is the elephant. During the mid term elections way back in 1874, Democrats tried to scare voters into thinking President Grant would seek to run for an unprecedented third term. Thomas Nast, a cartoonist for Harper’s Weekly, depicted a Democratic jackass trying to scare a Republican elephant – and both symbols stuck.
For a long time Republicans have been known as the “G.O.P.” And party faithfuls thought it meant the “Grand Old Party.” But apparently the original meaning (in 1875) was “gallant old party.” And when automobiles were invented it also came to mean, “get out and push.” That’s still a pretty good slogan for Republicans who depend every campaign year on the hard work of hundreds of thousands of volunteers to get out and vote and push people to support the causes of the Republican Party.
Origin Of The Republican Elephant
This symbol of the Republican party was born in the imagination of cartoonist Thomas Nast and first appeared in Harper’s Weekly on November 7, 1874.
An 1860 issue of Railsplitter and an 1872 cartoon in Harper’s Weekly connected elephants with Republicans, but it was Nast who provided the party with its symbol.
Oddly, two unconnected events led to the birth of the Republican Elephant. James Gordon Bennett’s New York Herald raised the cry of “Caesarism” in connection with the possibility of a thirdterm try for President Ulysses S. Grant. The issue was taken up by the Democratic politicians in 1874, halfway through Grant’s second term and just before the midterm elections, and helped disaffect Republican voters.
While the illustrated journals were depicting Grant wearing a crown, the Herald involved itself in another circulation-builder in an entirely different, nonpolitical area. This was the Central Park Menagerie Scare of 1874, a delightful hoax perpetrated by the Herald. They ran a story, totally untrue, that the animals in the zoo had broken loose and were roaming the wilds of New York’s Central Park in search of prey.
Cartoonist Thomas Nast took the two examples of the Herald enterprise and put them together in a cartoon for Harper’s Weekly. He showed an ass (symbolizing the Herald) wearing a lion’s skin (the scary prospect of Caesarism) frightening away the animals in the forest (Central Park). The caption quoted a familiar fable:
“An ass having put on a lion’s skin roamed about in the forest and amused himself by frightening all the foolish animals he met within his wanderings.”
One of the foolish animals in the cartoon was an elephant, representing the Republican vote – not the party, the Republican vote – which was being frightened away from its normal ties by the phony scare of Caesarism. In a subsequent cartoon on November 21, 1874, after the election in which the Republicans did badly, Nast followed up the idea by showing the elephant in a trap, illustrating the way the Republican vote had been decoyed from its normal allegiance. Other cartoonists picked up the symbol, and the elephant soon ceased to be the vote and became the party itself: the jackass, now referred to as the donkey, made a natural transition from representing the Herald to representing the Democratic party that had frightened the elephant.
THE THIRD PARTIES:
(in alphabetical order)
America First Party
The America First Party was founded in Spring 2002 by a large group of Buchanan Brigade defectors who splintered away from the declining Reform Party to form this new, uncompromisingly social conservative and fair trade party (with a strong foundation in the Religious Right movement). The views of the party largely echo those espoused by commentator Pat Buchanan during his three Presidential bids. The AFP is dedicated to “protect our people and our sovereignty … promote economic growth and independence … encourage the traditional values of faith, family, and responsibility … ensure equality before the law in protecting those rights granted by the Creator … [and] to clean up our corrupted political system.” Within a month of the AFP’s founding, ten former Reform Party state chapters formally broke away from the RP and affiliated with the AFP. By the August 2002 National Convention, the AFP had affiliates in around 20 states – and they hoped to be organized in nearly all 50 states by the end of 2003. Now, those hopes seem dashed. The AFP’s national chair, vice chair and treasurer have all resigned in mid-2003 after a hardcore group affiliated with ultra-right militia movement leader Bo Gritz purportedly grabbed control of key party elements. Others in the AFP denied this, saying the Gritz complaints were just a pretext to mask serious financial problems and personality divisions within the party that really caused the collapse. So – for whatever reasons – many AFP state parties apparently left the national party for the same reason. The AFP National Convention – set for July 2003 – was cancelled. The party even abandoned the possibility of fielding a Presidential candidate in 2004. A Buchananite AFP faction reported that they will attempt to reorganize at mid-2003 meeting – placing a greater emphasis on building state party strength.
American Party
The AP is a very small, very conservative, Christian splinter party formed after a break from the American Independent Party in 1972. US Senator Jesse Helms (R-NC) and Governor Mel Thomson (R-NH) both flirted with the American Party’s presidential nomination in 1976, but both ultimately declined. The party won its strongest finish in the 1976 presidential election – nominee Tom Anderson carried 161,000 votes (6th place) – but has now largely faded into almost total obscurity. The party’s 1996 Presidential candidate – anti-gay rights activist and attorney Diane Templin – carried just 1,900 votes. Former GOP State Senator Don Rogers of California – the 2000 nominee for President – did even worse as he failed to qualify for ballot status in any states. The party – which used to field a sizable amount of state and local candidates in the 1970s – rarely fields more than a handful of nominees nationwide in recent years, although they do claim local affiliates in 15 states. Beyond the pro-life, pro-gun and anti-tax views that you’d expect to find, the American Party also advocates an end to farm price supports/subsidies, privatization of the US Postal Service, opposes federal involvement in education, supports abolition of the Environmental Protection Agency, supports repeal of NAFTA, opposes minimum wage laws, opposes land use zoning regulations and opposes convening a Constitutional convention. Of course, the AP also opposes the United Nations, the New World Order, communism, socialism and the Trilateral Commission.
