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Category: Human Interest
Week Beginning October 31, 2010
At “Union of Americans” we offer a review of some of the previous week’s significant news. This is done by listing headlines of that week. If you would like to view an entire article, simply click on that headline.
Human Events (11/04/2010)
New Congress Faces Obama’s Remake
This forward was a beautiful, thoughtful sentiment. However, the facts that it listed were not accurate, as is the problem the over 95% of “Forwards”.
1) Yes, there WAS a tribute of crosses set up every Sunday morning and removed every Sunday evening for the soldiers of IRAQ (not Afghanistan). It started in 2003 with approx. 400 crosses and by December of 2006 there were 2,997 crosses. At that point they said they would add no more crosses as the logistics were beyond them. They were going to continue setting up and taking down every Sunday until the IRAQ (not Afghanistan) War ended. However, I can find no references to it after December 2006.
2) As to the ACLU demanding no crosses ~ that is a FALSE statement.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/cemetery.asp
3) As to the ACLU demanding no prayers ~ that is also a FALSE statement.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/marines.asp
I always find it sad when there is something good, such as the Beach Memorial, and people take advantage of it to spread hate and anger.
The pictures and accurate information on the Beach Memorial are a very powerful and moving testimony. The “Forward” claims that its purpose is to have people take a moment to remember to pray. That is a truly beautiful sentiment and one I have done.
However, that is not the true sentiment of the person that started the original “Forward”. Their purpose was to spread hate and anger. This “Forward’s” specific target is the ACLU. Everyone that received this “Forward” read the misinformation and did react towards the ACLU. The majority of people reacted with anger, “how dare they” and felt the need to act, “we must spread the word of their evil deeds by passing this information on”. The sad part is that most people that did receive this did not bother to look for the truth but instead simply hit “Forward”. By simply passing it on, you have helped the anger and hate to spread…even if under the guise of “pray for the soldiers”.
I will pass on the information about the Santa Barbara Cross Memorial by sharing it on the “Union of Americans” Blog because I believe that theMemorial conveys a beautiful sentiment and is worthy of acknowledgement.
But I will not pass on the “Forward” as you sent it to me because I am NOT “Honored to Forward” hate and misinformation. My prayer is that people would learn to check the facts before they just hit “Forward”. ~ Editor
Conclusion:
The “Union of Americans” Advisory Board has decided against printing the complete Email that was received. They feel that by doing so they will actually be helping to spread the anger and hate as opposed to stopping it.
To read more about the Beach Memorial simply click on:
Week Beginning October 24, 2010
At “Union of Americans” we offer a review of some of the previous week’s significant news. This is done by listing headlines of that week. If you would like to view an entire article, simply click on that headline.
Wall Street Journal (10/25/2010)
A Web Pioneer Profiles Users by Name
Wall Street Journal (10/25/2010)
Tea Party Already Shapes ’12 Race
Wall Street Journal (10/26/2010)
In Medicare’s Data Trove, Clues to Curing Cost Crisis
Human Events (10/26/2010)
The WikiLeaks Tsunami
Human Events (10/26/2010
The Mudslinger-In-Chief
Wall Street Journal (10/27/2010)
Fed Gears Up for Stimulus
Eyes Gradual Bond Buying of Several Hundred Billion Dollars; Doubts Linger
Wall Street Journal (10/29/2010)
Contractor Accused of Flawed Job on Rig
Halliburton Shares Hit by Panel Report
Wall Street Journal (10/30/2010)
The Education Manifesto
Navy Day was established on October 27, 1922 by the Navy League of the United States. Although it was not a national holiday, Navy Day received special attention from President Warren Harding. Harding wrote to the Secretary of the Navy Edwin Denby:
“Thank you for your note which brings assurance of the notable success which seems certain to attend the celebration of Navy Day on Friday, October 27, in commemoration of past and present services of the Navy. From our earliest national beginnings the Navy has always been, and deserved to be, an object of special pride to the American people. Its record is indeed one to inspire such sentiments, and I am very sure that such a commemoration as is planned will be a timely reminder.”
