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United States Navy

2007-06-29T21:30:03Z

Jonah: /* Birth of the USN */

{| border="1" align="right" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="300" style="margin-left:5px"
|align="center" colspan="2"|[[Image:USN seal.JPG|250px]]
|-
!colspan="2" align="center" style="color: white; height: 30px; background: navy no-repeat scroll top left;"|United States Navy
|-
|Created
|13 October 1775
|-
|Surface warships
|180
|-
|Submarines
|96
|-
|Aircraft
|4,000 +
|-
|Auxiliary vessels
|100
|-
!colspan="2" align="center" style="color: white; height: 30px; background: navy no-repeat scroll top left;"|Personnel
|-
|Active Duty
|343,500
|-
|Reserves
|129,634
|-
|Secretary of the Navy
|Donald C. Winter
|-
|Chief of Naval Operations
|Admiral Michael Mullin
|-
|Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy
|MCPON(SW/FMF) Joe R. Campa
|-
|}
The '''United States Navy''', or USN, has the mission "to maintain, train and equip combat-ready Naval forces capable of winning wars, deterring aggression and maintaining freedom of the seas." With some 343,000 active duty personnel, 129,000 reservists, 256 ships and more than 4,000 aircraft, they are a formidable force.

==Birth of the USN==
Where can you find pleasure

Search the world for treasure

Learn science technology

Where can you begin to make your dreams all come true

On the land or on the sea

Where can you learn to fly

Play in sports or skin dive

Study oceanography

Sign up for the big band

Or sit in the grandstand

When your team and others meet

In the navy

Yes, you can sail the seven seas

In the navy

Yes, you can put your mind at ease

In the navy

Come on now, people, make a stand

In the navy, in the navy

Can't you see we need a hand

In the navy

Come on, protect the motherland

In the navy

Come on and join your fellow man

In the navy

Come on people, and make a stand

In the navy, in the navy, in the navy (in the navy)

They want you, they want you

They want you as a new recruit

If you like adventure

Don't you wait to enter

The recruiting office fast

Don't you hesitate

There is no need to wait

They're signing up new seamen fast

Maybe you are too young

To join up today

But don't you worry 'bout a thing

For I'm sure there will be

Always a good navy

Protecting the land and sea

In the navy

Yes, you can sail the seven seas

In the navy

Yes, you can put your mind at ease

In the navy

Come on now people, make a stand

In the navy, in the navy

Can't you see we need a hand

In the navy

Come on, protect the motherland

In the navy

Come on and join your fellow man

In the navy

Come on people, and make a stand

In the navy, in the navy, in the navy (in the navy)

They want you, they want you

They want you as a new recruit

Who me?

They want you, they want you

They want you as a new recruit

But, but, but I'm afraid of water.

Hey, hey look

Man, I get seasick even watchin' it on TV!

They want you, they want you in the navy

Oh my goodness.

What am I gonna do in a submarine?

They want you, they want you in the navy

On 13 October 1775, the Continental Congress drafted what is considered by many to be the birth certificate of the USN:

"Resolved, that a swift sailing vessel, to carry ten carriage guns, and a proportional number of swivels, with eighty men, be fitted, with all possible dispatch for a cruise of three months, and that the commander be instructed to cruise eastward, for intercepting such transports as may be laden with warlike stores and other supplies for our enemies, and for such other purposes as the Congress shall direct... Resolved, that another vessel be fitted out for the same purposes..."

Within a few days of voting to establish a Navy, Congress established a Naval Committee, which directed the purchasing, outfitting, manning and operations of the first ships of the new Navy, drafted naval legislation, and prepared rules and regulations to govern the Navy's conduct and internal administration.

There are numerous men who played prominent roles in founding the USN, including [[George Washington]], Continental Navy officers [[Esek Hopkins]], [[John Barry]], and [[John Paul Jones]] as well as civilian representatives at the Continental Congress who argued for the establishing of a Navy, such as [[John Adams]], [[Benjamin Franklin]], [[Robert Morris]], [[Joseph Hewes]], and [[Silias Deane]]. Since so many men colluded in the establishing of a Navy, the USN doesn't recognize one person, at the exclusion of others, to be the "Father of the Navy."