American Heritage Party
The AHP, formerly the Washington State affiliate of the USTP/Constitution Party, broke away from that group in 2000 because of religious grounds (i.e., while the CP is clearly a Religious Right party, it is not explicitly a Christian party). Thus, the AHP describes itself as “a political party that adopts the Bible as its political textbook and is unashamed to be explicitly Christian … [and] whose principles are drawn from Scripture.” The AHP planned to become a national conservative party, with the ultimate goal of fielding candidates around the nation in coming years. The party previously fielded some candidate for Congress, Governor and local offices in Washington in 1998 – but ran just one local candidate in 2000 and another one in 2002.
American Independent Party
Governor George C. Wallace (D-AL) founded the AIP and ran as the its first Presidential nominee in 1968. Running on a right-wing, anti-Washington, anti-racial integration, anti-communist platform, Wallace carried nearly 10 million votes (14%) and won 5 Southern states. Although Wallace returned to the Democratic Party by 1970, the AIP continued to live on – although moving even further to the right. The 1972 AIP nominee, John Birch Society leader and Congressman John G. Schmitz (R-CA), carried nearly 1.1 million votes (1.4%). The 1976 AIP Presidential nominee was former Governor Lester Maddox (D-GA), a vocal segregationist – but he fell far below Schmitz’s vote total. The AIP last fielded its own national Presidential candidate in 1980, when they nominated white supremacist ex-Congressman John Rarick (D-LA) – who carried only 41,000 votes nationwide. The AIP still fields local candidates in a few states – mainly California – but is now merely a state affiliate party of the national Constitution Party. For the past three presidential elections, the AIP simply co-nominated the Constitution Party’s Presidential nominee.
American Nazi Party
Exactly what the name implies … these are a bunch of uniformed, swastika-wearing Nazis! This party is a combination of fascists, Aryan Nations-type folks, “White Power” racist skinheads and others on the ultra-radical political fringe. As a political party, the American Nazi Party has not fielded a Presidential candidate since Lincoln Rockwell ran as a write-in candidate in 1964 (he was murdered in 1967 by a disgruntled ANP member) – nor any other candidate for other offices since the mid-1970s (although a loosely affiliated candidate ran for Congress in Illinois in a Democratic primary in 2000). The ANP believes in establishing an Aryan Republic where only “White persons of unmixed, non-Semitic, European descent” can hold citizenship. They support the immediate removal of “Jews and non-whites out of all positions of government and civil service – and eventually out of the country altogether.” This miniscule party – while purportedly denouncing violence and illegal acts – blends left-wing economic socialism, right-wing social fascism and strong totalitarian sentiments.
American Reform Party
The ARP, formerly known as the National Reform Party Committee, was founded in September 1997. The ARP is a splinter group that broke away from Ross Perot and Russ Verney’s Reform Party, claiming the Perot organization was unfocused and anti-democratic when the memberships’ views clashed with Perot’s views. The ARP fielded some candidates for state and federal offices in “Reform Party” primaries against candidates backed by Perot’s Reform Party in 1998. The ouster of Perot’s allies from control of the Reform Party at the July 1999 national convention looked like a move towards ending the split. However, the resoration of control to the Perot forces in early 2000 and subsequent takeover of state party affiliates by the Buchanan forces killed any move by the ARP folks to rejoin the Reform Party. Instead, the ARP ultimately shifted towards the left and opted to “endorse” (but not co-nominate) Green Party Presidential nominee Ralph Nader in the 2000 elections. Since then, the ARP has become virtually invisible on the political scene – fielding only four state/local candidates nationwide in 2002 (plus co-endorsing several other third party candidates). The ARP vows to rebuild in the coming election cycle.
Christian Falangist Party of America
The CFPA appears to be the more active of the two Falangist political parties in the US (the American Falangist Party (AFP), below, being the other one). As for the ideology, they share the general historical and ideological roots expressed by the AFP – although the CFPA seems more closely affiliated with the Lebanese branch of the Falangist movement. The CFPA, founded in 1985, “is dedicated to fighting the ‘Forces of Darkness’ which seeks to destroy Western Christian Civilization.” The CFPA site explicitly defines “Forces of Darkness” as being “Radical Islam, Communism/Socialism, the New World Order, the New Age movement, Third Position/Neo-Nazis, Free Masons, Abortionists, Euthanasianists, Radical Homosexuals and Pornographers.” Numerous attacks against Islam can be found throughout the CFPA site. Yet, despite this lengthy list of foes that it wishes to destroy – umm, “defend” themselves against (the wording they use) – the CFPA helpfully notes it is “not a hate organization and does not condone acts of violence or hatred towards those of differing or opposing viewpoints and lifestyles, nor does it condone racism in any form.” In 1998, the CFPA and AFP united as one entity – but differences caused them to break apart after two years. The CFPA desires to be a direct action political movement – and criticizes the AFP as comprised mainly of “armchair patriots.” The CFPA promises to “bring excitement to the otherwise boring American political arena.” The CFPA is fielding it’s first candidate in 2004: CFPA National Chairman Kurt Weber-Heller is running as a write-in candidate for President.
