Salem-News.com Honor articles Page 21

The Ordinary Man that Rwanda would like to silence

A hero does not blink in the face of danger; he looks it in the eyes and faces down the challenge. Paul Rusesabagina did this in 1994 and continues to do so today.

(WASHINGTON D.C.) - Paul Rusesabagina received the prestigious Lantos Foundation Humanitarian Medal of Honor for his heroic actions during the 1994 Rwandan Genocide.

He kept over 1,200 Tutsi and moderate Hutus from being brutally slaughtered by the Interahamwe who murdered over 800,000 others in just 90 days.

Former Sri Lankan President Talks Peace

One "major mistake" that exacerbated identity politics was the now-defunct Sinhala Only Act

(CAMBRIDGE, Mass.) - Chandrika Kumaratunga, the former president of Sri Lanka, painted a sobering picture of an island nation recovering from civil war during a talk at CGIS yesterday.

Kumaratunga, who led Sri Lanka from 1994 to 2005, described her administration’s unsuccessful attempts to resolve through peaceful negotiations the long-standing conflict between Sri Lanka’s majority Sinhalese and minority Tamil populations.

Sri Lanka`s Savage Smokescreen

More lies, more covering up...

(COLOMBO) - Sri Lanka's former attorney general Mohan Peiris, who is now the senior legal adviser to the cabinet and who many Sri Lankans say is aiming to become the next Supreme Court Chief Justice, has made conflicting statements about missing journalist Prageeth Eknelygoda.

The discrepancies do more than point up the government's indifference to Eknelygoda's fate and the mental anguish of his wife and two sons. Peiris's statements highlight the disregard with which the government views international opinion.

People of Faith

Man is not the voice of God: God is neutral; Evangelicals are not who would reject the First Amendment if we let them.

(PASO ROBLES, Calif.) - Herman Cain has said he prayed fervently to God asking if he should seek the nomination of the Republican Party of God, and God answered by him telling him, as a man of faith, just what he wanted to hear.

Rick Perry is also a man of faith the value of which has been sorely tested when in debates God seems to have let him down.

Sri Lanka`s Fear Psychosis

Sri Lankans across the board, renowned for their friendly smiles and easy ways are too afraid to speak...

(COLOMBO Sunday Leader) - This newspaper paid the ultimate price –the target for assault, burning, victimization and suppression of free expression by successive governments, culminating in cold-blooded murder.

A Norwegian journalist Correspondent for Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation sat across from me in my office last Tuesday. Norwegian Broadcasting is state owned and the largest media organization in Norway, BUT with absolutely no interference in editorial content.

LTTE leaders tried to surrender through Basil, says Norway

The report discloses hitherto unknown details on the backroom negotiations that took place as the noose tightened around the LTTE during the last days of the war.

(COLOMBO Sunday Times) - An evaluation report by Norway of its peace efforts in Sri Lanka between 1997 and 2009 has named presidential advisor and Minister Basil Rajapaksa as the person through whom the LTTE leadership tried to negotiate a last-minute surrender deal.

This reportedly happened shortly before the entire hierarchy of the group was killed in May, 2009.

CAIR: Tenn. Legislator Says Remove All Muslims From Military

Muslim civil rights group asks Tennessee General Assembly to rebuke Rick Womick for 'un-American' remarks.

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - A prominent national Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization today called on the Tennessee General Assembly to formally rebuke one of its members who yesterday –- Veterans Day –- called for the removal of all Muslims serving in the military.

The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said Republican State Rep. Rick Womick made those "un-American" remarks at an "anti-Sharia" conference yesterday at which another speaker said American Mosques should not have First Amendment protections and have no right to exist.

Veterans . . . a Debt Owed!

Veterans include those who have served and those who are serving.

(HARRISVILLE, N.H.) - To me, the perfect way to understand what our country owes to our veterans is to visit the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall. This monument was designed not to be a memorial to the Viet Nam War but to the men and women who served there.

Corporate / Private-Interest Cabal Robbing Revenues by Malign Manipulative Massage of Elected Legislators

Simplified situations set up dollar-denominated deals; electees overshadowed by corporate and private workers.

(SEASIDE, Ore.) - Famously, the true spirit of the First American Revolution was NOT anti-tax, but taxation without representation. It was clearly unwarranted tax imposition for the British tea monopoly that set off the passionate actions of our Founders.

That it led to inevitable and final destruction of British Empire control and economic conquest in a new continent was one remarkable consequence, not entirely unforeseen.

Garrett McNamara Sets New World Record for Largest Wave Ever Surfed

Recognized as one of the top elite big wave paddle surfers and towsurfers in the world today, G-Mac is known for many things in surfing.

(SALEM, Ore.) - Garrett McNamara has set a new world record for the largest wave ever surfed.