“I really found my faith when I heard that the government was opposed to the film (Close Encounters of the Third Kind) . If NASA took the time to write me a 20-page letter, then I knew there must be something happening. I had wanted cooperation from them, but when they read the script, they got very angry and felt that it was a film that would be dangerous.”- Steven Spielberg on Close Encounters of the Third Kind

For more than 60 years now, U.S. government officials have been telling us that UFO’s and aliens are the result of overworked imaginations because, after all, these sightings are nothing more than weather balloons, flocks of geese and/or swamp gas. I really have to ask then, “Why would they be so afraid of Spielberg’s film, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, if there was nothing to this but a giant hoax? Why all the hide and dagger crap if there’s nothing to it? ” That’s what I would like to know!

Spielberg’s movie came out a few months after Jimmy Carter took office as President of the United States. This was not a “Oh my God, the aliens are coming to eat us” kind of alien film. It was, in fact, probably the first which portrayed the aliens as nice folks. The aliens were not seen as monsters. They didn’t have fangs that dripped blood, and they didn’t want to eat us. They were shown to be the “Grey Aliens” that the Alien-Abductee describes has the ones who “pull” them through the walls of the houses for shocking sexual experiments (how that is a benign I cannot begin to guess).

The movie most certainly had an interesting premise but I idea it was rather a bore. I have seen it only about a gazillion times and still think it isn’t really that satisfactory. The film was successful but not reviewed well at all. It made about 70 million dollars, but to call it dangerous? I think not.

It is rumored that Carter had a screening of Close Encounters. There is, however, no record of this. That doesn’t mean that it is true and could mean that the fact that Carter saw the movie was kept out of public records. This would not have been the first time such an omission was made.

For reasons I can only guess, it is alleged that NASA and some within Carter’s administration did not want the film to be released. Spielberg is quoted as saying that there were attempts to block the release of the film.

The most likely reason I would guess is that Spielberg is right, “…then I knew something must be happening.” The government was mad because Spielberg might have been a little too close to the reality of the Federal Government’s more than 60 year cover-up of the initial and ongoing contact with beings from other worlds. I mean, really! Contemplate about how the movie and television industry would be the absolutely perfect medium through which to start a desensitizing process of the American public to the eventual and long overdue disclosure that our elected leaders have been in cahoots with interstellar travelers.

Friend or Foe

In most of the literature I’ve read for writing this book, it is estimated that about sixty percent of the American people not only accept the very staunch probability of life on other planets in the universe, but accept the likelihood that some of it is luminous life suited of sitting down and having a chat over coffee and sweet rolls. I think that if a plot was hatched to introduce this reality through Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Star Wars, or whatever, then it was not only a good location but I think it worked.

I maintain some portion of the American public, for example Arkansas Ozark Hillbillies, would have a puny trouble. The reason is they regard anyone who does not live in their mountain hideouts as one of their kind as aliens threatening an invasion. The rest of America I really consider could take the truth.

The only issue I would have is that, for the sake of argument, we cannot assume that each and every planet full of space faring aliens would by definition be nice. I almost hesitate to bring this up, but there was a sci-fi television mini-series from the 80’s called “V” that presented the alien issue in a malevolent light. These aliens landed on earth looking like humans but were in reality reptilians or Reptoids and had a distinct liking to how we humans tasted as food. We were to them a source of food. I deem most whom I know would choose offense at that kind of alien contact. But, I have to ask, just how would we determine this when meeting recent aliens? What means would we use in making the determination whether they are coming in peace or coming to get a allotment of us? I’ve been thinking about this each time I go into our town’s fast-food chicken house and order a leg and a breast.

Why Fear Disclosure?

Philip Corso in his book, The Day After Roswell, makes the point that the ET’s or EBE’s know that what the American government fears most is disclosure. And, just why is that? You’ve got to wonder if the one scenario I’ve presented in this book is accurate, why would they be skittish of telling the truth to the American people?

Scenario One

Something very strange happened in Roswell. Not only did a spacecraft from another planet shatter but we recovered several bodies of the inhabitant of said planet. We are distinct sorry these little aliens died but hey, that’s what happens when playing chase in a New Mexico thunderstorm at thirty thousand feet in the air. So, we took what we found and studied it and tried incorporating the alien technology we could understand into our society. The stuff we were too slow to comprehend we buried in some basement somewhere and we’ve forgotten it.

If the Feds were to earn an announcement tomorrow that this is what happened and they kept it from us because they understanding we would have a “the aliens are coming” hissy fit and do things like go live in a cave somewhere and never go to work again, then I believe this could be forgiven. Corso hints of this in stating that Orson Welles’ radio program sent most of America into a stark-raving fear when he aired War of the Worlds. The only thing the Feds had to judge as to what the public would do in the event of contact is a sci-fi radio program in which everyone fell apart at their emotional seams. I get that; But, to mask all of this up for that reason for more than 60 years? I smell something most foul.

Scenario Two

This scenario follows Scenario One with a immense big difference: the story didn’t kill with the recovery of bodies and a spacecraft. It continued with additional contacts with aliens being made and some sort of agreement reached with some aliens that may or may not be a bunch of nice folks. Some say that the Greada Treaty was made because the President knew that had he balked, the grays were so technologically advanced to take what they wanted regardless of our permission and since they would anyway he might as well derive something in return-technology from the stars. Others say that the Nordic Aliens would have intervened and prevented the ravaging of our planet by the grays so the runt gray aliens agreed to the treaty’s terms for scare of a war in space with the Nordics.

It seems to me that it is Scenario Two that the government would fear being disclosed. Honest imagine if it was disclosed that it was “agreed” that these gray aliens could take Americans in a much unsolicited come-hither manner and take from us our eggs and sperm for whatever purpose the grays wanted? Would we not chase down our government officials and hang them in the streets? Try as I may, I cannot come up with a reason why the government would keep a cover-up going under Scenario One.

For the sake of argument, another possibility is that Eisenhower did not feel the earth to be threatened by the grays and that they didn’t have evil designs on us. The only inappropriate was that Eisenhower wanted advanced technology from the Nordics, those with whom he wanted to talk turkey, but they would not trade technology to make weapons. And, the Nordics demanded as terms of a treaty for our nukes to be scrapped. On the other hand, the grays would do business and that was the attraction to the grays: weapons technology traded for the grays abducting us on a regular basis.

An even more bizarre twist is that in order to justify what the government has done, sold us down the river, that they are going about pretending to be aliens and kidnapping humans and torturing them a bit. This is to try and plant the idea that the grays were evil little bastards. So that when disclosure finally occurs, they can point to the grays as the base ones and we had to support this enemy from the public all these years until we got enough technology to combat the three-foot high monsters.

