A Brief History On August 26, 1970, the Women’s Liberation movement spearheaded by Betty Friedan held the Women’s Strike for Equality.  The event, under the auspices of the National Organization for Women (NOW), was held on the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, the amendment that allowed women in the US to vote. Digging Deeper The idea of the strike, which featured a 20,000 person demonstration in New York City, was to champion equal rights for American women vis a vis employment (both positions and pay), access to abortion, free child care, marriage rights,…

A Brief History On August 26, 1968, the Democratic Party began their National Convention in Chicago at a time of great unrest in the United States.  Between national angst over the course of changes regarding Civil Rights, race relations and women’s liberation, the divisive nature of the war in Vietnam, and a general activist and non-conformist wave that had swept the young people of America, the situation was ripe for problems, and problems they had! Digging Deeper A couple of other Democratic National Conventions likewise rank as embarrassments to the Democratic Party, and here we tell you a bit about…

A Brief History On August 25, 1945, American Army Intelligence officer, Captain John Birch, was killed by communist revolutionaries in China a mere 10 days after the end of World War II.  Birch is seen by many, especially hard corps right wing anti-communists, as the first martyr or victim of the Cold War between the totalitarian communist states and the democratic capitalistic nations (largely East vs. West). Digging Deeper Birch was the son of Christian missionaries and was born in India in 1918.  Highly intelligent, hard working, and a dedicated patriot, Birch graduated Magna cum laude from Mercer University in…

A Brief History On August 24, 1949, one of the most significant military alliances of modern times went into effect as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization became a Cold War reality.  Spearheaded by the United States as a coalition against possible invasion of European countries by the Soviet Union, our former ally during World War II, this Western alliance included 12 original countries pledging mutual support in the event of a Soviet or other attack. Today, the number of participating nations has ballooned to 28, including historical enemies such as Greece and Turkey and many former Soviet Bloc Eastern European…

A Brief History We previously told you about the AC-130 Spectre, the highest evolution of the cargo plane converted to gunship, in use from Viet Nam through today.  Here we look at ground attack aircraft throughout history and list what may be 10 of the greatest examples of that type of airplane.  The order listed is roughly our idea of “best,” although that is quite subjective and open for debate.  Please feel free to make the case for your favorite ground attack plane and the order you would list these fearsome aircraft. (Honorable mention to the Hawker Siddley, later McDonnel-Douglas, AV-8…