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by Ron Russell
There are many today that would change the Constitution to conform to contemporary values and standards, values and standards that they believe in but that are alien to most in this nation. This is where the fight is and it is continuing struggle one that is part of the protracted conflict within the systemic revolution. In this struggle the old existing order is always replaced by an emerging new order, it is our job to define the new order and not let those on the left do this for us. The principles set forth in the Constitution are fixed and must not be redefined. The equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment has been used to bring about many undesirable changes and is continually being used by those on the left such as the ACLU to advance their agenda's. The interpretation of the Constitution is the important thing and we must always fight for those among us who will continue to stand by the values of the founders. It is never easy defending the status quo because in the end change will come. We must shape and control that change and use the Constitution as a beacon, as a guide, as a blueprint for a just America as those who have gone before us have done.
At this time in our nations history the Senate is again preparing to hold hearings on the confirmation of the latest justice nominated to SCOTUS, Sonja Sotomayor. The outlook for her confirmation seems almost certain at this time despite many disturbing comments and rulings in her past. The bright spot in this otherwise dim picture is that the balance on the court will not be serious effected at this time, since she will be replacing a retiring liberal member, David Souter. She will be questioned vigorously by Republican members on the Senate Judiciary committee regarding past statements and on past rulings, particularly those on "Ricci vs. Destefano" an affirmative action case involving the New Haven Fire Department. A ruling recently over-turned by the Supreme Court. And also her views on guns rights as set forth in the Second Amendment.
The Supreme Court has the final say on many laws passed not only by the federal government, but also laws passed by the states and local governments. In most cases, however it takes years for these cases to work themselves up through the system and reach the court. At that time the court rulings often change all our lives, one only needs to look at "Brown vs. Board of Education" and "Roe vs. Wade" to name but two. And many times the Court will actually reverse itself as it did in "Brown vs. Board of Education" when in that particular case it overturned "Plessy vs. Ferguson" , a case decided some 60 years earlier.
by Ron Russell
The purpose of this article is to give an overview on "History of Western Civilization". We will begin with the city-states of ancient Greece and proceed to the modern period.
The city-states of Greece such as Athens, Sparta, Corinth and others gave us many contributions to our present day society--democracy, philosophy and literature, just to name a few. They were the dominate force in the ancient world, but due to internal and external forces that period passed. The forces which caused this to happen we will refer to in this piece as the protracted conflict--this is an ongoing struggle between the old order and the new. With the old order always being the stronger in the beginning, but gradually giving way to the new order in the end. This, again, is a continuing struggle in history.
The city states eventually gave way to the Roman Empire, a system which,also, lasted for hundreds of years contributing a great deal to modern society-laws, architecture and literature. But again, this system would soon pass away into history because of internal struggles and the pressures from outside forces--the effects of the protracted conflict. The fall of the Roman Empire was indeed, a defining moment in world history, leading to one of history's darkest periods--appropriately called the Dark Ages or middle ages.
The Dark Ages lasted for hundreds of years. It was similar in some respects to the Greek city-state period in that there were many small seats of power--there the similarities stop. To recap for a moment--we had the disunity of the city-states followed by the unity of the Roman Empire to the disunity of power in the dark (middle ages). Not much good came from that period-- it was, indeed "dark". Probably not a good time to live in. That period begin to come to an end during what we call the Renaissance--a time of enlightenment. But again, the "city state' form of government continued to exist for a time-Florence, Genova. It was appropriate that this period started here in the heart of the old Roman Empire. Gradually, the old city-state form of government in Europe would give way to the larger kingdoms of France, Spain, Portugal, England and others. Here we have the beginnings of--The age of exploration, the Colonial Period. So far we have seem the Greek city-states (decentralized government evolve to the Roman Empire (centralized government) and that in turn giving way to the Dark Ages (decentralized government) to the beginning of the Colonial Period (centralized government)--all part of what we have called the systemic revolution.
Before we move into the colonial period, I need to point out again that this is a continuing revolution brought about by a protracted conflict--the struggle between the old and new orders. History does repeat itself over and over again--it is systemic in nature.
The Colonial Period lasted as those before it for hundreds of years. Its primary players were Spain, Portugal and England--there were others--these, however were probably the most predominate. This was a time when power was centralized in a few of the capitals of Europe, although there were conflicts between the various powers. These struggles would continue up to and including WWI and WWII. These two world wars will bring an end to this period and carry us to the modern period which will we refer to as the age of Rampant Nationalism. This is the time we live in. Rampant Nationalism, our current period, could possibly be one of our most dangerous times--due to the influence of modern technology and WMD's. New nations are popping up right and left. Who can keep up with the pace--I can't! The old colonial systems have totally collapsed and the vacuums created by that collapse have helped this process along. I don't know where this will lead, but it doesn't seem to be a pleasant place. Dangers are always out there, but this is, indeed, a troubling period. I hope by this time you have seen the continuing process that has occurred--decentralization to centralization and back, again and again. A continuing process--Systemic Revolution, and within that the Protracted Conflict.
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — Ousted President Manuel Zelaya was kept from landing at the main Honduras airport Sunday because the runway was blocked by groups of soldiers with military vehicles, some of them lined up against a crowd of thousands outside. His Venezuelan pilot circled around the airport and decided not to risk a crash.
Zelaya landed in Nicaragua and vowed to try again Monday or Tuesday in his high-stakes effort to return to power in a country where all branches of government have lined up against him, including the military that shot up his house and sent him into exile in his pajamas a week earlier.
