Finally, The Americanization Of Rep. Ron Paul
Finally, The Americanization Of Rep. Ron Paul
After years of working hard for the American people, finally Republican Congressman Dr. Ron Paul is being recognized by the majority of citizens for his intelligence and his knowledgeable candor of why the U.S. is in such dire straits. It
Manicure On The Farm
Manicure On The Farm I have short, stubby, fingers and fingernails like my Uncle Rude had. My fingers may actually be slightly “webbed” toward the base, between each finger, making them appear even shorter than they already are. I never knew people could have webbed fingers and toes, because it
Houston Pulls The Run Out From Under Huston
Houston Pulls The Run Out From Under Huston By the end of May 1837, the demobilized majority of the Texas Army was either headed for home or looking for work in the Lone Star Republic, much to the dismay of a reckless general who wanted to fight another round with Mexico. The quick victory at San Jacinto robbed hundreds of American volunteers of their share of the glory. Having not come all the way to Texas to toast other heroes, they stubbornly stuck around in the hope of getting in a few licks of their own. In the fervent belief that an army was a terrible thing to waste, Felix Huston lobbied loud and long for taking the war to the Mexicans. Since his bellicose rhetoric was music to the ears of the disappointed latecomers, the ambitious adventurer became their unofficial spokesman. Huston was, in truth, an early convert to the Lone Star cause. In July 1835, three months before the Revolution started at Gonzales, he was actively soliciting support in New Orleans for the imminent uprising. While the colonists were driving the government forces from the province that December, he was working on their behalf in his native state of Mississippi. Despite genuine enthusiasm for the insurrection, few Mississippians actually joined the struggle. Huston himself waited until Mar. 1, 1836 to announce that he would lead a 500-man expedition to Texas, but the Magnolia State contingent did not arrive until July, two and a half months too late for the fighting. Huston was on hand, however, to play a key part in the humiliation of Mirabeau Lamar, whose selection as military chief was overruled by a lopsided vote of the rank and file. Angrily blaming Thomas Jefferson Green and Huston for the rejection, Lamar begged David G. Burnet to court-martial his two nemeses. But the lame-duck president dared not lift a finger against Huston, whose popularity made him the de facto commander of the mutinous soldiers. Although the temporary government never acknowledged his authority, Huston remained in charge until the following February. Exercising his powerful mandate won at the polls, President Sam Houston sent Albert Sidney Johnston to replace the pretender. In classic southern fashion, Huston challenged his successor to a duel. The chivalrous affair degenerated into a tragic comedy of errors. Though both parties survived the first exchange unscathed, each man graciously complimented his opponent. Toying with a twig snapped by Johnston
Dark Lord The Dick
Dark Lord The Dick
HUGO CHAVEZ
HUGO CHAVEZ
We Must All Recognize The
We Must All Recognize The
Framing a Photo of Lou Gehrig’s Disease
People say that a picture says a thousand words, and the one about which I write says at least that many to me every time I look at it. Taken in the halls of Congress on May 16, 2007, it portrays nine Texans, each of them connected with ALS, the lethal condition best known for killing baseball legend, Lou Gehrig.
The ALS Background
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neuromuscular disease that causes the gradual but incessant wasting away of the muscles. It commonly starts with the limbs, impeding mobility. Next it typically moves to the bulbar muscles of the face and throat, impeding speech and eating. Finally it afflicts the pulmonary muscles, impeding breathing itself. The sum of the disease
New Hampshire, Join The Rest Of Us
New Hampshire, Join The Rest Of Us When I was a kid, I became intrigued by the state mottos that I saw on various license plates. I actually felt bad for the people of Oklahoma whose license plates bore the motto, “Oklahoma is OK.” My feeling was that if you
She Wanted The Truth
She Wanted The Truth In science, in mathematics, in language, and in religion, one virtue stands supreme, for it is the lone standard upon which reality rests
A Democratic Majority Is A Lot Like Being Alone
A Democratic Majority As Uncle Hugh used to say, “It takes guts to be a politician. Just somebody else
Is A Lot Like Being Alone
Coal Lobby To Court Subsidies With Patriotism
WASHINGTON, D.C.