About half a dozen places make claims to being the "birthplace of the Navy," such as Machais, ME for the seizure of the Royal Navy schooner Margaretta by a small sloop armed with woodsmen on 12 June 1775. Whitehall, NY makes the claim that the army's fleet on Lake Champlain under [[Benedict Arnold]] was the United States' first Navy. George Washington employed a small fleet of schooners out of Beverly and Marblehead, MA. The first call for the establishment of a Navy was in Providence RI. However, if the Continental Congress had not passed the first national naval legislation in Philidelphia, there would be small argument about where the USN was born, anyway.

==The Revolutionary War==
During the United States' fight for independence, the Navy's squadrons and cruisers seized enemy supplies and carried correspondence and diplomats to Europe, returning with needed munitions. They took nearly 200 British vessels as prizes, some off the British Isles themselves, contributing to the demoralization of the enemy.
One notable triumph during this war was the capture of the British sloops of war Drake by Captain John Paul Jones' Ranger in April of 1778. Jones gained international notoriety for this incident, and for his operations in the North Sea and the Raids against the the coast of Great Britain itself.
After the American Revolution had ended, the Continental Navy was disbanded.

==War of 1812==
On 18 June 1812, the United States declared war on Great Britain for impressment of sailors and interference with commerce. The Royal Navy responded by blockading the American coast, although a number of United States warships were able to slip through the blockaders. These warships took aim at enemy naval and merchant ships, winning several courageuos victories in ship-to-ship actions. A particularly notable one would be the victory by Captain [[Isaac Hull]] in the [[USS Constitution]] (often called "Old Ironsides") over the HMS Guerriere.

==Links==
*[http://www.navy.mil United States Navy official website]

[[Category:Military]]

Kyoto Protocol

2007-06-29T21:18:36Z

Jonah: /* See also */

The '''Kyoto Protocol''' is a 1997 treaty about [[greenhouse gas]] emissions, committed 39 participating industrial nations to a combined 5% reduction of 1990 levels by 2012 in emissions damaging to the climate. The [[United Nations]] backs the Kyoto Protocol.

The stated goal of the treaty is to vastly reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the signed countries. The [[United States]], while it did sign the protocol, has not ratified it. Supporters say that the treaty is crucially needed to prevent a global environmental tragedy. Opponents say it's a lot of hot air to justify [[wealth redistribution]] on a global scale, and greater control by governments of businesses.

The Kyoto Protocol became effective on February 16, 2005, requiring the European Union to reduce its average emissions between the years 2008 and 2012 by 8% relative to 1990 levels.

Its a well known fact around the world that the release of greenhouse gases, at the leevl they are beign produced, is harming the world and is leading to the biggest cotastrophe that the world has ever seen. Despite the scientific findings and indisputable proofs, the united states still refuses to ratify this as a acceptable solution. The Bush administration is well know for their lacks approach, and care for the enviroment. The rest of the world sees the United States as "A child throwing a temper tantrum" on this, and is one of the many rationals for people around the world not to like the US.

==See also==
*[[Global warming controversy]]
*[[Socialism]]
*[[Environmentalism]]
[[category:politics]]

Bill Clinton

2007-06-29T21:02:05Z

Jonah: /* Impeachment */

{| border="1" align="right" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="250" style="margin-left:5px"
|align="center" colspan="2"|[[Image:billclinton.jpg|200px|United States President Bill Clinton]]
|-
!colspan="2" align="center" style="color: white; height: 30px; background: indigo no-repeat scroll top left;"|Bill Clinton;
Forty-second President of the United States
|-
|Born
|August 19, 1946
|-
|Term
|1993-2000
|-
|}

'''William Jefferson''' "Bill" '''Clinton''' '''(August 19, 1946 - present)''' served as the 42nd [[President of the United States of America]] from 1993-2000, following [[George H. W. Bush]] and preceding [[George W. Bush]].