Communist Party USA
The CPUSA, once the slavish propaganda tool and spy network for the Soviet Central Committee, has experiences a forced transformation in recent years. Highly classified Soviet Politburo records, made public after the fall of Soviet communism, revealed that the Communist Party of the Soviet Union illegally funneled millions of dollars to the CPUSA to finance its activities from the 1920s to the 1980s. The flow of Soviet dollars to the CPUSA came to an abrupt halt when the communists were ousted from power there in 1991, ultimately causing a retooling of CPUSA activities. Founded in 1924, the CPUSA reached its peak vote total in 1932 with nominee William Z. Foster (102,000 votes – 4th place). The last national CPUSA ticket – featuring the team of Gus Hall and Angela Davis – was fielded back in 1984 (36,000 votes – 8th place). While the party has not directly fielded any of its own candidates for over a decade, the CPUSA has backed some candidates in various local elections (often in industrial communities) and engaged in grassroots political and labor union organizing. In the 1998 elections, longtime CPUSA leader Hall actually urged party members to vote for all of the Democratic candidates for Congress – arguing that voting for any progressive third party candidates would undermine the efforts to oust the “reactionary” Republicans from control of Congress. As for issues, the CPUSA calls for free universal health care, elimination of the federal income tax on people earning under ,000 a year, free college education, drastic cuts in military spending, “massive” public works programs, the outlawing of “scabs and union busting,” abolition of corporate monopolies, public ownership of energy and basic industries, huge tax hikes for corporations and the wealthy, and various other programs designed to “beat the power of the capitalist class … [and promote] anti-imperialist freedom struggles around the world.” The CPUSA’s underlying communist ideology hasn’t changed much over the years, but the party’s tactics have undergone a major shift (somewhat reminiscent of those used by the CPUSA in the late 1930s). After the death of hardline communist leader Hall in 2000, Gorbachev-style “reform communist” activist Sam Webb assumed leadership of the CPUSA. The CPUSA also maintains online sites for the People’s Weekly World party newspaper, Political Affairs monthly party magazine, and the CPUSA’s Young Communists League youth organization.
Constitution Party
Former Nixon Administration official and Conservative Coalition chairman Howard Phillips founded the US Taxpayers Party in 1992 as a potential vehicle for Pat Buchanan to use as a third party vehicle – had he agreed to bolt from the GOP in 1992 or 1996. The USTP pulled together several of the splintered right-wing third parties – including the once mighty American Independent Party – into a larger, more visible political entity (although some state affiliate parties operate under names other than the USTP). Renamed as the Constitution Party in 1999, the party is strongly pro-life, anti-gun control, anti-tax, anti-immigration, protectionist, “anti-New World Order,” anti-United Nations, anti-gay rights, anti-welfare, pro-school prayer … basically a hardcore Religious Right platform. When Buchanan stayed in the GOP, Phillips ran as the USTP nominee in both 1992 (ballot status in 21 states – 43,000 votes – 0.04%) and 1996 (ballot spots in 39 states – 185,000 votes – 6th place – 0.2%) – and as the Constitution nominee in 2000 (ballot status in 41 states – 98,000 votes – 6th place – 0.1%). The party started fielding local candidates in 1994. Still, for a new third party attempting to grow, the party fielded disappointingly few local candidates since 1998. The web site features the Constitution Party platform, articles, archives, links and more. The party received a brief boost in the media when conservative US Senator Bob Smith – an announced GOP Presidential hopeful – bolted from the Republican Party to seek the Constitution Party nomination in 2000 (although Smith exited from the Constitution Party race just two weeks later). At the 1999 national convention, the party narrowly adopted a controversial change to its platform’s preamble which declared “that the foundation of our political position and moving principle of our political activity is our full submission and unshakable faith in our Savior and Redeemer, our Lord Jesus Christ” – although the party officially invites “all citizens of all faiths” to become active in the party. Any national candidate seeking the party’s nomination is explicitly required to tell the convention of any areas of disagreement with the party’s platform. In Spring 2002, Pat Buchanan’s 2000 VP runningmate Ezola Foster and many Reform Party leaders from California and Maryland defected to the Constitution Party, providing a nice boost to the party. In a blow to the party, many of the Buchanan’s followers from the 2000 race launched the nearly identical America First Party in 2002 (although it seemed to implode less than a year later). The Young Constitutionalists are the youth wing of the party.
Constitutional Action Party
The CAP is a tiny Religious Right party that wants to abolish the federal income tax, ban all abortions, end Affirmative Action, impose protectionist trade tariffs, fight pornography and end federal involvement in education. CAP founder Frank Creel wrote Politics1 in January 1999 that the CAP “has had virtually no success since its 1995 founding. It has no local chapters anywhere, no candidates for office and no prospect of running a presidential candidate in 2000. There is little to no prospect that we will be able to hold a convention anytime soon. … Only some sort of economic or other catastrophe will produce conditions favorable to the emergence of a new party.” Still, the CAP keeps it small web site online, and recently updated the design. The CAP fielded its first candidate in 2002, when CAP Chair Frank Creel ran for Congress in Virginia.
Family Values Party
This ultra-conservative, theocratic party seems to exist mainly to promote the frequent federal candidacies of party founder Tom Wells. Wells explained that God spoke directly to him in his bedroom on December 25, 1994 at 2:00 a.m. and “commanded him to start” the FVP. To be exact, Wells said God specifically told him to encourage people to stop paying taxes until the public funding of abortion ends. The FVP political platform is largely derived from religious fundamentalism, including many specific citations to Bible passages. This “party” remains largely an alter-ego of Wells – who always seems to be running as a write-in candidate for President or Congress (or both).
