ANTHRAX: THE LITTLE BUGGER THAT COULD
April 18, 2007
On September 18, 2001, exactly one week after the fall of the World Trade Center, the United States of America came to the grips of another scare, this time from an entity so small it can never be seen without the aid of a microscope. It came in the form of a deadly bacteria strain known as anthrax.
What is anthrax? As stated above, anthrax is a strain of bacteria commonly found in ruminant animals. It is not contagious and rarely infects humans; it cannot be passed on from human to human. However, if a human is exposed to the bacteria, either through inhalation, ingestion or skin exposure, the infection can prove fatal. The mortality rate of humans to the anthrax bacteria is 100%.
IT ALL STARTED WITH USS MAINE
April 18, 2007
Students of American history will know just how significant the first USS Maine was in establishing the United States of America as a considerable world power at a time when imperialism was the mode of all powerful nations. A young nation, a century past from freeing itself from its colonial British ties, must have needed an opportunity to assert itself in global politics, and the USS Maine provided the perfect opportunity.
Her explosion that is. The annals of history has forever recorded the night of February 15, 1898 as the night the USS Maine sank just off the Havana harbor. Her sinking into the night triggered public outrage, fueled by the yellow journalism prevalent at that time, and set off the Spanish-American War.
THE SCHOOL OF THE AMERICAS: AN AMERICAN ACADEMY OF TORTURE
April 18, 2007
On every November of each year, a group of people flock to the entrance of Fort Benning, a United States Army facility in Columbus, Georgia, to hold a mock funeral procession. During this funeral procession, the group would chant the Presente litany.
After the funeral procession, the group would continue honoring the dead with music and song, with poetry, with puppet shows and theatrical presentations, and with educational workshops. What started out in 1989 as a procession held by only ten people led by Father Roy Bourgeois has attracted thousands of attendees over the years, with the figures in 2006 pegged at almost 20,000 people.
