Opinion Forum

After 61 Years, Korean War Offers Modern Lessons

June 26th, 2011

By Dan Miller As we remember our military personnel who gave their lives during the conflict, we might also think about the reasons it happened and about how to diminish the likelihood of another, in Korea and elsewhere. Sixty-one years ago, on June 25, 1950, North Korea “unexpectedly” invaded South Korea. As we remember our [...]

Articles written by Dan Miller
Tags: China, DPRK, Korea, lessons, MacArthur, Mao, nuclear, Russia, Stalin, war
Categories: History, Military, Politics | Comments (2) | Home

Memorial Day

May 30th, 2011

By Tom Carter Memorial Day, once called Decoration Day, is an observance that began spontaneously after the Civil War. People visited the graves of those killed in the war and left flowers in their memory. In the years that followed, it slowly became a national day of observance in honor of the fallen in all [...]

Articles written by Tom Carter
Tags: Memorial Day
Categories: History, Life, Military | Comments (0) | Home

Governments Rot When Their Citizens Let Them (Part I)

April 30th, 2011

By Dan Miller We get the worst government we’re prepared to tolerate. Not long ago I suggested that we might as well elect a real clown, Grumpy, to serve as president of the United States. When he ran (very successfully) for the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies in 2010, Grumpy promised that, with him in office, [...]

Articles written by Dan Miller
Tags: Constitution, corrupt, culture, government, inept, politicians, revolution
Categories: History, Politics | Comments (3) | Home

Failed Foreign Policy of the Obama Administration

April 28th, 2011

By Tom Carter Mismanaged wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, inept responses to Libya, silence on Syria, failure in the Middle East peace process. President Obama continues to demonstrate that he isn’t up to the job. President Bush botched the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq in several ways. Most everyone understood the reasons for invading Afghanistan [...]

Articles written by Tom Carter
Tags: Afghanistan, foreign policy, Iraq, Israel, Libya, Middle East, Pakistan, Syria
Categories: History, News, Politics | Comments (8) | Home

A Soft Spot for Jimmy Carter

April 26th, 2011

By Tom Carter My friend Dan Miller had some fun with Jimmy Carter in the article just below, and with good reason. In recent years, anyway, President Carter has behaved in questionable ways, particularly on issues involving Israel and the Palestinians. When he launches off to places like North Korea, explicitly criticizing sanctions and implicitly [...]

Articles written by Tom Carter
Tags: DPRK, engineer, governor, Israel, Jimmy Carter, Navy, nuclear, Palestine
Categories: History, News, Politics | Comments (4) | Home

The Bay of Pigs Invasion’s 50th Anniversary Is Today

April 17th, 2011

By Dan Miller It should remind us of the often neglected need for militarily realistic planning of military operations. Sunday, April 17th, is the fiftieth anniversary of the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion. Here is an article about the survivors and about ceremonies planned in their honor in Miami. As noted, For exiles, the men [...]

Articles written by Dan Miller
Tags: Bay of Pigs, CIA, Cuba, Eisenhower, invasion, Kennedy, Soviet Union, UN
Categories: History, Military, Politics | Comments (4) | Home

Are We There Yet?

March 30th, 2011

By Brian Bagent Every parent has heard this more times than we care to remember, but this isn’t about parenting. I’m talking about the days of the ultimate inversion. The set-up has been a long time coming, but I think we’re about there. Year before last, when then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi was asked about constitutional authority [...]

Articles written by Brian Bagent
Tags: Commerce Clause, Filburn, free trade, freedom, healthcare, Obamacare
Categories: History, Law, News, Politics | Comments (4) | Home

How Today’s Liberals Betray Yesterday’s

March 9th, 2011

By Dan Miller The meanings of words change over time. “Gentleman” once meant a person privy to the person of the king; eventually, it meant a man of wealth and station; now, it adorns the entrance to a toilet intended for males. This devolution has done no noticeable harm. However, “liberal” — Thomas Jefferson was [...]

Articles written by Dan Miller
Tags: conservative, liberal, Obama, progressive, Teddy Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson
Categories: History, Politics | Comments (1) | Home

Dithering Won’t Keep the Peace

February 15th, 2011

By Dan Miller Not even ObamaCare can cover the harm the president has done to national health. President Obama is driving a badly maintained car with defective brakes, no steering wheel and a stuck accelerator; he can’t see the cliff up ahead because it’s night and the headlights are broken too. He is in trouble. [...]

Articles written by Dan Miller
Tags: Arab, Churchill, Egypt, foreign policy, Iran, Middle East, Obama, World War I
Categories: History, Military, Politics | Comments (8) | Home

Book Review: Decision Points by George W. Bush

February 8th, 2011

By Tom Carter Decision Points is unusual for a book written by a former politician. It’s clear, understandable, well-written, and free of excessive self-promotion. The book is made more readable by the simple, clear, direct style of his writing. Some reviewers have attributed that style to his supposed lack of intellect and writing ability, a [...]