Freedom Socialist Party / Radical Women
The FSP – formed in 1966 by a splinter group of dissident Trotskyites who broke away from the Socialist Workers Party – describe themselves as “revolutionary feminist internationalists … in the living tradition of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Trotsky.” That’s they reason they also refer to their entity as “Radical Women.” They use the typical heavy-handed rhetoric found on most ultra-left party sites (example: “the masses will sweep every obstacle out of their path and ascend to the socialist future”). The FSP has party organizations in the US, Canada and Australia. In 1998, the FSP fielded a handful of local candidates in Washington, California and New York. The FSP has never fielded a Presidential candidate.
Grassroots Party
Originally launched as a Minnesota-based liberal party, the tiny GRP advocates the legalization of marijuana, promotes hemp farming and the establishment of a national system of universal health care (among other things). In general ideology, the GRP is very similar to the Greens – but with a much stronger emphasis on marijuana/hemp legalization issues. The GRP fielded their first Presidential nominee – Dennis Peron – in 1996 (5,400 votes). In 1996, the GRP won permanent “major party” ballot status in Vermont. The Vermont affiliate was initially more libertarian and “states rights” oriented in philosophy than its leftist sister party in Minnesota (linked above) – and 2000 Presidential nominee Denny Lane, came from this group (on the ballot in only one state and captured just 1,044 votes – 12th place – 0.001%). Since 1996, most Minnesota GRP activists jumped to either the Green Party or the Democratic Grassroots Caucus. In 2002, many of the libertarian-leaning Vermont GRP leaders bolted to the Libertarian Party – a move that has restored the Vermont faction to largely being a leftist, marijuana/hemp legalization party. The remnants of the Minnesota GRP disbanded and merged into the Liberal Party of Minnesota in 2002.
Green Party of the United States (Green Party)
The Green Party – the informal US-affiliate of the left-wing, environmentalist European Greens movement – scored a major achievement when it convinced prominent consumer advocate Ralph Nader to run as their first Presidential nominee in 1996. Spending just over ,000, Nader was on the ballot in 22 states and carried over 700,000 votes (4th place – 0.8%). In 2000, Nader raised millions of dollars, mobilized leftist activists and grabbed national headlines with his anti-corporate campaign message. Nader ignored pleas from liberal Democrats that he abandon the race because he was siphoning essential votes away from Al Gore’s campaign – answering that Gore was not substantially different than Bush and that his own campaign was about building a permanent third party. In the end, Nader was on the ballot in 44 states and finished third with 2,878,000 votes (2.7%) – seemingly depriving Gore of wins in some key states. More significantly, Nader missed the important 5% mark for the national vote, meaning that the party will still be ineligible for federal matching funds in 2004 (Note: a third Nader run is still possible as he said “I haven’t ruled out going in 2004″ in February 2002). Until 2001, the Greens are largely a collection of fairly autonomous state/local based political entities with only a weak (and sometimes splintered) national leadership structure that largely served to coordinate electoral activities. This faction – formerly named the Association of State Green Parties (ASGP) – is the larger and more moderate of the two unrelated Green parties. The ASGP voted in 2001 to convert from an umbrella coordinating organization into a formal and unified national party organization. Other useful Green Party links and information can also be found at the Green Parties of North America (unofficial), Green Information (unofficial), Green Pages (official online magazine), Green Party News Circulator (official – recent news clippings about the party) and Green Party Election Results sites (unofficial). The official youth wing of the party is the Campus Greens. Strong local Green Parties exist – with ballot status – in a handful of states. The Green Party Platform 2000 sets forth the party’s official views. The Green Alliance is an officially sanctioned, national network of Green Party political clubs.
The Greens/Green Party USA (G/GPUSA)
The G/GPUSA is the older, smaller and more stridently leftist of the two Green parties. While the GPUSA also nominated Nader for President in 2000, Nader rejected the G/GPUSA nomination and embraced the other Green party. Prominent Nader campaign strategist Jim Hightower described the two Green factions as follows in 2001: “There are two Green party organizations – the [Green Party of the US] whose nomination Ralph accepted and the much smaller one [G/GPUSA] … on the fringes … [with] all sorts of damned-near-communistic ideas.” Some in the G/GPUSA protested that Hightower’s comments were a bit unfair – but read the G/GPUSA 2000 Platform and decide for yourself. While the Green Party and the rival G/GPUSA appear to be very similar – they advocate tactical (and some ideological) differences and somewhat compete with claims to the titular leadership of the national Green movement. The G/GPUSA largely emphasizes direct action tactics over traditional electoral politics. A majorty of the G/GPUSA delegates voted that the party’s 2001 convention to merge into the Green Party of the US – but the motion ultimately failed for lack of the required 2/3 majority. That outcome prompted many of the G/GPUSA activists to independently jump to the Green Party of the US – forming a new leftist caucus within the Green Party of the US – and leaving the G/GPUSA as a sizably diminished and more dogmatically Marxist party.
Independence Party
After two years of openly feuding with Ross Perot’s allies in the Reform Party, Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura and his supporters bolted from the party to launch the new Independence Party in February 2000. In departing, Ventura denounced the Reform Party as “hopelessly dysfunctional” and far too right-wing (in its embrace of Pat Buchanan’s candidacy). While this splinter party shared the Reform Party’s call for campaign finance and other political reforms, Ventura’s organization disagrees with the more social conservative and trade protectionist views espoused by many new leaders in the Reform Party. The IP – which is entirely under the control of Ventura and his allies – describes itself as “Socially Inclusive and Fiscally Responsible.” Like Ventura, the IP is pro-choice, pro-gay rights, pro-medical marijuana, pro-gun rights and fiscally moderate. The IP fielded a slate of Congressional and state candidates in Minnesota in 2000. Ventura said he hoped to take this Minnesota party national and possibly field a Presidential nominee in 2004. However, as of 2002, the IP had nascent affiliate parties organizing in just a handful of states. Ventura’s retirement decision in 2002 was also a blow to the IP. Retired Congressman Tim Penny – a former Democrat – was the IP nominee for Minnesota Governor in 2002, but he finished a distant third. Also in 2002, IP co-founder Dean Barkley became the first IP member to serve in Congress when Ventura appointed him to the US Senate to complete the two months of a term left open by the death of the incumbent. The Independence Party Campus Network is the student wing of the party.