== Early Life ==

Clinton was born William Jefferson Blythe III on August 19, 1946 AD in Hope, Arkansas. His father, William Jefferson Blythe Jr. died in a car accident while his mother was pregnant with him. Clinton's mother later married Roger Clinton, and the four year-old William was given his stepfather's name.[http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/bc42.html]

Clinton was active in high school, participating in various student government organizations as well as playing the saxophone. Roger Clinton, however, made Bill's family life unpleasant by repeatedly abusing Clinton's mother and her children. Bill Clinton would eventually stand up to his stepfather in high school, forcing his stepfather to stop beating his mother and kicking him out of the house. [http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=50652] After Roger Clinton underwent alcohol rehabilitation, he would eventually rejoin the family.

Clinton attended [[Georgetown University]], then [[Oxford University]] after receiving a prestigious [[Rhodes Scholarship]]. He also then earned a Juris Doctorate from [[Yale University]] in 1973. At Yale he met [[Hillary Clinton|Hillary Rodham]], whom he would later marry [http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/bc42.html].

== Early Political Career ==

After returning to live in Arkansas, Clinton was elected [[Attorney General]] of Arkansas in 1976 AD. Two years later, he was elected Governor of Arkansas, becoming the youngest governor in the country as a 32 year-old. Though defeated in 1980 AD, Clinton won back the governorship in 1982 AD and held it until becoming President in 1992 AD.

In December 1989 a three-judge district federal court held Bill Clinton's state-wide legislative reapportionment plan violated Section 2 of the [[Voting Rights Act|Voting Rights Act of 1965]], 42 U.S.C. 1973. 1990 the [[Supreme Court]] of the United States found in the case of ''[[Clinton vs Jeffers]]'' <ref>Findings of the Supreme Court of the United States in [http://www.usdoj.gov/osg/briefs/1990/sg900402.txt Clinton vs Jeffers] No. 90-394 (1990) on appeal 730 F. Supp. 196, 198-201 (ED Ark. 1989) (three-judge court), aff'd, No. 89-2008 (Jan. 7, 1991).</ref> the former Arkansas Governeror and [[Democratic]] president had violated the Voting Rights Act. The Justices findings were,

{{Cquote|Bill Clinton does not dispute here -- that "violations of the [[Fourteenth amendment|fourteenth]] or [[fifteenth amendment]] justifying equitable relief have occurred in Arkansas."

In May 1990, the district court turned to those claims, holding that "the State of Arkansas has committed a number of constitutional violations of the voting rights of black citizens." J.S. App. A5. In particular, the court determined that the "State has systematically and deliberately enacted new majority-vote requirements for municipal offices, in an effort to frustrate black political success in elections traditionally requiring only a plurality to win." In 1990...Devotion to majority rule for local offices lay dormant as long as the plurality system produced white office-holders. But whenever black candidates used this system successfully -- and victory by a plurality has been virtually their only chance of success in at-large elections in majority-white cities – the response was swift and certain. Laws were passed in an attempt to close off this avenue of black political victory.}}

The court therefore concluded that

{{Cquote|This series of laws represents a systematic and deliberate attempt to reduce black political opportunity. Such an attempt is plainly unconstitutional. It replaces a system in which blacks could and did succeed, with one in which they almost certainly cannot. The inference of [[bigotry|racial motivation]] is inescapable.}}

== Presidency==
[[Image:Somalia.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Poster to end the "racist occupation of Somalia"; eighteen US soldiers were killed and some of their bodies were bodies were dragged through the streets, [http://www.aljazeera.com/me.asp?service_id=13022]]]
Clinton won in 1992 with 43% of the popular vote versus President [[George H. W. Bush's]] 37%, capitalizing on public discontent with a weak economy and public displeasure with Bush's proposed tax increases, and Ross Perot, a third candidate. In his first two years in office, 1993 through 1994, Clinton was unable to "reform" health-care in the United States with a [[socialism| socialized]] health-care plan. It was a tough sell in the wake of the collapse of Soviet Bloc only a few years earlier. His approach consisted of appointing a planning committee with secret members to reshape this important sector of the economy.{{fact}} The [[Association of American Physicians and Surgeons]] successfully sued to force disclosure of the committee financing, expenses and membership. The program ultimately became so unpopular after two years the Democratically controlled Congress shielded its members records by never bringing it to floor for a vote.