Whatever the case may be, it seems to me that they cannot hold to Scenario One as the explanation for a Roswell cover-up, or, for that matter, all the pre-Roswell or all the post-Roswell contact with alien beings.

Scenario Three

Another twist is that were the general public to find out that not only did an alien-manned spacecraft crash land in Roswell and there have been possibly more craft-alien recoveries before and after the Roswell event, and that reverse engineering worked and we have their technology, then just why hasn’t the Feds anted up on this? What’s even more diabolical is the question that if this technology could solve the presently dangerous global warming problem by offering alternatives to fossil fuels, then why hasn’t this been done? Why hasn’t the government offered up something that could be the world’s salvation that would end overnight our dependence on that which is destroying us? In a word: oil! The discovery of alternative fuel systems or alternative propulsion would end oil profits almost instantly.

Actually, I could think of more words: money, power, control over lives, nation’s economies, political rule, etc. This is has got to be at least one valid motive for cover-up. I find this scenario more believable than scenario one. Were the government to fess up and offer the alternatives to oil fuels, things would change pretty dramatically and rapidly on planet earth. Certainly this has to be one of the reasons for non-disclosure, if not the major one.

SOURCES:

Disclosure : Military and Government Witnesses Reveal the Greatest Secrets in Modern History by Steven M. Greer

Alien Agenda: Investigating the Extraterrestrial Presence Among Us by Jim Marrs Harper Paperbacks

Introduction

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., incorporated in 1969, operates retail stores in various formats around the world. It organizes its business into three segments: Wal-Mart Stores, SAM’S CLUB, and International. The Wal-Mart Stores segment is the largest segment of the Company’s business, accounting for 68% of sales during the year ending January 31, 2004 (FY2004). This segment consists of three different retail formats, all of which operate in the United States, and includes Discount Stores, which offer a variety of general merchandise and a limited variety of food products; Supercenters, which offer a variety of general merchandise and a full-line supermarket, and Neighborhood Markets, which offer a full-line supermarket and a limited variety of general merchandise. The SAM’S CLUB segment consists of membership warehouse clubs, and accounts for 13.5% of fiscal 2004 sales. The International segment consists of retail operations in eight countries and Puerto Rico, and generated 18.5% of the Company’s fiscal 2004 sales. The International segment includes several different formats of retail stores and restaurants, including Discount Stores, Supercenters and SAM’S CLUBs that operate outside the United States. Additionally, the Company owns an unconsolidated 37.8% minority interest in The Seiyu, Ltd., a retailer in Japan.

As of January 31, 2004, the Company operated 1,478 Discount Stores, 1,471 Supercenters, 538 SAM’S CLUBs and 64 Neighborhood Markets in the United States. Internationally, the Company operated 11 units in Argentina, 25 in Brazil, 235 in Canada, 92 in Germany, 15 in South Korea, 623 in Mexico, 53 in Puerto Rico and 267 in the United Kingdom. It also operates through joint ventures in 24 locations in China. Additionally, the Company holds a 37.8% interest in Seiyu, a Japanese retail chain, which operates approximately 400 stores throughout Japan. Subsequent to fiscal year-end 2004, in February 2004, the Company completed its purchase of Bompreco S.A. Supermercados do Nordeste, a supermarket chain in northern Brazil with 118 hypermarkets, supermarkets and mini markets.

External Environment

General

The retail industry until the 1980s was very fragmented with great product groupings such as dry goods, groceries, electronics, and sporting goods often having their own specialized outlets.

Economic: On the national home front, our economy is on an upswing. However, some of the small rural areas are still experiencing poor economic conditions. This is of special anxiety to Wal-Mart because Wal-Mart locates stores in rural areas, with populations of 50,000 or less. Wal-Mart thrives even in times of recession because people want to build money, but unruffled need the essentials for which Wal-Mart is known.

Political-regulatory: The political-regulatory environment is very dynamic both domestically and globally.

1. The climb in oil prices continues to hurt businesses and consumers. Many countries across the globe have recently completed or are waiting for legislation to be completed that will regulate unstable oil prices and promote black economic empowerment (www.walmartstores.com).

2. The war in Iraq continues to affect the United States relationships with other countries. Many of these relationships have been strained by conflicts regarding war participation. This in turn affects the international marketplace because strained government relationships can get the process to enter a foreign market more difficult.

3. Wal-Mart management must fully understand the regulations of the country it is entering. This topic crosses over with that of global changes, which are discussed below.

4. The past 20 years have seen a great deal of labor legislation in countries all over the world. This legislation requires a variety of responses from economic sectors on issues such as employment equity, skills development and diversity. Protection barriers are falling, regional trade blocks are emerging, and multilateralism is on the rise.

Technological: The main technological issue that is currently impacting the retail industry is consumer behavior on the internet. The internet is changing the way the world conducts business, for business owners and consumers. It offers new opportunities for selection and convenience, never before available to most people. As more consumers turn to online shopping, e-retailers are striving for improved shopping environment. There are many advances in this direction, including surround video, 3-D images, and VR technology in online stores. These applications are often the most visited features of some online stores, reflecting the shoppers’ strong interest. These features improve the shopping experience for shoppers who crave the atmosphere of the physical store, and who depend on something more tangible to look at while comparison shopping. While this industry is very technical, one thing that has not, and will not ever change is that consumers want and demand superb customer service. The companies that understand how to offer this on the Web are those that are succeeding today.

Another novel technology vow in the retail industry is business process innovation. Flexible, inaugurate standards-based systems provide retailers with a competitive advantage that can improve productivity, differentiate the shopping experience and increase profitability. Some examples of these information technology modernizations follow:

· Radio frequency identification (RFID) and electronic product code (EPC) identification systems help retailers register and track movement of goods from the warehouse to the store shelf.

· Extended point-of-sale (ePOS) solutions provide transaction terminals that switch between checkout and customer service, enabling employees to manage distributed data.

· Radiant inventory management (IIM) enables real-time visibility into inventories and throughout the supply chain so retailers can make smart decisions faster.

Global changes: A study conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers examined new retail and consumer group patterns in transitional economies. The study assessed growth opportunities in fourteen countries: China, India, Turkey, Thailand, Malaysia, Hungary, South Korea, Poland, Romania, Czech Republic, Singapore, Slovenia, Russia and Indonesia. The study found that transitional economies across the globe offer varying degrees of challenge and opportunity for investors (PricewaterhousCoopers Website, 2004).

The most immediate opportunities in the retail and consumer sector are in China. China is the biggest consumer market in the world. National and regional brands are still strong there. Multinationals need to adapt their products and marketing to the Chinese consumer. The Chinese government will play an important role in creating an environment conducive to long-term and economic development.