Independent American Party
The small Independent American Party has existed for years in several Western states – a remnant from the late Alabama Governor George Wallace’s once-powerful American Independent Party of the 1968-72 era. Converting the unaffiliated IAP state party organizations – united by a common Religious Right ideology (similar to the Constitution Party) – into a national IAP organization was an effort started in 1998 by members of Utah IAP. The Idaho IAP and Nevada IAP subsequently affiliated with the fledgling US-IAP in late 1998 … and the party established small chapters in 15 other states since then. The various IAP state parties endorsed Constitution Party nominee Howard Phillips for President in 1996 and 2000. In December 2000, the IAP’s national chairman issued a statement noting that third parties in general registered a “dismal” performance in the Presidential election – and questioned the IAP’s future participation in Presidential campaigns. Instead, he suggested that the IAP limit itself to congressional, state and local races in the future. In 2001, the IAP voted to formally associate with the Independent National Committee (INC), an umbrella organization for like-minded third parties. Based upon that affiliation, the IAP in 2002 “adopted” over 50 candidates from various other conservative parties.
Labor Party
The Labor Party is a liberal entity created in 1996 by a sizable group of labor unions including the United Mine Workers, the Longshoremen, American Federation of Government Employees, California Nurses Association and many labor union locals. The party says it was formed because “on issues most important to working people -– trade, health care, and the rights to organize, bargain and strike -– both the Democrats and Republicans have failed working people.” Ideologically, they seem close to the style of the late, labor-friendly Vice President Hubert Humphrey and US Senator Scoop Jackson wing of the Democratic Party circa 1960s. A new party, they endorsed their first state and federal candidates in 1998 in Wyoming (“Green/Labor Alliance”) – and two more candidates in local races in California and Ohio in 2001 – but none since then. This group seems closely aligned ideologically with the New Party. The Labor Party has adopted a policy of “running candidates for positions where they can help enact and enforce laws and policies to benefit the working class and where we can best advance the goals and priorities of the Labor Party.” The party also gets involved in local and state ballot initiatives. The Labor Party held a national convention in 2002 and seems to be making some efforts to revive itself as a forum for the debate of issues.
Libertarian Party
The LP, founded in 1971, bills itself as “America’s largest third party.” Libertarians are neither left nor right … they believe in total individual liberty (pro-drug legalization, pro-choice, pro-gay marriage, pro-home schooling, anti-gun control, etc.) and total economic freedom (anti-welfare, anti-government regulation of business, anti-minimum wage, anti-income tax, pro-free trade, etc.). The LP espouses a classical laissez faire ideology which, they argue, means “more freedom, less government and lower taxes.” Over 400 LP members currently hold various – though fairly low level – government offices (including lots of minor appointed officials like “School District Facilities Task Force Member” and “Town Recycling Committee Member”). Typically, the LP fields more local candidates than any other US third party – although the LP has clearly been eclipsed by the Greens in size since 1996 in terms of having the largest third party following and garnering the most media attention. Former 1988 LP Presidential nominee Ron Paul is now a Republican Congressman from Texas – although Paul is still active with the LP. The LP’s biggest problem: Ron Paul, former NM Governor Gary Johnson, PJ O’Rourke, the Republican Liberty Caucus and others in the GOP are working to attract ideological libertarians into the political arena – arguing they can bring about libertarian change more easily under the Republican label. LP Presidential nominee Ed Clark carried over 921,000 votes (1.1%) in 1980. Subsequent nominees for the next dozen years, though not as strong as Clark, typically ran ahead of most other third party candidates. LP Presidential nominee Harry Browne carried over 485,000 votes (5th place – 0.5%) in 1996 and 386,000 votes in 2000 (5th place – 0.4%). The LP has affiliates in all 50 states. The LP web site features a link to the World’s Smallest Political Quiz … take the quiz and see if you’re a libertarian (a bit simplistic – but interesting just the same). Keep up on the latest from the LP by reading the Libertarian Party News online. The College Libertarians also maintain a web directory. A “reform” faction (anti-Browne) within the party attempted to wrest control in 1999-2000 away from the incumbent leadership (pro-Browne), alleging that the controlling faction among the incumbents have serious ethical conflicts of interest as to which favored consultants receive the bulk of the LP’s money (note: the incumbents denied the allegations and held control of the LP’s top posts … but this internal dissention is likely to continue for a long while). Other related sites are: American Liberty Foundation (Browne’s group) and GrowTheLP.org (LP outreach).
Light Party
The Light Party is is a generally liberal party – falling somewhere between the Greens and New Age feel of the Natural Law Party – and seems strongly centered around of party founder “Da Vid, M.D., Wholistic Physician, Human Ecologist & Artist” (he was also a write-in candidate for President in 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004 – and seems to be the only visible leader of the party). This San Francisco-based party’s platform promotes holistic medicine, national health insurance, organic foods, solar energy, nuclear disarmament and a flat tax. Da Vid claims the party has “millions” of supporters – but he counts everyone who supports any position advocated by the party. The party does not seriously seek to elect candidates but advance an agenda. Not that it has anything to do with politics, but the party does sell a nice CD of relaxing New Age music.