“It is well for us to have in mind that under a program of lessening naval armaments there is a greater reason for maintaining the highest efficiency, fitness and morale in this branch of the national defensive service. I know how earnestly the Navy personnel are devoted to this idea and want you to be assured of my hearty concurrence.”
October 27 was suggested by the Navy League to recognize Theodore Roosevelt’s birthday. Roosevelt had been an Assistant Secretary of the Navy and supported a strong Navy as well as the idea of Navy Day. In addition, October 27 was the anniversary of a 1775 report issued by a special committee of the Continental Congress favoring the purchase of merchant ships as the foundation of an American Navy.
Navy Day was last observed on Oct. 27, 1949.
Week Beginning October 17, 2010
At “Union of Americans” we offer a review of some of the previous week’s significant news. This is done by listing headlines of that week. If you would like to view an entire article, simply click on that headline.
Wall Street Journal (10/20/2010)
Key Senate Battles Tighten
Razor-Thin Margins in Several Races; Loyalties Seen Returning to Parties
Wall Street Journal (10/22/2010)
Networks Block Web Programs From Being Viewed on Google TV
Wall Street Journal (10/22/2010)
Campaign’s Big Spender
Public-Employees Union Now Leads All Groups in Independent Election Outlays
Human Events (10/22/2010)
Lame-Duck Congress Will Face Slew of Immigration Bills
Wall Street Journal (10/23/2010)
MySpace, Apps Leak User Data
Site Sends Personal IDs When Ads Are Clicked, a Journal Investigation Finds
Week Beginning October 10, 2010
At “Union of Americans” we offer a review of some of the previous week’s significant news. This is done by listing headlines of that week. If you would like to view an entire article, simply click on that headline.
Human Events (10/12/2010)
Obama’s Doomed National Security Reset
This morning while I was checking the “Union of Americans” emails I came across one sent in by “Reader B2, FL”. The email contained a brief video clip from a movie that starred Jimmy Stewart. If you were, are or ever wanted to be a pilot you’ll love watching this ‘monster’, the B-36, fly.
To view the video clip simply click on B-36 Takeoff
While serving in the Navy, towards the end of WWII, I found myself on Saipan, an island in the Pacific. Saipan was one of the islands in the Mariana Islands, which served as a Navy Operating Base. A little to the north and a little east of Saipan was another island carrying the name Tinian.
Tinian was the B-29 base and it was from Tinian that the Enola Gay took off for its history making flight carrying the first atomic bomb and having as a target the Japanese city of Nagasaki.
I was onboard the Intrepid flying Corsairs, F4-U4s. We were preparing for the much-discussed invasion of the Japanese home islands. I believe we were part of Task Force 38. I’m checking the history books to be certain because the United States Navy Task Force southeast of Japan was designated either ‘38’ or ‘58’ according to the Admiral in command.
In any event, we were preparing for, as I mentioned above, the invasion of Japan, which promised to be the bloodiest invasion in history. Things were fairly tense onboard the Intrepid in anticipation of “D-Day”. When the word came that the Japanese capitulated as a result of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki the sense of release was tremendous.
I doubt if there ever was a better cause for a great celebration and we did our best to do the event justice. There are definite limits to celebrations onboard a Navy carrier. However, for that event there were no limits, as the well-marked logs on the Intrepid will testify.
A few weeks later we found ourselves in Tokyo Bay for the signing of the peace on the USS Missouri. I remember the event vividly as General McArthur officiated at the peace signing on the deck of the Missouri. The General was wearing khakis, no tie and his famous hat for the ceromony. The Japanese officials boarded the Missouri dressed in their official uniforms designating their status as representatives of Japan. As the Japanese officials approached the table were the peace papers awaited signing and General McArthur, the General pointed to the table and then to the chairs for the Japanese officials. The Japanese officials took their seats and General McArthur accepted the document that would be the end of WWII in the Pacific.
A short time after the signing of the peace I found myself on a Navy transport, the name escapes me. Our course was due east and our destination was San Francisco. As the ship passed through the Golden Gate a rather large pleasure boat intercepted us, made a 180 degree change in course and as she steamed suddenly a band somewhere began playing “Back in the Saddle Again”. The pleasure craft had a 20-degree list because a bevy of beautiful girls manned the rails and sang “Back in the Saddle Again”.