India offers more long-term potential for investors. Consumer goods companies have already successfully established themselves in India. Foreign retail and wholesale investment is currently restricted to cash and carry, and e-commerce. India’s superior capabilities in IT will expedite development in modern retailing space. The new government is developing policies to abet improve the lifestyles of its 300 million people.

Turkey, Thailand, Malaysia and Hungary are considered investment havens that offer general opportunities for development in the short or long run. Turkey has a young and growing population, which makes it an obvious target for retail companies. The Turkish economy is undergoing a major modernization. Regulatory constraints are still an issue in Thailand, but there is potential for development. Increasing consumer demand and the existence of a middle-class make Malaysia a good investment opportunity. Malaysia also has a young and growing population, low unemployment and a growing retail sector. Hungary has a fast maturing retail and consumer market, but there are still opportunities for investment for hypermarkets, convenience stores and specialized outlets.

Niche opportunities exist in South Korea, Poland, Romania, Czech Republic, Singapore and Slovenia despite being already saturated for their market size. Singapore and Slovenia’s prosperous populations make them good targets for niche opportunities. Romania currently has limitations on property and land acquisitions, skilled staff and management, which makes it a better destination for small, targeted retail opportunities.

Investors should be cautious and view Russia and Indonesia as long-term investment options. Russia is a potentially huge mass consumer market with one of the highest current world growth rates. However, it has fragile economic, political and social framework. Decisions made by Indonesia’s government will have a big impact on the country’s development in the long race. The changing political and regulatory environment is stunting the development for foreign companies.

Three major trends emerged from the assessment:

· Price sensitivity is having a significant impact on brand management and the development of private price.

· Expansion from the saturated major cities into microscopic, regional cities.

· The development of “shopping-tainment” – shopping centers with alls and the creation of adjacent leisure activities.

Demographic: The population in the United States is aging. People are living longer, and older people are becoming more technologically savvy than ever before. This affects product offerings, marketing strategies, and presents both novel problems and new opportunities for almost every industry.

Industry

In the last two decades Wal-Mart has lead a revolution that has changed the industry. Now, most of those separate commodities are under a single roof and at discount prices. After the creation of the first hub and spoke (a single distribution center serving 15 to 20 stores) model in 1970 expansion was simple replication, therefore little opportunity exists to economize through learning. It was by building the logistics needed to attend the many rural locations that Wal-Mart positioned itself to be able to buy in never before heard of quantities.

Although retail deals in commodity goods that are easily substituted, such substitutions are usually made from a selection on the retailer’s shelf. Buyers in North America do very slight barging, a practice quite different from many other cultures. (It will be interesting to see how Wal-Mart will elegant as it enters the Egyptian market.) The aforementioned competitors have the same process in place of trying to wring the lowest price possible from their suppliers. Indeed, Wal-Mart’s abusive treatment of their suppliers has taken on legendary status.

Other retail stores such as Target, K-Mart, and Dollar General have successfully differentiated themselves in the retail market through their choice of product lines. Although avoiding direct competition with many of the “category killers” retailers such as Best Buy, Staples and Home Depot within their major product lines, Wal-Mart does lose some sales of ancillary products in those lines that overlap. Because of the cost of entry to accomplish the stores as well the distribution capabilities, there is little threat of new entrants successfully mimicking the industry standard and making significant inroads into the total market.

Perhaps the most likely threat Wal-Mart and other mass retailers will face is the supplier himself or herself! As Chuck Martin (1997) describes it:

In an inter-networked world, consumers browse, shop, and occupy in new ways. The walking-the-isle experience is supplemented or supplanted by surfing through thousands of aisles at high speed. In this environment, with digital money and unlimited product selection, consumers gain companies competing among themselves and directly with manufactures and suppliers. When consumers feel that a company on the Net serves them, they return.

As the manufactures become more attuned to the power of the Internet and the maturity of the light package delivery services, their desire to tolerate the narrow margins or the retailers will weaken. Certainly one would not expect a manufacture to conduct such a shift overnight, nor will all the commodities shift at the same time, but the aggregate sum of individual shifts might well be felt very soon. Indeed, vendor relations might well become Wal-Mart’s next big challenge. There is a growing speculation that the Internet might well change the manufacturer to consumer channel just as significantly and just as rapidly as Wal-Mart’s entry into the regional markets did. The company might want to devise a strategic plan that addresses the harsh reputation perceived by the supply channel.

Major Competitors The major competitors of Wal-Mart include Costco, Target Corp., and K-Mart. Wal-Mart leads the industry and sector in market cap, employees, revenue, EBITDA, net income, and earnings per share. Target and Costco have surpassed Wal-Mart in Revenue Growth by quite a margin. Target also leads Wal-Mart in bad margin. K-Mart has shown a decline over the past years and is dropping out of the major competitor category.

Assessment of External Environment

Opportunities

1. Weaknesses of major competitors

2. Ability to continue expansion and dominance across industries

3. Entrance into other markets through horizontal diversification

There are plenty of opportunities that Wal-Mart can tap into. Obviously, this “model retailer” has successfully found many weaknesses of their competition and has effectively improved Wal-Mart’s market share by doing so. The industry giant continues add services to their offerings such as automotive, gasoline, depart, and in some places financial services. This diversification tactic extends Wal-Mart’s fingers into a variety of markets, making it very possible for them to become the dominant force across all retail categories.

Threats

The top three threats to Wal-Mart are:

1. “Category Killers” such as Toys R Us and Office Max,

2. Waning image, and

3. Retail innovations, particularly internet.

Toys “R” Us considered exiting the toy business because of competition from Wal-Mart. Toys “R” Us pioneered the “category killer” concept that’s now employed by other specialty stores like Best Buy, Home Depot and Bed, Bath & Beyond. The notion of specialty stores that cater to a particular product segment has become a staple of the U.S. economy, but Wal-Mart continues to counter the category killers by meeting their competition head-on.

The Arkansas-based Wal-Mart again tops the list as the nation’s largest retailer with 2003 sales of $258.68 billion, an 11.7 percent increase over the previous year. According to some analysts, Wal-Mart once thought of as a role model for retailers, has become “Public Enemy No. 1″ within and outside the industry. Wal-Mart may need to rethink its strategy regarding image.

Perhaps the need to actually step foot into a supercenter or Wal-Mart store will decline because of the improvements in security and internet availability. This would leave stores potentially empty and form the need for Wal-Mart to unload an elephant building.