In 1994, voters expressed their high disapproval of a Congress controlled by Democrats by giving a victory to Republicans in Congress. This event was tagged the "Republican Revolution," and began a series of showdowns with the Republican-led Congress.{{fact}} These showdowns were epitomized by the budget conflict with then-Speaker of the House [[Newt Gingrich]] in 1995. Gingrich refused to pass Clinton's budget proposal, and the latter threatened to shut down the government as Reagan had done in the 1980s. Clinton did not back down, however, and eventually had his budget passed [http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/commentprint082800d.html]. This showdown backfired for the Republicans, as it reinvigorated Clinton's flagging approval ratings. [http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/Clinton_approval_rating.JPG].

In late 1995, President Clinton dispatched some 20,000 U.S. troops to [[Bosnia]].

Clinton was reelected in 1996 and carried 49.2% of the popular vote against Republican candidate ([[Robert Dole | Bob Dole]]), who won 41%, and "populist" candidate, [[H. Ross Perot]], who won 8%. During Clinton's second term, together with the Republican-controlled Congress, he produced record federal budget surpluses reaching $236 billion by the year 2000, and representing a net federal budget gain of $526 billion. <ref> [http://www.uuforum.org/deficit.htm Congressional Budget Office figures]</ref>

He spent much of the remainder of his presidency combating scandals. A special prosecutor's report was not released until well into Clinton's second term, and brought documented Clinton giving false testimony in the Paula Jones civil lawsuit while President which resulted in his impeachment and disbarment from the legal profession.{{fact}} The main charge was that he had committed perjury in a civil suit. The perjured testimony directly related to an attempt to defraud the plainitff of damages. The Senate failed to make clear what constitutes high crimes and misdemeanors. <ref>[http://www.australianpolitics.com/usa/clinton/trial/statements/lieberman.shtml Statement by Senator Joseph Lieberman (D-Connecticut)], Congressional Record for Friday, February 12, 1999.</ref>

During Clinton's presidency the [[terrorist]] group [[al-Qaeda]] conducted the first World Trade Center bombing in 1993, simulataneous bombings of the US embassies in [[Kenya]] and [[Tanzania]] in 1998, and the attack on the [[USS Cole]] in 2000. Terrorist leader [[Osama bin Laden]] <ref>[http://www.bannerofliberty.com/OS8-98MQC/8-24-1998.1.html Did Bill Clinton Smooth the Way for Bin Laden to Become the World's Most Successful Terrorist?], Mary Mostert, Original Sources, August 24, 1998.</ref> issued two public [[fatwa]]s declaring War on America. <ref>[http://www.kimsoft.com/2001/binladenwar.htm Bin Laden's Declaration of War], 1998.</ref> In the 1998 fatwa <ref>Bernard Lewis, [http://www.msu.edu/course/iss/325/stein/read-325-3.htm#Lewis License to Kill], Foreign Affairs, November/December 1998.</ref> bin Laden told ''[[Jihad|jihadist]]s'' worldwide,

{{Cquote|Clinton appeared in front of the whole world threatening and promising revenge, but these threats were merely a preparation for withdrawal. You have been disgraced by [[Allah]] and you withdrew; the extent of your impotence and weaknesses became very clear. It was a pleasure for the "heart" of every Muslim and a remedy to the "chests" of believing nations to see you defeated in the three Islamic cities of Beirut, [[Aden]] and [[Mogadishu]]. <ref>[http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a1097mohamedinterview&scale=0#a1097mohamedinterview October 1997: [[Ali Mohamed]] Tells FBI He Helped Al-Qaeda Kill US Soldiers, But FBI Takes No Action]</ref>}}