I don’t know who the Officer of the Deck was at the time, nor do I know who was manning the Bridge or Engine Room but our ship had a serious list to the starboard side. The response from the Navy transport on which I had a berth was overwhelming and a cheer went up for the girls that set our ship vibrating for 20 minutes or more. It was a great moment for the girls and there was no doubt onboard our ship as to the quality and depth of our appreciation based on the volume of the response.
The celebrations didn’t end there as I recall it. I got a seat on a TWA flight back to New York and went to the Waldorf where my parents were staying. I checked in with them for more celebrations. While recovering from the celebrations I was suddenly struck with the realization that I now had to get a job to support my wife, “Bunny”, and our daughter, Jody.
We settled in New York City with a job and an apartment and prepared for the years to come. ~ dhb
NOTE: The above is as the author recalls these historical events in his role as a Navy Lt. and VBF pilot onboard the Intrepid for the year preceding the signing of the peace on September 2, 1945.
After he returned from WWII he signed up with the United States Naval Reserve and continued to fly as a ‘Weekend Warrior’ for a period of time that ended in late May of 1950. His time as a “Weekend Warrior” and his experiences in the United States Naval Reserve will be told at a later date. ~ Editor
One of the problems with “Forwards” is the shear number of them being passed around and around and around on the Internet. It seems that 97.3% of Emails are “Forwards” and “Forwards” never, ever seem to stop or go away. There are “Forwards” that started circulating the Internet in 2003 and are still going strong 7 years later.
The fact that they have lasted 7 years is bad enough, but when you add to the fact that of that 98.7% of the “Forwards” purposely contain misinformation or are what is known as a “Hoax”. While almost everyone who has an Email account knows of the existence of “Hoaxes” and that you need to be diligent not to fall for one, they fall for them all the time. It’s easy to fall for them because the majority of people will make one basic, incorrect assumption. That assumption is that the person who sent you the “Forward” cared enough to check out the accuracy before hitting “Forward”.
We’re not saying that people DON’T care. In fact, what we are saying is the exact opposite. People DO care. They have received a “Forward” and it has touched them either emotionally (usually) or intellectually and felt the need to spread the word. Unfortunately, they are going on raw emotion. They have just read of a grave “injustice” or an extreme unpatriotic act or their faith has been threatened or that there is some type of danger that must be dealt with immediately. The source of their information is the “Forward” so they turn to it for directions on how to deal with or defeat the threat. The “Forward” has a very simple, “quick” solution. The solution is to pass the “Forward” on.
However, what they should do is take a momemt to catch their breath. Then they should check the facts of the “Forward”. It is a fairly simply thing to do. Simply go to a “Hoax Busting” site. There are quite a few on the Internet including “Snopes.com”, “Truth or Fiction”, “Urban Legends” and “Hoax Slayer”. By typing in a few “key words” into their search engine boxes you can search their sites for information quickly. They will tell you what is “True”, what is “False” and what is a “Mixture”. Plus they will usually go into details about the actual facts regarding the subject discussed in the “Forward”.
Armed with the accurate information, a person can than decide if they should pass it on (only if 100% true), simply delete it (if it is 100% false). If the information is a mixture of “True” and “False” a person really should not pass the information on. That is unless they take the time to correct or at least acknowledge the “False” information. By doing so a person is stopping the spread of a Hoax. ~ Editor
We do not want to cause a panic but there is an epidemic sweeping the Internet. If you have an Email account you have been exposed. You may even be a “Carrier” of this disease. This disease seems harmless enough at first glance. In fact it even has a very innocent sounding name, “Forward”.
We would like to thank “Union of Americans” “Reader W2” for sending us “Laus Deo: A History Lesson”. As is the policy of “Union of Americans” we verified the authenticity of the piece. What we found was a mixture of fact and fiction, the majority of the piece being fact. Because of the ongoing controversy over references to God in government settings we have decided to share the piece with all of our “Readers” with a breakdown of what is fact and what is fiction. ~ Editor
Religious Significance of the George Washington and the Washington Monument – Mostly Truth!
The Truth
This one’s got many statements in it, so let’s take them one by one.
The words “Laus Deo” on the cap of the monument-Truth!