Other threats that may affect Wal-Mart include:

1. Foreign currency exchange rates

2. Costs including goods and energy

3. Inflation

4. Governmental costs

5. Trade restrictions

6. Changes in tariffs and trade rates

7. Economic variables such as employment rates
Internal EnvironmentCompany profileHistory: Wal-Mart is without question the most powerful force in retailing. Known for their incredibly low prices, nationwide outlets, and convenient hours Wal-Mart has re-wrote the book on how to dominate the retailing sector. Wal-Mart has become somewhat of an American icon and is considered by many to be the most admired company in America, as selected by Fortune magazine in.The Wal-Mart success epic began with a humble beginning in 1962 when brothers Sam and Bud Walton opened their first Wal-Mart store in Rogers, Arkansas. Over the next 5 years Wal-Mart opened another 23 stores as they began to venture outside of Arkansas to Missouri and Oklahoma, which led to their incorporating in October 1969.In 1970, Wal-Mart began to capitalize upon successes and opened their first distribution center; which would prove to be one of the keys to their future success and explosive growth. This same year Wal-Mart’s stock was first publicly traded on the over the counter (OTC) stock market, commonly referred to as the “Penny Stock Market” since many of the equities that trade on the OTC market have a share price of less than $1. By 1972 Wal-Mart had opened 38 stores in 5 states and was selected to move its stock from the OTC market to the New York Stock Exchange, commonly referred to as the “Big Board”. Before the decade was out Wal-Mart would have 276 stores in 11 states and be the fastest company to ever reach over a $1 billion in sales with $1.248 billion in sales and 21,000 associates.Growth continued in the 1980s as Wal-Mart expanded its distribution center network opening its largest distribution center to date in Palestine, Texas and as it began to take over the retailing market share from veteran giants such as K-Mart. In 1983 Wal-Mart opened its first SAM’S CLUB in Midwest Oklahoma to cater to businesses and those who wanted greater savings in return for making bulk purchases, a key to Wal-Mart’s have success. In 1988 Wal-Mart used this same principle upon opening their first Supercenter. To foster the little “hometown America feel” that Wal-Mart sought they implemented the “People Greeter” in all stores which is a practice that still exists today. To facilitate the vital flow of information around an increasingly large company in 1987 Wal-Mart completed the Wal-Mart Satellite Network, the largest private satellite communications system in the United States, providing 2-way voice, data and one contrivance video. By the slay of the 1980s Wal-Mart’s stock split 8 times, had 16 distribution centers in operation, and was operating in 26 states.In 1990 Wal-Mart became the nation’s Number 1 retailer and continued to grow. On April 5^th Co-founder and legendary leader of Wal-Mart, Sam Walton passed away. With achieving their first billion-dollar sales week, domestic growth maturing, Wal-Marts in all but 5 states, Wal-Mart International was formed in 1993 to explore international opportunities for growth. By the end of the 1990s Wal-Mart would had entered all 50 states, had over 1,140,000 employees, making it the largest private employer in the world with nearly 1 in every 250 Americans being a Wal-Mart employee. Wal-Mart’s stock split a total of 11 times and it had stores in 7 countries.With the arrival of new decade Wal-Mart has continued to do what it does best, grow. In 2002 Wal-Mart had its biggest 1 day of sales in history, reaching $1.43 billion on the eve of Thanksgiving. Today, Wal-Mart operates 1,478 customary Wal-Mart stores, 1,471 Supercenter, 538 SAM’ CLUB’S and 64 Neighborhood markets in the United States, Internationally, the Company operates 11 stores in Argentina, 25 in Brazil, 235 in Canada, 92 in Germany, 15 in South Korea, 623 in Mexico 53 in Puerto Rico and 267 in Britain. Wal-Mart also operates through a joint venture in 24 stores in China and owns a 37.8% interest in Seiyu, a Japanese retail chain, which operates approximately 400 stores throughout Japan.Employment:As of 2004, Wal-Mart employed over 1.5 million associates worldwide. Corporate headquarters for Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. are located in Bentonville, Arkansas. Wal-Mart operates 1,478 obsolete Wal-Mart stores, 1,471 Supercenter, 538 SAM’ CLUB’S and 64 Neighborhood markets in the United States, Internationally, the Company operates 11 stores in Argentina, 25 in Brazil, 235 in Canada, 92 in Germany, 15 in South Korea, 623 in Mexico 53 in Puerto Rico and 267 in Britain. Wal-Mart also operates through a joint venture in 24 stores in China and owns a 37.8% interest in Seiyu, a Japanese retail chain, which operates approximately 400 stores throughout Japan. Output/Product lines:

1. Wal-Mart Stores:The Company operates Wal-Mart Discount Stores in all 50 states, Supercenters in 45 states and Neighborhood Markets in 12 states. Discount Stores range in size from 30,000 square feet to 220,000 square feet, with an average size of approximately 98,000 square feet. Supercenters range in size from 100,000 square feet to 261,000 square feet, with an average size of approximately 187,000 square feet. Neighborhood Market stores range in size from 38,000 square feet to 55,000 square feet, with an average size of approximately 43,000 square feet. Customers can also access a broad assortment of merchandise and services on-line through the Internet at www.walmart.com.Wal-Mart discount stores and the general merchandise space of Supercenters carry apparel for women, girls, men, boys and infants, domestics, fabrics, stationery and books, shoes, house wares, hardware, electronics, home furnishings, small appliances, automotive accessories, horticulture and accessories, sporting goods, toys, pet food and pet accessories, cameras and supplies, photo processing, health and beauty aids, pharmaceuticals, jewelry and optical products. In addition, the stores offer an assortment of grocery merchandise. The grocery assortment in Supercenters consists of a full line of grocery items including meat, produce, deli, bakery, dairy, frozen foods and dry grocery. Most of the Company’s Discount Stores carry a limited assortment of dry grocery merchandise while a number of larger Discount Stores in some markets carry a broader assortment of grocery items, including perishable items. Neighborhood Markets are generally organized into dry grocery, meat, produce, deli, bakery, dairy, frozen foods, pharmaceuticals, photo processing, health and beauty aids, household chemicals, paper goods, general merchandise and pet supplies. 2. SAM’S CLUB: The Company operates SAM’S CLUBs in 48 states. SAM’S CLUB’s facility sizes generally range between 70,000 and 190,000 square feet, with the average SAM’S CLUB facility being approximately 127,000 square feet. SAM’S CLUBs are membership only, cash-and-carry operations, offering bulk displays of name-brand merchandise, including hard goods, some soft goods, institutional-size grocery items and selected private-label items under the Member’s Heed and Bakers & Chefs brands. Generally, each SAM’S CLUB also carries software, electronics, jewelry, floral, sporting goods, toys, tires, stationery and books. Most Clubs have original departments, including bakery, meat, produce, floral and Sam’s Cafe. Additionally, a significant number of the Company’s Clubs offer photo processing, pharmaceuticals, optical departments and gasoline stations. Limited credit facilities are available, including the SAM’S Philosophize commercial finance program and Business Revolving Credit, available to qualifying business members. The Company also makes a Personal Credit program available to qualifying club members, and accepts the Discover Card in all Clubs. SAM’S CLUB provides to its members a broad assortment of merchandise and services online through the Internet at www.samsclub.com.3. Neighborhood Markets: Neighborhood Markets are generally organized into dry grocery, meat, produce, deli, bakery, dairy, frozen foods, pharmaceuticals, photo processing, health and beauty aids, household chemicals, paper goods, general merchandise and pet supplies.4. International: The International segment is comprised of the Company’s operations through wholly owned subsidiaries in Argentina, Canada, Germany, South Korea, Puerto Rico and the United Kingdom, operations through majority-owned subsidiaries in Brazil and Mexico and operations through joint ventures in China.