Natural Law Party
Along with the Libertarian Party, the NLP was been steadily gaining votes over the past few years (although they lost some ground in the 2000 elections). The NLP – under the slogan “Bringing the light of science into politics” and using colorful imagery – advocates holistic approaches, Transcendental Meditation (TM), “yogic flying,” and other peaceful “New Age” and “scientific” remedies for much of our national and international problems. Nuclear physicist John Hagelin was the NLP Presidential nominee in 1992 (ballot status in 32 stares – 39,000 votes – 0.04%), 1996 (ballot status in 44 states – 7th place – 110,000 votes – 0.1%) and 2000 (ballot status in 39 stares – 7th place – 83,000 votes – 0.08%). Hagelin and the NLP also made a failed bid to capture control of the Reform Party in the course of the 2000 campaign – working with the Perot forces to thwart Pat Buchanan’s efforts – although the NLP did attract some supporters from the breakaway factions within the disintegrating Reform Party. The NLP also made a brief grab for control of the Green Party, but that effort quickly fizzled. In the end, the Reform/Green moves in 2000 helped Hagelin capture quite a lot of headlines but produced less results for the party than the 1996 campaign. In 2002, the NLP tried a new strategy of stealthy infiltration by running NLP activists as candidates under various party labels including NLP, Democratic, Republican, Green and Libertarian. In 2004, the NLP is actively supporting the Presidential candidacy of Democratic Congressman Dennis Kucinich. Kucinich shares their “New Age” views and has close ties to Hageling and the NLP national leaders in Iowa. Although started in the US, there are now NLP affiliates around the globe. In addition to the national ticket, the NLP regularly fields fields a good amount of Congressional and local candidates throughout the nation. The NLP was founded by followers of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (the founder of the TM movement – a movement that some have labeled as a cult) – and many of these TM/Maharishi folks still play a major role in the leadership, although the NLP now claims that many others outside the TM movement are also active in today’s NLP leadership. The NLP youth affiliate is the Student Natural Law Party Club. The Institute of Science, Technology & Public Policy think tank is also closely associated with the NLP.
New Party
This leftist party advocates a “democratic revolution” to advance the cause of “social, economic, & political progress” in America. Their agenda is much in the style of the Western European socialist and labor movement – and somewhat similar to that of the late-1990s formed Labor Party (but the NP has more of a controlled growth outlook on environmental issues). Rather than fielding their own national slate or local candidates, the New Party has taken to largely endorsing like-minded candidates from other parties (mainly pro-labor Democrats like Chicago Congressman Danny K. Davis) and focusing on grassroots organizing. An amusing question: if the New Party lasts for 50 years, will they rename themselves the Old Party (or the “Fifty-Something” Party)? The New Party, to date, has endorsed candidates in about 400 local races around the country, and has active affiliate chapters in some communities. The NP site details the party’s long-term strategy.
New Union Party
Founded in 1980 by defectors from the Socialist Labor Party, this DeLeonist militant democratic socialist party “advocates political and social revolution” but denounces violence and is “committed to lawful activities to overthrow the capitalist economic system.” The NUP fielded its first candidates in 1980 – but has fielded few candidates since then. The site features party history, an archive of past articles and an online “Marxist Study Course.”
Peace & Freedom Party
Founded in the 1960s as a left-wing party opposed to the Vietnam War, the party reached its peak of support in 1968 when it nominated Black Panther leader Eldridge Cleaver for President. Although a convicted felon, Cleaver carried nearly 37,000 votes (ironically, Cleaver ultimately became a Reagan Republican in the early 1980s – then a crack addict in the late 1980s – before emerging as an environmental activist in the late 1990s). Famed “baby doctor” Benjamin Spock – a leftist and staunch opponent of the Vietnam War – was the PFP Presidential nominee in 1972. Since then, the small party has largely been dominated by battling factions of Marxist-Leninists (aligned with the Workers World Party), Trotskyists and non-communist left-wing activists. The PFP today is small, with activities largely centered in California. In 1996, the PFP successfully blocked an attempt by the WWP to capture the PFP’s Presidential nomination (and a California ballot spot) for their party’s nominee. In a sign of the party’s serious decline in support, the PFP’s poor showing in the 1998 statewide elections caused the party to lose its California ballot status. Likewise, they were unable to regain official ballot status by successive failed petition attempts for the 2000 and 2002 elections. However, the PFP finally regained its ballot status in 2003 – and is already fielding candidates in 2004 for Congress and other offices.
Prohibition Party
“If you are a reform-minded conservative and a non-drinker, the Prohibition Party wants you,” exclaimed an official party message in 2002. The Prohibition Party – founded in 1869 and billing themselves as “America’s Oldest Third Party” – espouses a generally ultra-conservative Christian social agenda mixed with anti-drug and international anti-communist views. The party’s strongest showing was in 1892, when John Bidwell received nearly 273,000 votes (2.3% – 4th place). Long-time party activist Earl F. Dodge has run as the Prohibition Party’s presidential nominee in 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, and again in 2004. Dodge received just 208 votes in 2000 – the party’s worst electoral showing ever. The party also fields a few local candidates from time to time – but 2002 was the first time since the 1860s that the party failed to field any candidates for any public office. An additional party-related organization is the Partisan Prohibition Historical Society, a group of party activists (somewhat independent of Dodge’s control) that want to turn Prohibition Party policy into law. The anti-Dodge folks – led by new National Chairman Don Webb – seem to have wrested control of the party by fall 2003, and have now demoted Dodge to just be the party’s “provisional” nominee for President. This is largely a matter of semantics, as Dodge will continue to run as the party’s nominee and the party will back him if he secures ballot status in some states. If he doesn’t gain ballot status, the party vows to hold a new nominating convention in Spring 2004 to pick a new ticket. Howeverm all of this in-fighting could result in the party being Presidential nominee on the ballot for the first time since 1872.