"I am the commander of the armed forces, elected by the people, and I ask the armed forces to comply with the order to open the airport so that there is no problem in landing and embracing with my people," Zelaya said from the plane. "Today I feel like I have sufficient spiritual strength, blessed with the blood of Christ, to be able to arrive there and raise the crucifix."
But interim President Roberto Micheletti insisted on preventing the plane from landing, and said he won't negotiate until "things return to normal."
"We will be here until the country calms down," Micheletti said. "We are the authentic representatives of the people."
Micheletti also alleged that Nicaragua is moving troops to their border in an attempt at psychological intimidation, and warned them not to cross into Honduras, "because we're ready to defend our border." Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega called the allegation "totally false."
Violence broke out among the huge crowd surrounding the airport, with at least one man killed — shot in the head from inside the airport as people tried to break through a security fence, according to an Associated Press photographer at the scene. At least 30 people were treated for injuries, the Red Cross said, after security forces fired warning shots and tear gas.
When Zelaya's plane was turned away, his supporters began chanting "We want blue helmets!" — a reference to U.N. peacekeepers.
His next destination was likely to be El Salvador, where the presidents of Argentina, Paraguay and Ecuador and the secretary-general of the Organization of American States, Jose Miguel Insulza, flew from Washington and were awaiting his arrival.
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Zelaya won wide international support after his military ouster, but the presidents decided against flying on Zelaya's plane, citing security concerns. Flying with Zelaya were close advisers and staff, two journalists from the Venezuela-based network Telesur, and U.N. General Assembly President Miguel D'Escoto Brockmann, a leftist Nicaraguan priest and former foreign minister.
Honduras' new government has vowed to arrest Zelaya for 18 alleged criminal acts including treason and failing to implement more than 80 laws approved by Congress since taking office in 2006.
Despite a Supreme Court ruling, Zelaya had also pressed ahead with a referendum on whether to hold an assembly to consider changing the constitution. Critics feared he might press to extend his rule and cement presidential power in ways similar to his ally Hugo Chavez in Venezuela.
But instead of prosecuting him or trying to defeat his referendum idea at the ballot box, other Honduran leaders sent masked soldiers to fly Zelaya out of the country at gunpoint, and congress installed Micheletti in his place.
The military solution prompted condemnation at the United Nations and the OAS suspended Honduras in response. Many called it a huge step back for democracy, and no nation has recognized the new government. President Barack Obama has united with Chavez and conservative Alvaro Uribe in criticism.
Without OAS membership, the isolated interim government faces trade sanctions and the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars in subsidized oil, aid and loans.
Micheletti's vice foreign minister, Martha Lorena Alvarado, said the interim government sent the OAS a letter expressing "willingness to conduct conversations in good faith." In Washington, senior Obama administration officials took that as a positive sign.
Speaking on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the State Department, the officials said the United States and other OAS member countries are coordinating contacts and outreach to facilitate a resolution, despite their insistence on having no formal relations with the interim government.
The immediate concern, however, was avoiding more bloodshed. Both critics and supporters of Zelaya have staged large demonstrations. The country's Roman Catholic archbishop and its human rights commissioner urged Zelaya to stay away to avoid provoking them.
Zelaya has drawn most of his support from the working and middle classes of this impoverished nation, while his opponents are based in the ranks of the well-to-do, although the increasingly leftist approach of the wealthy rancher had eroded his popular support.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Sunday the United States must compromise on its plan to build a missile defense system in Europe in order to reach a deal on reducing nuclear warheads, Reuters reported.
The Russian leader said in an interview that a deal on the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I) and the United States' plan for a missile defense system are linked. Moscow believes a missile defense system is a threat to its national security.
"We consider these issues are interconnected," Medvedev said. "It is sufficient to show restraint and show an ability to compromise. And then we can agree on the basis of a new deal on START and at the same time can agree on the question of how we move forward on anti-missile defense."
President Obama is aiming to rebuild relations with Russia as part of his weeklong trip abroad this week, anchored around a yearly meeting of leaders from the world's industrial powers in Italy. He departs for Moscow Sunday night.
Obama set a tone for the Moscow meeting by saying in an Associated Press interview Thursday that he was off to a good start with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. But, Obama added, Vladimir Putin -- Medvedev's predecessor and the current prime minister -- "still has a lot of sway in Russia."
Obama has separate meetings with them.
"I think Putin has one foot in the old ways of doing business and one foot in the new," Obama said in the interview. Putin responded Friday by poking fun at Obama's imagery and saying the new U.S. president is wrong about him. A Putin spokesman said Obama would change his mind after meeting Putin.
"Putin knows that, given Medvedev's position, he's the guy who deals with foreign leaders," said Stephen Sestanovich, a Russian expert at the Council on Foreign Relations. "But Putin wants to find ways of reminding everybody who's really in charge. And I don't doubt that he will find ways of doing that."
The rhetoric leading up to the summit reflects the complex relationship between the countries.
Putting down a friendly marker of his own before Obama shows up, Medvedev noted that conditions had worsened in recent years but now there is "only one road to follow -- the road of agreement."
Obama expects to emerge from Moscow with a framework for how the U.S. and Russia will go about reducing their stockpile of nuclear warheads. He and Medvedev stated their intentions toward that goal in April during a London meeting that had both leaders talking of a fresh start.
Any tangible progress now will be held up as proof of better U.S.-Russia ties, and a step toward broader cooperation on ridding the world of nuclear arms.
Yet there is harder work ahead to determine how many weapons both sides will give up and how those steps will be verified. Both sides hope to have a final deal in place before the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty expires in December.
Obama plans to give a major address on U.S.-Russia relations and meet with a range of civic leaders, hoping to turn around Russian attitudes of the U.S. FOX News