Operating formats vary by country, but include Discount Stores in Canada and Puerto Rico; Supercenters in Argentina, Brazil, China, Germany, South Korea, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the United Kingdom; SAM’S CLUBs in Brazil, Canada, China, Mexico, and Puerto Rico; Superamas (customary supermarket), Bodegas (combination discount and grocery store), Suburbias (specialty department store) and Vips (restaurant) in Mexico; Todo Dias (combination discount and grocery store) in Brazil; Neighborhood Markets (traditional supermarkets) in China; ASDA stores (combination grocery and apparel store) and George stores (apparel store) in the United Kingdom, and Amigo supermarkets in Puerto Rico.The merchandising strategy for the International operating segment is similar to that of domestic segments in the breadth and scope of merchandise offered for sale. While brand name merchandise accounts for a majority of sales, several store brands not found in the United States have been developed to help customers in the different markets in which the International segment operates. In addition, steps have been taken to develop relationships with local suppliers in each country to ensure reliable sources of merchandise.Product lines vary by country, but include discount stores in Canada and Puerto Rico; Supercenters in Argentina, Brazil, China, Germany, South Korea, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the United Kingdom; SAM’S CLUBs in Brazil, Canada, China, Mexico, and Puerto Rico; Superamas (traditional supermarket), Bodegas (combination discount and grocery store), Suburbias (specialty department store) and Vips (restaurant) in Mexico; Todo Dias (combination discount and grocery store) in Brazil; Neighborhood Markets (traditional supermarkets) in China; ASDA stores (combination grocery and apparel store) and George stores (apparel store) in the United Kingdom, and Amigo supermarkets in Puerto Rico. The merchandising strategy for the International operating segment is similar to that of domestic segments in the breadth and scope of merchandise offered for sale. While brand name merchandise accounts for a majority of sales, several store brands not found in the United States have been developed to serve customers in the different markets in which the International segment operates. In addition, steps have been taken to develop relationships with local suppliers in each country to ensure generous sources of merchandise.

Organization structure/organizational charts/caliber of personnel:1. Organizational Structure:Wal-Mart’s organization is organized into a divisional structure within the company. The Chairman is S. Robert Walton who is assisted by Vice Chairman Thomas Coughlin. The operational leadership comes from H. Lee Scott, Jr. who serves as Wal-Mart’s President, CEO, and Director. Thomas Schoewe serves as Wal-Mart’s CFO. David Glass provides strategic direction as the Chairman of the Executive Committee and Director. Regional Vive Presidents are each responsible for between 10-15 district managers. The district managers in turn have responsibility for 8 to 12 stores.2. Caliber of Personnel:One of Wal-Mart’s greatest strengths is the caliber of the personnel that it has leading the company. Wal-Mart cultivates a culture of leadership that flows down to their stores. Do not expect to gain a bunch of Harvard MBA’s wearing Rolex watches running the various leadership posts of Wal-Mart instead interrogate to eye senior Wal-Mart leaders who have worked their method up to their region. A review of the 2002 executive team was absent a single member from an “Ivy League” school. What was lacking in Ivy League was made up in experience, with an average of over 20 years experience. The Wal-Mart culture of thriftiness that Sam Walton created and cultivated throughout his life continues from Wal-Mart’s top executives all the way down to the line workers in the store. Analyst Loomis Sayles of Brian James considers their management team to be “one of the deepest management teams I’ve ever experienced” and elaborated to say that “you can go down two or three layers and be impressed”.Market Share:Wal-Mart owns a 55% market share in its sector, with $217.8 billion in 2002 revenues, holds a 10.3% of the U.S. grocery market, and is responsible for 5% of all U.S retail sales. Its closest direct competitors are Target at 17% with $39.9 billion of 2002 revenues and Kmart with 13% with $36.2 billion of 2002 revenue.Sales distribution: a. By Segment in 2002: Wal-Mart-63%, SAM’S CLUBS-13%, International-16%, and other being 8%b. In 2004: Wal-Mart-68%, SAM’S CLUBS-13.5%, International-18.5%. Distribution Methodology:Wal-Mart has built an extensive network of over 51 distribution centers to supply its stores. The distribution system uses a “hub-and spoke” system. This has helped Wal-Mart support its growth in original markets as it expended across the country, predominately in small towns of less than 50,000. The distribution centers, which on average serve 150 stores, are typically less than 200 miles or better referred to as less than a days drive away. This unique system has led to Wal-Mart distributing a higher proportion of goods to its stores and than any of its competition, with 80%. To facilitate this well-oiled machine of distribution Wal-Mart utilizes such methods as bar coded computerized inventory control that feeds the sales into Retail Link, their supply-chain management system, to instantly adjust their order. The result according to Treasurer, Jay Fitzsimmons, is that “we can go a box of Tide from company loading docks to car trunks in three to five days”.Proprietary assets/knowledge:Wal-Mart has takenthe tenements of its founder, Sam Walton, and internalized them into a customer/price conscience corporate culture. While there is no proprietary claim to be had to this knowledge base (indeed they often design the core of literature about the company), their application of the knowledge contaminated puts them in a league of their own.1. Wal-Mart’s Corporate Culture: The retailing sector is somewhat of an open book in so far as any retailer can go into the others stores and see their display, prices, and layout. But the corporate culture that Sam Walton was able to create at Wal-Mart of: Respect for the individual, Service to the customer, and striving for excellence has resulted in Wal-Mart’s established culture being one of its greatest assets.2. Wal-Mart’s Distribution Centers: As described in 6b Wal-Mart’s distribution centers are and continue to be one of the keys to Wal-Mart’s phenomenal success.3. Retail Link: Wal-Mart’s supply chain management system that monitors and control sales forecasts, vendor production planning and delivery, and electronic funds transfer.4. Electronic Data Interchange (EDI): An established close collaboration between Wal-Mart and some of its selected key suppliers where the supplier actually has representatives at Wal-Mart to manage sales and deliveries to Wal-Mart. This practice has grown from 2% in the early 1990s to over 70% by the mid 1990s.5. Wal-Mart’s Satellite Network: Wal-Mart Satellite Network, the largest private satellite communications system in the United States, providing 2-way roar, data, one-way video, inventory control, rapid credit card authorization, and enhanced EDI transmission.Location and age of facilities:Corporate headquarters for Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. are located in Bentonville, Arkansas. Wal-Mart operates 1,478 traditional Wal-Mart stores, 1,471 Supercenters, 538 SAM’ CLUB’S and 64 Neighborhood markets in the United States, Internationally, the Company operates 11 stores in Argentina, 25 in Brazil, 235 in Canada, 92 in Germany, 15 in South Korea, 623 in Mexico 53 in Puerto Rico and 267 in Britain. Wal-Mart also operates through a joint venture in 24 stores in China and owns a 37.8% interest in Seiyu, a Japanese retail chain, which operates approximately 400 stores throughout Japan. The age of each of these facilities varies. Capacity and production: Wal-Mart’s capacity and production would best be gauged by its sales. Sales for the latest quarter were $65.44 billion. Discount Stores range in size from 30,000 square feet to 220,000 square feet, with an average size of approximately 98,000 square feet. Supercenters range in size from 100,000 square feet to 261,000 square feet, with an average size of approximately 187,000 square feet. Neighborhood Market stores range in size from 38,000 square feet to 55,000 square feet, with an average size of approximately 43,000 square feet.Experience: Wal-Mart has operated stores in the United States since 1962 and internationally since 1992. Wal-Mart’s senior management team has a depth of knowledge with the average experience being over 20 years.Quality: Wal-Mart is committed to quality and standing behind the products that it sells. The heart of this concept was embodied in Sam Walton’s Rule # 8 for founding a business, which states: Rule 8
Exceed your customers’ expectations. If you do, they’ll come back over and over. Give them what they want – and a little more. Let them know you bask in them. Make good on all your mistakes, and don’t make excuses – apologize. Stand behind everything you do. The two most famous words I ever wrote were on that first Wal-Mart sign, “Satisfaction Guaranteed.” They’re still up there, and they have made all the difference. (www.walmartstores.com) R&D position: Wal-Mart is continually monitoring operations and looking for a way to do things better. This is not so much a dedicated position or team, but a procedure of life in Wal-Mart’s corporate culture.Raw material cost quality: Wal-Mart ensures that all of their products are made from quality raw materials that will stand up to their “Satisfaction Guaranteed” pledge. In return for the suppliers selling at razor thin margins all of Wal-Mart purchases are in large bulk orders. These low costs often allow Wal-Mart to retail their products at prices lower than many of its competitor’s wholesale prices. Image: Wal-Mart has battled with its image since its growth began to force many of the competing “mom-and-pop” stores out of business as it expanded across the nation. All along Wal-Mart has fought to retain its rural hometown image in tact in spite of the fact that it was growing into one of the largest businesses in the world. Despite these facts and the reality that a number of towns initially fought to keep the industry leader out, Wal-Mart has traditionally arrived and been greeted with unparalleled success by these same towns. Wal-Mart has been careful to foster its image of supporting American workers with programs such as its “Capture American” program that sought to buy products made in the U.S.A. In 2003, Wal-Mart was named the most admired company in America, by Fortune magazine. As of June 22, 2004, Wal-Mart has been named by Federal Judge Martin Jenkins in the largest civil rights class action ever certified, on behalf of over 1.6 million women who have worked at Wal-Mart anywhere in the United States since December 26, 1998. The result of this litigation and its lasting effects on Wal-Mart’s image is yet to be determined. Internal Politics: Wal-Mart has a cohesive management team which blends Sam Walton’s family heritage with his son S. Robertson Walton assuming the role as Chairman and placing David Glass in charge, who has since taken on the role of Chairman of the executive Committee with H. lee Scott, Jr. now having operational control as the company’s President and CEO. Internal Culture and Symbolism: Sam Walton believed in the following “3 Basic Beliefs” that formed his corporate culture:

1. Respect for the Individual

2. Service to Our Customers

3. Strive for Excellence (www.walmartstores.com)

In addition to these core values, Wal-Mart has worked hard to standardize many of the physical features of their stores so that customers across the country could quiz a known standard of quality at any Wal-Mart store in any of the 50 states. This is evidenced by the personal greeters at the front doors, the yellow smiley faces, all the way down to the blue bags at the checkout lines.

Market: Who are the customers and what needs are served?

Wal-Mart serves the entire U.S. population with over 100 million shoppers visiting a Wal-Mart weekly through its retail stores, SAM’S CLUBs and Neighborhood Markets. Internationally Wal-Mart serves customers in 9 countries with a mix of retail products and grocery items. Wal-Mart’s expertise has been in having all products for all people, with a few exceptions such as pornographic material which the company objects to do to social concerns.

Wal-Mart offers many non-food items such as apparel, shoes, household textiles, appliances, toys, games, sporting goods, electronics, music, pharmaceuticals, health and beauty products, stationary, auto supplies, jewelry, candy, office supplies. In addition to these services many Wal-Mart’s also offer optometrist services, auto repairs, hair salons, dry cleaning, photo labs, and banking, and groceries all from under one roof. It is not uncommon for a customer to be able to completely outfit their kids for a new school year, occupy new glasses through their optometrist’s shops, and stock up on a week’s groceries all while having the car’s brake’s fixed at the same time. Nearly everyone shops at Wal-Mart, not to mention the nearly 1 in 250 Americans who are employed there.

Market segmentation:

Wal-Mart markets to the entire population versus a specific marketing niche, strive to be available in all towns, and have adapted the business and stores to accommodate a variety of areas.

Value Chain Analysis

Primary Activities

Manufacturers Negotiate with Wal-Mart Buyers:Since 1992 Wal-Mart has refused to negotiate with Manufacturer’s representatives or agents, and insisted on all negotiations to be held directly with Wal-Mart. This process has allowed Wal-Mart to purchase items at razor thin margins, barley over cost, for the agreement to occupy very large bulk shipments. Wal-Mart is a brutal negotiator as described by one manufacturer, “once you’re ushered into one of the Spartan little buyer’s rooms, expect a steely eye across the table and be prepared to cut your price”. Wal-Mart prevents any one supplier from gaining too much leverage by attempting to limit purchases from any one manufacturer to under 2 ½% of their total purchases.

Orders Generated:Wal-Mart uses its Wal-Mart’s Satellite Network to monitor and automatically adjust its inventory orders as the items bar code is scanned into the company’s computer system. This factors in suppliers data from the company’s Internet based Retail Link system. Wal-Mart uses a 101-terrabyte computer that is constantly monitored by a staff of 1,500 technicians. To facilitate Wal-Mart always being in stock approximately 70% of the company’s vendors have employees working at Wal-Mart to monitor their sales through the companies electronic data interchange (EDI).