Reform Party
Once of rapidly growing, populist third party, the Reform Party shifted far to the right in recent years – but then experienced massive waves of conservative defections away into the Constitution Party and the new America First Party in 2002. First, some history: after running as an Independent in 1992, billionaire Texas businessman Ross Perot founded the Reform Party in 1995 as his vehicle for converting his independent movement into a permanent political party. In 1996, Perot ran as the Reform Party’s presidential nominee (8,085,000 votes – 8%). Although an impressive showing for a third party, it was much less than the 19 million votes Perot carried as an independent candidate back in 1992. The party traditionally reflected Perot’s center-conservative fiscal policies and anti-GATT/NAFTA views – while avoiding taking any official positions on social issues (although much of this group seemed to hold generally libertarian social views). The RP was plagued by a lengthy period of nasty ideological battles in 1998-2000 involving three main rival groups: the “Old Guard” Perot faction, the more libertarian Jesse Ventura faction, and the social conservative Pat Buchanan faction. A fourth group – a small but vocal Marxist faction led by RP activist Lenora Fulani – generally backed the Perot faction during these fights. To make this even more confusing, the Perot faction ultimately turned to Natural Law nominee and Maharishi follower John Hagelin as its “Stop Buchanan” candidate for President. After several nasty and public battles, the Ventura faction quit the RP in Spring 2000 and the old Perot faction lost control of the party in court to the Buchanan faction in Fall 2000 (and Perot ultimately endorsed Bush for President in 2000). That gave the Buchanan Brigade the party’s .6 million in federal matching funds. Within months, the Buchanan allies won control of nearly the entire party organization. Along with Buchanan’s rise to power in the party, the party made a hard ideological shift to the right – an ideological realignment that continues to dominate the RP. In the aftermath of the 2000 elections, it is clear that Buchanan failed in his efforts to establish a viable, conservative third party organization (comprised largely of disenchanted Republicans). Buchanan was on the ballot in 49 states, captured 449,000 votes (4th place – 0.4%) – and later told reporters that his foray into third party politics may have been a mistake. His weak showing also meant that the party is ineligible for federal matching funds in 2004. The new RP had the opportunity to become the leading social conservative third party (think of it as a Green Party for the right) – but more internal conflicts made this impossible. In Spring 2002, former Buchanan VP runningmate Ezola Foster and the California and Maryland RP leaders jumped to the Constitution Party. Almost simultaneously, the entire RP leadership in nearly 20 other states (the core of the Buchanan Brigade folks) defected en masse to form the new America First Party – delivering a demoralizing and devastating blow the the future viability of the RP. The remaining pieces of the RP now appear to be trying to reorganize back into a more centrist party – similar to the original one Perot wanted to create in the 1990s. But – without Perot’s involvement (and deep pockets) – even a new, centrist RP may have serious trouble rebuilding itself. Another official RP site is the State Party Organizations/RPUSA.
The Revolution
This party – simply named “The Revolution” – seems to be an ideological hybrid between libertarianism and environmentalism, with a dash of New Deal liberal views thrown into the mix. The Revolution’s 20-point platform calls for the legalizations of all victimless crimes (drugs, prostitution, etc.), the use of clean energy to stop global warming, massive tax cuts, an end ot corporate welfare, military spending cuts, an emphasis on human rights in foreign policy decisions, abolishing the CIA, government funding of the sciences to encourage “altruistic scientific and technological projects,” and a promise to “repeal five times as many laws as we pass.” The party’s leader – a digital culture journalist and cyberprankster who uses the pen name R.U. Sirius – made a whimsical write-in bid for President in 2000.
Socialist Party USA
The SPUSA are true democratic socialists – advocating left-wing electoral change versus militant revolutionary change. Many of the SP members could easily be members of the left-wing faction of the Democratic Party. Unlike most of the other political parties on this page with “Socialist” in their names, the SP has always been
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Peter Menkinl
Spirituality>
Christianityl
Jul 05, 2010
What Motivates the Tea Party? Fear of a Brown Planet
Why the tea party political aspirations are motivated by fear and how that fear aligns them with billionaire repubicans who manipulate them to furtuer their own agenda.
By:
Team Afrol
News and Society>
Politicsl
Oct 31, 2010
Taking Back America – This is My Country!
All three presidential candidates have been proclaiming themselves the candidate for change as if the decades of governmental experience by Clinton and McCain did not count. But in the debates and media spin from the campaigns there are few details about how they will change things for the better. Not trusting the politicians to offer a meaningful agenda we want to give them something to address with our own agenda for change.
By:
Jordan Christopherl
News and Society>
Politicsl
May 01, 2008
How many “illegal” (the term for one side of the debate) or “undocumented” (the preferred term by the other side) immigrants are there in America? The Department of Homeland Security indicated about 10.8 million in 2009. So for the purpose of this proposed contract and article, we are going to say, “the 11 Million Immigrants” (11M), and this essential issue should be resolved with the American Citizens (AC) and not with any Democrat or Republican party..