Bin Laden told ''ABC News'' at the time, "We do not have to differentiate between military or civilian. As far as we are concerned, they are all targets." <ref>The 9-11 Commission Report, [http://www.gpoaccess.gov/911/pdf/sec2.pdf2. The Foundation of the New Terrorism], Official Government Edition, GPO, 2004.</ref>

Suspicions often arose during Clinton's tenure about the timing of [[cruise missile]] attacks to manipulate public sympathy at crucial points when his approval ratings sagged. On several occassions <ref>[http://article.nationalreview.com/print/?q=NzhjODk1ODg4M2NiODU4Yzc3YWE1OTA1MDNmYWQ5M2Y= The Facts About Clinton and Terrorism], Byron York, ''National Review Online'', September 11, 2006. </ref> generally when the approval ratings dipped to 47%, surprise cruise missile attacks <ref>[http://www.fas.org/news/iraq/1998/12/21/wwwh8d21.html Airstrikes Against Iraq: 'What Happens Now?'], U.S. Information Agency ''Daily Digest'', December 21, 1998. </ref> where launched which resulted in a 10 point gain in the public opinion polls. Nick Gillespie of ''Reason'' remarked,
{{Cquote|Consider, for instance, the relative lack of scrutiny accorded the August 20 cruise missile attacks on Afghanistan and [[Sudan]] … immediately after the bombing, polls showed that close to half of all Americans thought the missile strikes were meant to divert attention from the president's sex life… the Sudanese bombing suggests something else as well: If and when the public's and the media's attention shifts from the president's sex life to wider-ranging inquiries about how he makes deadly serious policy decisions…" <ref>[http://www.reason.com/news/show/30827.html Bombs Away - Troubling questions about the U.S. attack on Sudan], ''Reason'', December 1998. </ref>}}

Clinton also signed into law the [[Violence Against Women Act]], which opened the federal courts to claims of domestic disputes between men and women, which had always been handled under state rather than federal law. Portions regarding civil rights remedies were later found unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

Clinton left office with an approval rating of 65%, the highest of any modern president, and remains the only modern president to leave office with a higher approval rating than he had when he took office. <ref> [http://uspolitics.about.com/od/polls/l/bl_historical_approval.htm Presidential Approval Ratings]</ref>

== Whitewater Affair ==

His close personal business partnerships with James McDougall in a failed Savings and Loan business venture lead to investigation of the [[Whitewater]] affair. Several of the people involved with the sale of land prior to the Clinton presidency were indicted, but the Clintons were never charged with a crime.{{fact}}

== Impeachment ==

On Aug. 17, 1998, after relentless media attention, leaks, and news of Lewinsky's upcoming testimony, Clinton made history by becoming the first U.S. president to testify in front of a grand jury in an investigation of his own possibly criminal conduct. In an address to the nation, he admitted to having had an "inappropriate relationship" with Lewinsky, but reaffirmed that he did not ask anyone to lie about or cover up the affair. Most of the american people didnt raelly care, and life went on with a strong economy and a peacfull country.

[[Kenneth Starr]], the special prosecutor in the case, pursued the matter.

Clinton became the second sitting president to be impeached by the US House of Representatives. During his second term Clinton was accused of perjury in connection to the Paula Jones sexual harassment lawsuit. The US Senate voted to acquit him. He later lost his law license in Arkansas.

It was during this scandal that Clinton famously stated: "It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is"<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/21/newsid_2525000/2525339.stm</ref>.

== After the Presidency ==

Clinton has spent much of time since leaving office working for charitable causes such as support and fund-raising for the victims of AIDS and the Asian tsunami. In the case of the Indonesian tsunami, he teamed with former president [[George H.W. Bush]] to raise money for relief efforts.

Bill Clinton's wife, [[Hillary_Rodham_Clinton|Hillary Clinton]], was elected Senator to New York in 2000. Reelected in 2006, she is now seeking the Democratic nomination for president in 2008.

== References ==
<references/>

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clinton, Bill}}
[[Category:Presidents of the United States]]