Orders Shipped: Orders generate and ship expeditiously and approximately 80% are delivered from Wal-Mart distribution centers. Wal-Mart that has built an extensive network of over 51 distribution centers to supply its stores uses a “hub-and spoke” system. This has helped Wal-Mart support its growth in new markets as it expended across the country, predominately in small towns of less than 50,000. The distribution centers, which on average serve 150 stores, are typically less than 200 miles or better referred to as less than a day’s drive away.

Marketing:Wal-Mart takes advantage of their unique cookie cutter store profile to have a standardized marketing campaign that has often been limited to 1 advertisement per month, per store with some additional television advertising. Wal-Mart has traditionally spent .5% of every sales dollar on advertising versus the 2.5% and 3.5% of Kmart and Sears Roebuck and Company respectively. Their marketing focuses on giving the customer the absolute lowest price with a guarantee on satisfaction. Since the 1980s Wal-Mart has promoted manufacturing in the United States with their “Engage American” program.

Sales:Wal-Mart uses their nation wide network of stores to implement their strategy of being all things to all people by having stores accessible to the nation’s population. Their stores are typically open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. 6 days a week with shorter hours on Sunday, Supercenters and a number of selected traditional stores are start continuously.

Customer Support:Wal-Mart guarantees satisfaction and takes back products with no questions asked.This return policy exemplifies Wal-Mart’s commitment to stand leisurely their merchandise sold and has kept a number of customers who choose Wal-Mart for this very reason as opposed to their competitors, especially Target which has a relatively strict return policy.

Support Activities

Wal-Mart Culture: Sam Walton believed in the following “3 Basic Beliefs” that formed his corporate culture (www.walmartstores.com): 1. Respect for the Individual 2. Service to Our Customers 3. Strive for Excellence

These basic beliefs are the foundation of Wal-Mart’s culture. Engrained with Wal-Mart is the team concept. Each day, Wal-Mart employees start their day off with the Wal-Mart cheer. This team view extends beyond viewing the employees as a company’s workers; Wal-Mart has a deep commitment to achieving buy in from their employees and encourages their ownership in the company through discounted stock purchasing plans. This has led to a number of Wal-Mart employees retiring as millionaires including the first hourly paid employee in 1989. Most stores go so far as to post their stock price in the back room with signs that state: ” TODAY’S STOCK PRICE IS $XX.XX, TOMORROW DEPENDS ON YOU”.

Company’s Current Strategies

Cost Advantage

Wal-Mart focuses its strategy on gaining and maintaining through a cost advantage strategy. Wal-Mart’s bulk shipments and fresh distribution centers has allowed Wal-Mart to be a cost leader. You may like or hate shopping at Wal-Mart, but at the end of the day you walk away with a price that typically beats the competition considerably.

Shift from traditional Wal-Mart Stores to Supercenters

Since 1988 Wal-Mart has slowly but with increasing speed shifted their strategy from the traditional stores to 180,000 square feet plus Supercenters. Since, 2002 Superstores were generating more sales than the frail Wal-Mart discount stores. In 2000, Wal-Mart was predicted to become the nation’s # 1 grocer by 2005. This achievement was realized in 2002.

International Expansion

With domestic markets maturing Wal-Mart is looking overseas for expansion. Internationally, currently Wal-Mart operates 11 stores in Argentina, 25 in Brazil, 235 in Canada, 92 in Germany, 15 in South Korea, 623 in Mexico 53 in Puerto Rico and 267 in Britain. Wal-Mart also operates through a joint venture in 24 stores in China and owns a 37.8% interest in Seiyu, a Japanese retail chain, which operates approximately 400 stores throughout Japan.

Company’s Current Financial Performance

Ratio Analysis

Profitability: From 1990 to 2000, Wal-Mart’s profits increased 300 percent and sales grew by $112 billion. It added almost $30 billion in sales during 2000 fiscal year alone. Discount Stores accounted for an estimated $65 billion in domestic sales from approximately 1,800 units out of Wal-Mart’s total sales of $165 billion (FY 2000).

As of January 9, 2004, Wal-Mart has seen its growth lifeless down over the past year with same-store comparisons down three to four percent from the 2003. As of December 10, 2004, the Net Profit Margin for Wal-Mart Stores is 3.95% (FY 2003) and the Return on Assets is 9.22%. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) said fiscal third-quarter net income rose 13%, in line with its most recent estimate, notching another record quarter of sales and earnings. The company also raised its full fiscal-year earnings forecast. The world’s largest retailer Tuesday reported net income of $2.29 billion, or 54 cents a share, for the quarter ended Oct. 31, compared with $2.03 billion, or 46 cents a fragment, a year earlier.

Wal-Mart said earlier this month that it expected to report earnings at the high end of its original concept for earnings of 52 cents to 54 cents a share. The company cited better-than-expected gross margin and a change in the effective tax rate, although sales were below its modern plan.

Win sales climbed 9.7% to $68.52 billion from $62.48 billion, falling short of a mean estimate of $69.22 billion from analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call. Revenue, which includes net sales and other income, rose 9.9% to $69.26 billion from $63.04 billion.

Debt:The Debt to Total Assets ratio is 58.4%, an improvement over 60.7% from January of 1996. This trend shows Wal-Mart is at a glowing risk for the market.

Liquidity:The current ratio for Wal-mart Stores as of December 10, 2004 is .872. This shows significant change from 1996 when the organization was more liquid at 1.54%.

Trend Analysis

Comparison with previous time periods:

Earnings HistoryJan-04Apr-04Jul-04Oct-04

EPS Estimate

0.63

0.49

0.61

0.54

EPS Actual

0.63

0.50

0.62

0.54

Difference

0.00

0.01

0.01

0.00

Surprise %

0.0%

2.0%

1.6%

0.0%

http://finance.yahoo.com retrieved December 10, 2004.

EPS TrendsCurrent Qtr
Jan-05Next Qtr
Apr-05Current Year
Jan-05Next Year
Jan-06

Current Estimate

0.74

0.58

2.40

2.73

7 Days Ago

0.74

0.58

2.40

2.73

30 Days Ago

0.74

0.58

2.40

2.72

60 Days Ago

0.74

0.57

2.38

2.72

90 Days Ago

0.74

0.57

2.39

2.71

For the fiscal year ending Jan. 31, 2005, Wal-Mart raised its earnings outlook to a range of $2.39 to $2.41 a share, compared with its October projection of $2.36 to $2.40 a section. This outlook assumes comparable-store sales growth of 2% to 4% in the fourth quarter. Wal-Mart said it expects fourth-quarter earnings of 73 cents to 75 cents a fragment, in line with a mean estimate of 74 cents a share from analysts surveyed by First Call.