By:
Zoilo Nietol
News and Society>
Politicsl
May 10, 2010
Jazz, Liquor and Bootleggers: America in the Twenties
An overview of life in America during the Jazz Age and the prohibition
By:
K. Ravichandarl
Education>
Historyl
Dec 28, 2009
lViews: 377
Ukrainian local authority election 2010 – The verdict
The violations Most foreign and Ukrainian observers agree that the local elections on October 31st 2010 did not meet international standards as there where significant deficiencies at all levels.
By:
Katerina84l
News and Society>
Politicsl
Nov 16, 2010
“Youth will take the country forward” Rahul Gandhi
Interacting with students while inaugurating the FDDI Centre at Furstaganj, Congress General Secretary said that youth will build a developed India in next 4-5 years.
By:
pressbrief inl
News and Society>
Politicsl
Nov 16, 2010
Events in Georgia and communists’ response
It is no reason for us, proletarians of the rich nations, to lose heart and to sob: “Oh, when will revolution occur?”. We coolly, with patience (although our fists are clenched through the impudence of “our” cops and military, through chauvinist cries of “our” bourgeoisie, through the evasiveness of “our” opportunists) will carry on propaganda in proletariat, not reckoning on momentary success, but preparing solid, deep success
By:
Gachikusl
News and Society>
Politicsl
Nov 15, 2010
“Character of Indian forces occupational in Kashmir”: Janhastakshep
Recommending a six-point formula, a Delhi-based civil society group, ‘Janhastakshep, today stirred a new controversy by calling the character of Indian forces in Indian Kashmir as “occupational” and said the “unaccountability” enjoyed by the Army has now trickled down to the police and state administration.
By:
Agence India Pressl
News and Society>
Politicsl
Nov 15, 2010
Sarkozy chose his new government in France
France has gotten a new government, and the French President Nicolas Sarkozy has definetly surprised the world.
By:
Charles Massingerl
News and Society>
Politicsl
Nov 15, 2010
OSCE/ODIHR long-term observers to arrive in Belarus on 17 November
Long-term observers from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) will arrive in Belarus on 17 November
By:
BelTAl
News and Society>
Politicsl
Nov 15, 2010
Jason Lowen Sorry for Damages Against David Nugent
Resolution of and insights into 2008 corporate fiasco involving supposed whistle-blower Jason Lowen and the victim David Nugent. Accusations of corporate ill-governance were revealed to be skewed as Lowen’s hidden agenda was discovered.
By:
Racket Yanl
News and Society>
Politicsl
Nov 15, 2010
Referendum – a solution for Pakistani crises
Government can conduct referendum for overcoming judiciary. Judiciary must be free as long as it provides justice to the people but putting the nation into crises is not justice. Ordinary people are still not getting justice. Referendum like Turkey can open a way for Pakistani nation to handle establishment, judiciary, and media.
By:
Farman Nawazl
News and Society>
Politicsl
Nov 15, 2010
I really do not like when someone lies me and unfortunately my boyfriend is pathological liar. Since the beginning of our relationship, I noticed that he was lying. 3 months of silence, and then I started talking with him about this.
By:
Michael Newmanl
Health>
Mental Healthl
Oct 11, 2010
Psychology Counseling – Loneliness
I’m lonely! My husband was killed… It was a very strong shock for me. I still can not believe that he is dead. Everything had changed in my mind. I became a different person. Previously, I was a trusting, open and sociable person.
By:
Michael Newmanl
Health>
Mental Healthl
Oct 11, 2010
Charismatic Leadership – How to Become a Charismatic Leader?
Many people think of charisma as something mystical, not identifiable. Charisma is the ability to attract people. And like the other traits, you can develop it yourself. And for that you need to.
By:
Michael Newmanl
Business>
Leadershipl
Oct 05, 2010
Emotional Breakdown. Depression and Bipolar Disorder
Diverse life difficulties lead to changes in behavior and mood of people. It is important not to confuse changes in behavior caused by such difficulties, and signs of more serious problems. Changes in behavior and mood are causes for serious concern when they are lasting, radical and hinder coping with everyday life.
By:
Michael Newmanl
Self Improvement>
Psychologyl
Sep 19, 2010
Top 20 Highest-Paying Jobs for 2010
I am going to list below the highest paying jobs in 2010 according to the Bureau of Labor. As ussualy the health care jobs get top ranked and this list is not an exception. So if you are on the way to choose a career path, sit back a moment and check if it worths.
By:
Michael Newmanl
Careers>
Career Managementl
Aug 26, 2010
lViews: 523
Top 10 ways to make your life easier
We are constantly talking about that in order to make life more peaceful, you just need to stop complicating it. Nothing complicates your life more than the constant compulsion to get up and to go to work, while your heart tells you that you have to do something else.
By:
Michael Newmanl
Self Improvement>
Advicel
Aug 25, 2010
Freud, Sigmund (1856-1939), Austrian physician and psychologist, founder of the theory and method of treatment of neuroses, called psychoanalysis and became one of the most influential psychological teachings of the 20th century.
By:
Michael Newmanl
Self Improvement>
Psychologyl
Jan 23, 2010
lViews: 292
Metaphysics or the “first philosophy” (ή πρώτη φιλοσοφία, philosophia prima), is the science of supersensory principles and the principles of life. Also used as a completely modern synonym for “philosophy”. The term is introduced by Andronicus of Rhodes who systematized the writings of Aristotle.
By:
Michael Newmanl
Spirituality>
Metaphysicsl
Jan 23, 2010
lViews: 266
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