Categories
Books Government History

Confederate Soldiers still barred from National Cemetaries

According to Jeff Shaara in his book Civil War Battlefields it is still illegal to bury Confederate soldiers in National Cemetaries. Many Confederate soldiers are still buried in mass graves at National Battlefields such as Shiloh. Shiloh National Battlefield is the only one in the country where a Confederate flag is allowed to fly over a mass grave of Confederate dead.

buy iconCivil War Battlefields

Categories
Government

Talk about Shipping and Handling charges!

As I browse items on ebay, I’m always chagrined at some of the people who tend to gouge on shipping charges in order to increase the bottom line on low cost items. Here’s one for ya, how about almost $1,000,000 to ship two washers worth 38 cents! Guess who paid for it, Uncle Sam or better yet, you and me the taxpayers!

Full story here:

link iconPentagon Spends $1 Million for 19-Cent Washers

Categories
Books Government

Demanding Democracy

In his book, This Just In: What I Couldn’t Tell You on TV Bob Schieffer recalls fellow reporter Eric Sevareid saying, “Democracy requires more of it’s citizens than any other form of government.” That certainly rings true with the difficulty of the citizens of Iraq to come together to form a stable democratic government.

Categories
Books Government Media

Pentagon’s Open Door

Bob Schieffer in his book This Just In: What I Couldn’t Tell You on TV tells how the Pentagon in the early 70s was open to the public (at least the outer rings). There were no security checks or clearances needed. The public could wander in and out at their pleasure. Schieffer even says he didn’t even bother to obtain his press credentials for the first few months of service as the Pentagon correspondent for CBS.

schieffer.jpg

buy iconThis Just In: What I Couldn’t Tell You on TV

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Government Internet Media

Financial report for the MTV crowd.

Don’t ask me how I run across these things, but I was entertained by this guy’s video. It’s about Canadian government politics but an interesting presentation.

Now this is a financial report I could watch!

He reminds me of Rick Moranis, come to think of it he’s from Canada too.

Categories
Books Government

Harry Potter favorite reading of Guantanamo Bay terror suspects.

Another interesting thing gleaned from the article is that the prison ordered 1,600 Korans to the tune of $23,000.

link icon 8/2005 Washington Post Article

Categories
Government

Murderers best candidates for sentence commutation.

Sebastian Junger in his book A Death in Belmont, puts forth the idea that murderers are the best candidates for sentence commutation and parole. Their recidivism rate is only 2%, compared to burglars, petty thieves and rapists at around 50%.

Categories
Government

All Governments are Deceitful.

A Death in BelmontA comment in the summation of Sebastian Jungers book A Death in Belmont made me think a bit. “All governments are deceitful, because it’s much easier to be deceitful than truthful. And most of the time it is no more sinister than that.”

buy iconA Death in Belmont

Categories
Books Government History

Thomas Jefferson’s Koran

According to author Dr. William Welty, Thomas Jefferson obtained the Koran to research Islam and better equip himself to deal with an enemy, the radical Muslim Barbary Pirates.

link iconhttp://www.khouse.org/articles/2007/691/

Categories
Books Government

Per Pupil Education Expenditure

According to John Stossel in his book Lies, Myths and Downright Stupidity, public education spends, on average, $10,000 per pupil per year. He maintains that public education is a wasteful government mandated monopoly. Our children’s education would be better served if competition was involved for those education dollars.