One War At A Time
One War At A Time Now is the best time for Cindy Sheehan to bow out of the anti-war movement. If the Democrats in Congress had ended war in Iraq last week, Sheehan would have had a better reason to move back home to California. Still, Sheehan has done her part to the best of her ability. She made her point back in August 2005 when she attempted to confront the president at his vacation ranch near Crawford. What “noble cause” did her son Casey die for in Iraq? Nada. Zippo. Nothing. Zero. None. Well, okay, maybe U.S. hegemony. Oh, and control over Middle Eastern oil. (Can
True Grit: A Hero’s Stand Of Conscience — Sgt. Buswell Fired, Demoted, Harassed For 9/11 Dissent
Sgt. Buswell Fired, Demoted, In August of 2006, The Lone Star Iconoclast reported on the investigation into an Army Intelligence Analyst stationed at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas. Sergeant First Class Donald R. Buswell, a 20-year veteran of the United States Army and holder of a purple heart, became the target of an investigation into his use of military e-mail networks due to his dissenting opinion regarding the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. At the onset of the investigation, one of Buswell’s commanding officers, Col. Luke S. Green, Fifth Army’s Chief of Staff at Fort Sam Houston, made an alarming accusation. In a letter appointing Major Edwin Escobar to head up the investigation into Buswell, Col. Green claimed the Sergeant had “made statements disloyal to the United States” (emphasis added) when he questioned the validity of the Administration’s official 9/11 story. An American Hero Buswell joined the Army at the age of 22, while he was living with his father, Winthrop, in New Hampshire. His many jobs with the Army have included Explosives Ordinance Disposal, Metalworker, and, since 1990, Intelligence Analyst. He has been deployed in numerous combat tours, from Rwanda to Bosnia, the first Gulf War, and the ongoing Iraq conflict. On April 15, 2004, while jogging in the shadow of Saddam’s Baghdad palace on the outskirts of Camp Victory, Donald Buswell suffered shrapnel wounds after a series of rockets landed in his vicinity. To his horror, Buswell watched as two nearby Iraqi men suffered a direct hit. As they lay screaming in agony, Buswell ran to the men and attempted to put out the fires. A fifth and final shell landed next to them, but failed to detonate. Had it struck true, Buswell’s selfless decision to stop and render aid would have been his last. He never really believed an off-the-cuff e-mail exchange could snuff out what has otherwise been a career of distinguished service to the Untied States. The Tyranny of Ideas In July 2006, Sgt. Buswell was reassigned from Ft. Hood, Texas to Ft. Sam Houston, Texas, though he retained his job as an Intelligence Analyst. Coming in from another base, Buswell wanted to make sure his superiors knew of his views, so as to head off any potential of a hostile workplace. He went to Chief Warrant Officer Mario Torres, a legal advisor to his Compartmentalized Information Facility at Fort Sam Houston. Buswell told Torres he would not be willing to write reports or give speeches that required him to say things he didn’t believe regarding 9/11. He shared with Torres his belief that the facts of what happened that day contradict large portions of the official story contained within the 9/11 Commission Report. He used the words “inside job,” but Torres didn’t see a problem. Buswell would not be working on anything related to 9/11, said Torres, who claimed the Sergeant’s views versus the official story were about the equivalent of liking beer over wine. Buswell’s concerns were dismissed, and he went to work. The statements in question were made in response to an unsolicited mass e-mail, sent by a “Larry Anderson, JMC” (Joint Military Command) on Aug. 2, 2006. Anderson’s e-mail contains a short v
Harassed For 9/11 Dissent
Edwards Attacks
MONTGOMERY, Ala.
Good-bye, Cindy? Sheehan’s ‘Retirement’ Shocks Texas Peace Activists — ‘Peace Mom’ Begins New Phase
‘Peace Mom’ CRAWFORD, Texas The announcement of Cindy Sheehan’s retirement from anti-war activism came as a shock to peace activists that live in the area near the vacation ranch of President George W. Bush. “So it’s for real,” said Dr. Alan Northcutt, a pathologist from Waco who usually shows up to local anti-war demonstrations as a masked caractiture of Vice President Dick Cheney. Things seemed “nothing out of the ordinary” to Dr. Northcutt the Saturday before the announcement. He had received an email confirming Sheehan’s attendance at a local office of Rep. Chet Edwards on the following Tuesday to protest the long-time Democrat’s stance on the war in Iraq. But then, everything changed once Sheehan posted her resignation on the liberal DailyKos blog on Memorial Day. “She must have had a sudden change of heart, but everybody was pretty disturbed by what happened last week with the vote in Congress,” noted Dr. Northcutt. Sheehan’s sister, DeDe Miller, admitted that the letter had been written earlier that Monday morning, though it was a long-time coming. “The emotion of the last two days were a bit of a factor. It’s been accumulative over the last three years,” said Miller in a telephone interview. “Like she said in her blog, it’s been something she’s been thinking about for about a year now.” In her resignation letter, Sheehan reiterated her disgust for the Democratic Party whose majority in Congress caved to President Bush’s demands to continue American involvement in Iraq without binding benchmarks nor a timetable for troop withdrawal. At the time of the landmark vote, Sheehan had been in Ireland working with the Irish Anti-War Movement (IAWM). Such trips overseas had become the norm for her. In the last three years since she attempted to confront the president at his ranch, she was one of the most outspoken critics of U.S. foreign policy. “I have sacrificed a 29 year marriage and have traveled for extended periods of time away from Casey’s brother and sisters and my health has suffered and my hospital bills from last summer (when I almost died) are in collection because I have used all my energy trying to stop this country from slaughtering innocent human beings,” she wrote. Johnny Wolf, the co-founder and owner of the Crawford Texas Peace House, told the Iconoclast that he had witnessed Sheehan come close to total burn out on several occasions. He wished her well on her new chosen path. “If she wants to take a break, I can certainly understand it,” said Wolf, during a telephone interview. “Hopefully, she’ll take care of herself a little better. It’s a lot of stress going from ‘full media presence’ to nothing and doing that back and forth. She’s certainly deserving of all the support she can get.” Kay Lucas, the managing director of the Crawford Texas Peace House, told the Iconoclast that she was “really stunned” by the announcement initially but could “totally identify” with Sheehan’s frustration, too.
Begins New Phase