Articles written by Tom Carter
Tags: 2000, Bush, Decision Points, Iraq, Katrina, recession, stem cells, terrorism
Categories: History, Politics | Comments (2) | Home

The Church and the Holocaust

January 29th, 2011

International Holocaust Remembrance Day, created in 2005 by a UN General Assembly resolution, coincides with the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp by Soviet forces on January 27, 1945. This is the third of a series of three articles being re-published to observe this solemn day of remembrance. By Tom Carter There has long been [...]

Articles written by Tom Carter
Tags: Catholic, Church, International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Jews, Pius XII
Categories: History, Politics | Comments (2) | Home

Auschwitz and the Holocaust

January 28th, 2011

International Holocaust Remembrance Day, created in 2005 by a UN General Assembly resolution, coincides with the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp by Soviet forces on January 27, 1945. This is the second of a series of three articles being re-published to observe this solemn day of remembrance. By Tom Carter The Auschwitz complex consisted [...]

Articles written by Tom Carter
Tags: Auschwitz, death camp, International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Jews
Categories: History, Politics | Comments (7) | Home

Nuclear Legacies

January 27th, 2011

By Jan Barry We may all be alive today thanks to two far-sighted women who died within days of each other this month. Imagine how many people would be living, if any, had the US-Soviet nuclear arms race exploded into World War III. Half a century ago, when the threat of such a war loomed [...]

Articles written by Jan Barry
Tags: cancer, Cold War, fallout, nuclear weapons, Reiss, research, treaty, Wilson
Categories: History, News, Politics | Comments (1) | Home

Remembering the Holocaust

January 27th, 2011

International Holocaust Remembrance Day, created in 2005 by a UN General Assembly resolution, coincides with the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp by Soviet forces on January 27, 1945. This is the first of a series of three articles being re-published to observe this solemn day of remembrance. By Tom Carter The Auschwitz concentration camp [...]

Articles written by Tom Carter
Tags: Auschwitz, death camp, International Holocaust Remembrance Day
Categories: History, Politics | Comments (2) | Home

Duke and Scottsboro: Crystal Mangum and Victoria Price

December 19th, 2010

by R.B. Parrish In the 1930s, two white prostitutes falsely accused nine black men of gang-rape, in order to avoid facing other police charges. Before the ensuing Scottsboro trials were over, the main accuser, Victoria Price (the second accuser had recanted) was transformed by the white public into a woman of the purest virtue, the [...]

Articles written by Guest Author
Tags: Crystal Mangum, Duke, lacrosse, race, rape, Scottsboro trials, Victoria Price
Categories: History, Law, Media, Politics | Comments (3) | Home

The Nazi of Nanking

December 9th, 2010

By Brianna Aubin Last spring, I read a book called The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang. Iris was the descendant of Chinese immigrants; her parents were actually professors at my university, so she grew up here in Chambana. Her grandparents had managed to flee Nanking before it had been taken by the Japanese; it [...]

Articles written by Brianna Aubin
Tags: Iris Chang, Japan, Japanese Army, murder, Muslim, Nanking, Nazi, Rabe, rape
Categories: Arts, History, Life, Politics | Comments (7) | Home

Book Review: A Thousand Splendid Suns

December 8th, 2010

By Tom Carter I just read Khaled Hosseini’s novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes good fiction. It has everything — strong plot, perfect narrative, great style, and rare insight into the human condition. The subject matter, however, is what makes it an urgently important book. It chronicles the [...]

Articles written by Tom Carter
Tags: Afghanistan, Khaled Hosseini, Soviet, Splendid Suns, Taliban, terrorism, war
Categories: Arts, History, Life | Comments (0) | Home

The Past Is Prologue

December 2nd, 2010

By Dan Miller So it is with China, Russia and Korea. The events leading up to the North Korean invasion of South Korea sixty years ago are, of course, now ancient history, dull and little considered in evaluating current events. Stalin, Mao and Kim il-Sung are dead. Unfortunately, their spirits survive and continue to haunt [...]

Articles written by Dan Miller
Tags: China, Kim Dynasty, Korea, Korean Conflict, Mao, Russia, Stalin
Categories: History, Military, News, Politics | Comments (6) | Home

The Korean Situation is Highly Complex and Difficult

November 29th, 2010

By Dan Miller In 1910 Korea, long under Japanese military occupation, was formally annexed by Japan. North and South Korea have been divided more or less along the 38th parallel since 1948. This flowed from the 1945 surrender of Japan and the decision that the United States would have trusteeship of Korea to the south [...]

Articles written by Dan Miller
Tags: aggression, China, Korea, Korean War, missles, shelling, US troops, WMD
Categories: History, Military, News, Politics | Comments (8) | Home

Assassination of a President

November 22nd, 2010

By Tom Carter President John F. Kennedy was assassinated 47 years ago on November 22, 1963. He was shot to death in a place called Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas. Everyone who is old enough remembers that terrible day. I was a very young soldier. Our commander called us together and told us that the [...]

Articles written by Tom Carter
Tags: assassination, Black Jack, Dealey Plaza, funeral, JFK, John F. Kennedy
Categories: History, Life, Politics | Comments (4) | Home