Headline Of The Day

Whoa. The Guardian reports:

A secret document, published in declassified form for the first time by the Guardian today, reveals that the US Air Force came dramatically close to detonating an atom bomb over North Carolina that would have been 260 times more powerful than the device that devastated Hiroshima.

The document, obtained by the investigative journalist Eric Schlosser under the Freedom of Information Act, gives the first conclusive evidence that the US was narrowly spared a disaster of monumental proportions when two Mark 39 hydrogen bombs were accidentally dropped over Goldsboro, North Carolina on 23 January 1961. The bombs fell to earth after a B-52 bomber broke up in mid-air, and one of the devices behaved precisely as a nuclear weapon was designed to behave in warfare: its parachute opened, its trigger mechanisms engaged, and only one low-voltage switch prevented untold carnage.

Each bomb carried a payload of 4 megatons – the equivalent of 4 million tons of TNT explosive. Had the device detonated, lethal fallout could have been deposited over Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia and as far north as New York city – putting millions of lives at risk.

Only one of the four safety mechanisms operated properly and prevented detonation, according to the report. At the time of the incident I was barely a year old and we lived quite close to Goldsboro, so at least it would have been quick.

George McGovern Dies At 90

Liberal icon George McGovern has died in his home state of South Dakota at the age of 90.  McGovern is perhaps best remembered for his vehement opposition to the Vietnam War.

A three-term U.S. senator from South Dakota, McGovern won the Democratic presidential nomination in 1972. His hard-fought campaign against Nixon and the war in Southeast Asia attracted millions of angry, anti-Establishment voters, including women and minorities, long-haired students and buttoned-down idealists.  He chose Sen. Thomas Eagleton of Missouri to be his vice presidential running mate without knowing that Eagleton had a history of depression. When the revelation caused criticism, McGovern dumped him, only to end up looking fickle. He also fell victim to some of the transgressions of Watergate, the scandal that ultimately forced Nixon to resign. But public outrage came too late, and McGovern suffered one of the biggest defeats in U.S. history. His campaign left a significant legacy, including his proposals, since fulfilled, that women be appointed to the Supreme Court and nominated for the vice presidency. He inspired scores of budding politicians: Bill Clinton was his Texas coordinator before becoming governor of Arkansas, then president. Gary Hart was his campaign manager before becoming a senator from Colorado, then a candidate for the White House.

Ancestry.com Claim: President Obama Has Slave Ancestry On His White Mother's Side

The Mormon Church-affiliated genealogy site Ancestry.com today made the claim that they have traced President Obama's ancestry back to the very first documented slave in what would become the United States. That's fascinating on its face, but the more interesting wrinkle here is that the connection is made through Obama's white mother.

Research derived by Ancestry.com from early Virginia records and DNA analysis shows Obama is the 11th great-grandson of John Punch, an indentured servant in Colonial Virginia who became enslaved for life after trying to escape in 1640, according to the website. [snip] Ancestry.com genealogists researched Obama's mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, and discovered her land-owner ancestors descended from Punch. According to the site, Punch had children with a white woman who passed her free status to her children, who went on to become successful land owners in Colonial Virginia.

"Two of the most historically significant African Americans in the history of our country are amazingly directly related," said Ancestry.com genealogist Joseph Shumway in a statement. "John Punch was more than likely the genesis of legalized slavery in America. But after centuries of suffering, the Civil War, and decades of civil rights efforts, his 11th great-grandson became the leader of the free world and the ultimate realization of the American Dream."

The website has posted an illustrated family tree (PDF).

American History With Kirk Cameron

He's clearly studied with David Barton.

Betty Bowers: Histories Of America

The Decade From Hell

Dubya, 9/11, Iraq, Afghanistan, Katrina, Wall Street. TIME Magazine gets it right when they call the aughties "the decade from hell."

Bookended by 9/11 at the start and a financial wipeout at the end, the first 10 years of this century will very likely go down as the most dispiriting and disillusioning decade Americans have lived through in the post–World War II era. We're still weeks away from the end of '09, but it's not too early to pass judgment. Call it the Decade from Hell, or the Reckoning, or the Decade of Broken Dreams, or the Lost Decade. Call it whatever you want — just give thanks that it is nearly over. Calling the 2000s "the worst" may seem an overwrought label in a decade in which we fought no major wars, in historical terms. It is a sadly appropriate term for the families of the thousands of 9/11 victims and soldiers and others killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. But the lack of a large-scale armed conflict makes these past 10 years stand out that much more. This decade was as awful as any peacetime decade in the nation's entire history. Between the West's ongoing struggle against radical Islam and our recent near-death economic experience — trends that have largely skirted much of the developing world — it's no wonder we feel as if we've been through a 10-year gauntlet. Americans may have the darkest view of recent history, since it's in the U.S. that the effects of those trends have been most acute. If you live in Brazil or China, you have had a pretty good decade economically. Once, we were the sunniest and most optimistic of nations. No longer.

On the gay side of the decade, it was a mixed bag. We gained marriage rights in seven states, but then lost them in two. In 31 states bigoted bans on same-sex marriage were passed, but a handful of states enacted some other recognition of gay relationships. Hate crimes legislation was finally passed, but other critical LGBT rights issues remain mired. Gay people have never been more visible, but our enemies have never been more emboldened.

We must all work together to ensure that 2010 ushers in a decade where complete civil equality for LGBT people exists at every level of government. Can you imagine the day when we can finally retire the entire LGBT civil rights movement? Dare we dream of a life without opinion polls, ballot drives, fundraising, and election night gut-clenching? Could the next decade be the one in which we can happily ignore the hatred of the Christian right and the vile actions of the likes of Maggie Gallagher, Tony Perkins, James Dobson, and Peter LaBarbera? I think it's doable. It's going to get even uglier, I fear, before it gets much better. But I also think there's a very good chance that ten years from now, we here on this here website thingy might look back with fondness and pride on "the Gay Decade." Make it so.

Happy 233rd Fourth!

U.S. Senate Apologizes For Slavery...

...for the first time ever.