There is an aluminum point crowning the apex of the monument.
There are four sides, each facing a point of the compass.
According to the National Park Service, the north side lists the members of the joint commission that was in charge of the Washington monument project.
The west side lists the dates of the laying of the cornerstone, the first stone laid at the height of 152 fee, and the the setting of the capstone.
The south side lists the names of chief engineer, the architect, and some of the workmen.
The east side simply has the words “Laus Deo” which is translated as “Praise be to God.”
Washington DC was laid out to be in the design of a cross-Fiction!
It seems to be in the form of a cross, but there’s no evidence that was the intent of the designer, architect Pierre Charles L’Enfant.
If one sees the layout of White House, the Jefferson Memorial, the Capitol, and The Lincoln Memorial as the intended cross, it was not in the mind of Charles L’Enfant because he proposed the original design in 1791, which was long before it was decided that the Lincoln and Jefferson memorials would be built and where (1911 and 1934).
On the 12th Landing is a prayer offered by the City of Baltimore-Truth!
There is a memorial stone in the wall at the 140-foot level with the following blessing:
“May heaven to this union continue its beneficence. May brotherly affection with union be perpetual. May the free constitution which is the work of our ancestors be sacredly maintained and its administration be stamped with wisdom and virtue.”
On the 20th landing is a memorial presented by some Chinese Christians-Truth!
It is from Christians from the port city of Ningpo, Chekiang Province, Mainland China and is a eulogy to George Washington.
On the 24th landing a presentation made by Sunday School children from New York and Philadelphia quoting Proverbs 10:7, Luke 18:16 and Proverbs 22:6.-Truth!
The memorial says it is presented by the Sunday Schools of the Methodist Episcopal Church in New York and from the Sabbath School children of the Methodist Episcopal church in Philadelphia. It then says “A preached Gospel” and “A free press” then closes with “Washington, we revere his memory.”
The inscriptions include the Bible reference Proverbs 10:7.
There is also an open bible on the monument that includes Luke 18:16 where Jesus said “Suffer the little children to come unto me” and Proverbs 22:6, which says “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”
When the cornerstone was laid, one of the items in it was a Bible-Truth!
Several dozen items were placed into the monument at the laying of the cornerstone including, according to the National Park Service, a copy of the Bible presented by The Bible Society.
Washington‘s Prayer for America-Truth! But altered.
This is an interesting one.
This “prayer of Washington” is widely circulated and reflects his true wishes about the United States because the bulk of it comes from his own words.
There is a certain lack of integrity with the prayer, however, in that he never really formally prayed it in the way that is circulated.
Someone along the way decided to create the prayer from one of Washington’s letters and package it in the fabricator’s own religious cultural language.
The original words from Washington are from the closing paragraph of a letter to the governors of the 13 states on the occasion of his retirement from command of the Continental Army and public life.
We consulted John C. Fitzpatrick’s collection of the writings of George Washington that are available through the University of Virginia Library and which includes the text of the letter.
In the letter, Washington said that he wanted the governors to convey his words to their legislatures and that he hoped it would be regarded as coming from someone who always wished to be useful to his country and who in the shade of retirement would not fail to “implore divine benediction upon it.”
Then his final paragraph contains the words of his benediction:
| I now make it my earnest prayer, that God would have you, and the State over which you preside, in his holy protection, that he would incline the hearts of the Citizens to cultivate a spirit of subordination and obedience to Government, to entertain a brotherly affection and love for one another, for their fellow Citizens of the United States at large, and particularly for their brethren who have served in the Field, and finally, that he would most graciously be pleased to dispose us all, to do Justice, to love mercy, and to demean ourselves with that Charity, humility and pacific temper of mind, which were the Characteristicks of the Divine Author of our blessed Religion, and without an humble imitation of whose example in these things, we can never hope to be a happy Nation. |
The prayer that is circulated, however, adds a formal salutation and prayer ending, changes it to King James English (used for formal prayers among many Christian groups), changes some of the wording, and leaves out words from the original.
A blessing that was written to the governors of the states about their states and their soldiers was changed to be a general prayer about the country.
We even found one reference that claimed the prayer was prayed by George Washington during battle at Valley Forge.
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