The ‘white’ slave children of New Orleans:
Almost immediately after the law came into practice, Northerners and abolitionists set up relief organisations, which battled to establish schools and provide other forms of support – but their resources were limited. They soon discovered it was near-impossible to find sympathy and support in a war-torn and racially-prejudiced county.
posted by nickyskye
on Mar 4, 2012 -
11 comments
Twenty-one years ago today a plane crashed in Gander, Newfoundland. The flight carried
American soldiers heading home for the holidays, returning from a mission in the
Sinai. Called
the worst aviation disaster on Canadian soil, the crash killed the
248 soldiers and 8 crew members aboard. On December 16th, mere days after the crash, President Ronald Reagan gave a
speech at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, to comfort the victims' families.
As time passed, however, some of the families demanded answers from the US Government regarding the circumstances of the crash. In 1989, Robin Tallon, member of congress from South Carolina, assisted the families' by bringing the matter before
Congress - and also sending a letter to then-Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney (scroll down page). In 1992, a
Time Magazine article addressed forensic evidence which supported the idea of an on-board explosion prior to impact, as well as the flight's connections to
Iran Contra and the terrorist group Islamic Jihad. This article also discusses the
book written on the crash by Les Filotas, a dissenting member of the air safety board. The question was brought forth again in 1993, with
a bill introduced requesting that a commission be formed to further investigate the circumstances of the crash.
As with any disaster with unanswered questions,
conspiracy theories abound.
To this day, many of the questions surrounding Flight 1285
remain unanswered. While the crash may never be fully explained, one certainty remains - for the families whose loved ones never came home for Christmas, the
twelfth day of the twelfth month will
never be forgotten.
posted by SassHat
on Dec 12, 2006 -
22 comments
U.S. helped Iraq start bioweapons program "I don't think it would be accurate to say the United States government deliberately provided seed stocks to the Iraqis' biological weapons programs,'' said Jonathan Tucker, a former U.N. biological weapons inspector.
"But they did deliver samples that Iraq said had a legitimate public health purpose, which I think was naive to believe, even at the time."
"
-isn't iraq just another case of
blowback and is anyone asking what the next round of "blowback" will be if we go in again?
posted by specialk420
on Sep 30, 2002 -
35 comments
Americans against World Empire. This Conservative/Libertarian coalition presents analysis, articles, links, opinions and rants from every corner of the political spectrum. ""Perpetual war serves a number of purposes.....It is under wartime conditions that the U.S. state will, at least initially, face the least resistance as it finishes the......process of gutting the Bill of Rights and voiding inconvenient parts of the U.S. Constitution......It is under wartime conditons that all opponents of U.S. policies anywhere in the world, including within the U.S. itself, can be most easily labled 'terrorist.'" This statement would have come from a conservative in 1940. Today it is from the Left. (Alternative Press Review, spring 2002).
posted by Mack Twain
on Jul 14, 2002 -
6 comments
As the violence in the Middle East escalates, and Arab anger grows over American support of Israel (especially among the masses), is
another oil embargo possible?
Oil may be the Arab world's daily bread, but it's also its only weapon — if, say, Arafat is killed or Israel goes too far in its incursions into Palestinian territories, popular sentiment in the already-shaky local regimes could force Arab governments to put up a show of defiance to calm their constituencies.
posted by Rastafari
on Apr 4, 2002 -
13 comments
