NEW YORK TIMES

The problem of African Poverty as revealed by the media has had a strong emotional effect on many, especially the images of sick and undernourished children. This quotation and {583199} are good examples of sophisticated observers calling for anything to be done even though there was doubt that it would actually help reduce the problem. Specific efforts to reduce poverty in third world nations have been unfortunately not very successful. Many have called for continual and even greatly increased efforts despite the fact that success was doubtful. A few critics objected to the waste of resources and called for radical new approaches to foreign aid.

Lincoln saw all office seekers personally

The George W. Bush administration became notorious for its deception of Congress, the Press and the public. In particular, the administration would develop elaborate scenarios of conditions in the world and develop military and foreign policy responses to them. Soon, it became clear that the scenario upon which the policy and action had been based, was inaccurate—a fantasy to begin with. There has been much debate whether the scenarios were deliberate lies to drum up political support for the administration or just errors of judgment based on bad intelligence. Snow, had to go out and maintain the scenarios even after it became clear that they had been fantasies.

The description was of the battle field at Bull Run. The Times even then was very candid. The public was shocked and some thought it unpatriotic to print this.

Description of the 1876 race between Samuel J. Tilden and Rutherford B. Hayes. This election was very similar to the 2000 Bush v. Gore election. Tilden received more votes and there were shady dealings in Florida and other states which went to Hayes. Instead of the Supreme Court making the final decision as in 2000, a special Congressional Commission gave the Presidency to the candidate for whom fewer people had voted.

Nathaniel Gordon was the first American slave trader to be executed after the slave trade was made illegal. The Erie was his slave ship where, as was typical, many of the captured Blacks, died as a result of the inhuman conditions. Although Gordon was the first person executed in America, the act making the slave trade an act of piracy dated from 1820. See {68753} .

This editorial marked what most people agreed was the end of the Cold War.

Refers to the deformations of family life entailed by slavery

Talaat Pasha was one of the Young Turks who ran the Turkish Government of which Talaat was the Minister of Interior and one of the ruling trumverate. The Christian Armenians, a minority in Turkey and its lands, were discriminated against like other non Muslim minorities in the Ottoman Empire. But during the Turkish War with Russia and WWI, some Armenians defected and served on the Russian side. Many Turkish citizens took revenge on Armenians by means of murder and torture. Soon, the extermination of the Armenians became the official “Young Turk” government policy. Hundreds of thousands of Armenians were killed outright, and about an equal number were “deported” to special areas. Many died of malnutrition along the forced march of Ethnic Cleansing. Others were murdered as they were deported. No one knows exactly how many Armenians were killed with estimates ranging from ½ million to 4 million. This was the first genocide of the 20th century. Modern Turkish leaders however, are in denial about the Armenian deaths. They claim that there was a war and food was scarce; the only Armenians killed, the claimed were proven Russian agents. They further claim that the Armenian behavior was in large part responsible for the forced deportations because of their lack of patriotism and unwillingness to help the Turkish authorities identify the Russian agents. Most Turks today are unaware of the Armenian Genocide as nothing is taught about the massacres in schools or other institutions. It is against the law in Turkey to even have an intellectual study of the Turkish behavior towards the Armenians, much less publish anything about it. The Christian Armenians, a minority in Turkey and its lands, were discriminated against like other non Muslim minorities in the Ottoman Empire. But during the Turkish War with Russia and WWI, some Armenians defected and served on the Russian side. Many Turkish citizens took revenge on Armenians by means of murder and torture. Soon, the extermination of the Armenians became the official “Young Turk” government policy. Hundreds of thousands of Armenians were killed outright, and about an equal number were “deported” to special areas. Many died of malnutrition along the forced march of Ethnic Cleansing. Others were murdered as they were deported. No one knows exactly how many Armenians were killed with estimates ranging from ½ million to 4 million. This was the first genocide of the 20th century. Modern Turkish leaders however, are in denial about the Armenian deaths. They claim that there was a war and food was scarce; the only Armenians killed, the claimed were proven Russian agents. They further claim that the Armenian behavior was in large part responsible for the forced deportations because of their lack of patriotism and unwillingness to help the Turkish authorities identify the Russian agents. Most Turks today are unaware of the Armenian Genocide as nothing is taught about the massacres in schools or other institutions. It is against the law in Turkey to even have an intellectual study of the Turkish behavior towards the Armenians, much less publish anything about it.

This historical quote is important because it shows that there was great dissention about the celebrating of Christmas even among different Christian sects. Traditionally, the celebration of Christmas in a government building or school would have offended half the Christian population. In early America, Christmas celebration was legally prohibited in some states and required in others. This was one of the reasons that the Founding Fathers wrote the First Amendment into the Constitution. In modern times, some critics accuse the requirements that Christmas celebration in public facilities as being anti-Christian. But the problem has been with America since before the Constitution.

See {622997} for more on Platt,

The Police Commissioner had earlier given the green light to the police to use their clubs brutally and indiscriminately {626665} and afterwards made a statement that has been quoted ever since as he justified violating the Constitution because of their political views—see {626664}.

While there is often considered to have been only one Holocaust, the headline Another Armenian Holocaust implies there were multiple holocausts in Armenia

The bicycle rapidly became not only a major mode of American transportation but essentially was the catylist for the American tourist industry. This quotation illustrates the rapid change that tool –place with the popularity of this mode of transportation.

This was America’s first Presidential impeachment which occurred just a few years after America’s greatest crisis—the Civil War. It was handled in an orderly, serious manner following the law throughout.

The George W. Bush administration was a throwback to an earlier era where such a spoils system was operational. Reforms had almost eliminated this type of contractor political favoritism but a culture of political corruption had developed in Congress and the Executive branch in the early 21st century that was more reminiscent of a more than a hundred years earlier. See {589738} for one of the examples that triggered the editorial.

The reason that this quotation is noteworthy is because it is one of the rare examples of a government program that succeeded despite predictions of disaster when it was debated and initiated. In this case, as in most others, for several months of contention Mayor Bloomberg was advocating placing thousands of free bicycles throughout the city where anyone can use them. Opponents were many and the most dire prediction was that all these bicycles in city traffic pedaled by un-vetted users who may have no skills would produce a large increase in death and injury. This produced heavy media coverage. Virtually every successful government program had opponents who predicted dire consequences. When most or all do not come true, there is usually no media coverage. This was one of the exceptions.