Industry Comparison

Compare with industry averages:Wal-Mart is in the Services sector, Retail (Department & Discount) industry. As of 12/10/2004 and according to www.yahoofinance.com, Wal-Mart Stores was up 0.17% and the industry average was up 0.10 %. Wal-Mart is currently the industry leader among the sector and industry.

Name

Ticker

Change

Wal-Mart Stores Inc

WMT+0.17%

Retail (Department & Discount)

^YHOh281+0.10%

http://finanance.yahoo.com retrieved December 10, 2004.

Common Size Statements

Common size income statement (income statement line item / Net sales revenue):

PERIOD ENDING 31-Jul-04

30-Apr-04

31-Jan-04

31-Oct-03

Annual 04*

Total Revenue 100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%

Cost of Revenue75.97%76.35%77.46%76.61%0.08%

Gross Profit24.03%23.65%22.54%23.39%23.17%

Selling General and Administrative17.78%18.14%16.23%18.00%0.02%

Operating Income or Loss6.25%5.51%6.31%5.39%5.81%

Total Other Income/Expenses Net 0.06%0.06%0.07%0.06%0.06%

Earnings Before Interest And Taxes 6.31%5.57%6.38%5.45%5.87%

Interest Expense 0.40%0.38%0.34%0.38%0.39%

Income Before Tax 5.91%5.19%6.04%5.07%5.49%

Income Tax Expense2.07%1.82%2.32%1.77%1.98%

Minority Interest -0.08%-0.06%-0.11%-0.08%-0.08%

Earn Income From Continuing Ops3.76%3.31%3.62%3.22%3.43%

Discontinued Operations 0.07%

Net Income 3.76%3.31%3.62%3.22%3.50%

Accept Income Applicable To Common Shares 3.76%3.31%3.62%3.22%3.50%

*All numbers in percent/thousands

Common size balance sheet (balance sheet line item/total assets)

PERIOD ENDING 31-Jul-0430-Apr-0431-Jan-0431-Oct-03

Annual 04*

Current Assets

Cash And Cash Equivalents 4.28%3.56%4.96%3.16%8.48%

Net Receivables 1.16%1.14%1.20%1.06%2.05%

Inventory 25.41%2.63%25.37%29.85%4.34%

Other Current Assets 1.51%1.28%1.29%1.03%2.21%

Total Current Assets 32.36%32.30%32.81%35.10%56.16%

Property Plant and Equipment 56.41%56.21%55.79%53.62%95.50%

Goodwill 9.20%9.42%9.42%9.01%16.12%

Other Assets 2.03%2.07%1.98%2.27%3.39%

Total Assets 100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%

Current Liabilities

Accounts Payable 28.68%29.90%29.60%29.98%50.66%

Short/Current Long Term Debt 10.40%8.27%6.07%7.44%10.39%

Other New Liabilities

Total Current Liabilities 39.08%38.17%35.67%37.42%61.05%

Long Term Debt 18.30%19.06%19.16%19.03%3.42%

Deferred Long Term Liability Charges 2.12%2.02%2.18%1.96%3.73%

Minority Interest 1.30%1.36%1.41%1.36%2.42%

Total Liabilities 60.80%60.60%58.42%59.77%100.00%

Common Stock 2.40%2.43%0.41%2.40%0.70%

Retained Earnings35.82%35.59%38.32%0.04%65.60%

Capital Surplus 1.94% 3.48%

Other Stockholder Equity 0.98%1.37%0.81%-0.09%1.39%

Total Stockholder Equity 39.20%39.40%41.58%40.23%71.18%

Rep Tangible Assets 30.00%29.98%32.16%31.22%55.05%

*All numbers in percent/thousands

Growth rates

Compound growth rates: Wal-Mart went public in 1971 – $55 million sales; 1996-$100 billion; $300+ billion this year (as of August, 2004). According to Dr. Steidtmann of Deloitte Research, Wal-Mart has shown a compounded annual growth of 25% from 1971 through the mid-1990’s; and continues on a similar track today. Supercenters generated a compound annual growth rate of 82 percent from1992 to 2000, significantly faster than the overall supercenter industry’s average annual growth rate.

Comparisons with competitors:

DIRECT COMPETITOR COMPARISON

WMTCOSTPvt1TGTIndustry

Market Cap:223.60B22.31BN/A46.38B3.21B

Employ­ees:1,500,00062,500158,000¹328,00025.91K

Rev. Growth (ttm):4.90%13.10%N/A9.70%4.90%

Revenue (ttm):280.36B48.11B23.25B¹47.22B7.77B

Gross Margin (ttm):22.77%12.50%N/A31.69%33.37%

EBITDA (ttm):20.74B1.83BN/A4.95B538.06M

Oper. Margins (ttm):5.90%2.88%N/A6.56%1.97%

Accept Income (ttm):9.82B882.39M-614.00M¹1.93B180.90M

EPS (ttm):2.2911.851N/A2.1041.54

PE (ttm):23.0525.69N/A24.6220.14

PEG (ttm):1.381.88N/A1.331.23

PS (ttm):0.800.47N/A0.980.52

COST = Costco Wholesale Corp

Pvt1 = Kmart Corporation (subsidiary or division)

TGT = Target Corp

Industry = Retail (Department & Discount)

¹ = As of 2004

The Direct Competitor Comparison shows Costco, Target Corp., and K-Mart as Wal-Mart’s major competitors in the sector and industry. Wal-Mart leads in many categories, but Target and Costco are providing enough challenge in important areas such as revenue growth and gross margin. These organizations are formidable opponents, however do not are not the lion power like that of Wal-Mart.

President and Chief Executive Lee Scott said sales were “lower than we are satisfied with,” with the company’s namesake Wal-Mart stores turning in a “particularly poor” performance. Wal-Mart stores generated sales of $45.89 billion, up 8.3% from a year earlier, while sales at Sam’s Club stores climbed 5.5% to $9.08 billion. International sales jumped 18% to $13.55 billion, with Mexico posting especially strong results.

Sales in U.S. stores open at least a year, an industry benchmark known as comparable-store sales, edged up 1.7%. Comparable-store sales rose 4% at Sam’s Club and 1.3% at Wal-Mart stores.

Assessment of the Internal Environment

Strengths

Stability of Leadership: S. Robson Walton had been with Wal-Mart since 1969. Other Directors and Senior Officers have been around for unbiased as many years. With longevity of leadership comes stability which stability transfers into the company culture.

Extent of Operations: Wal-Mart stores, supercenters, Sam’s Clubs, Neighborhood Market, international, and internet operations fabricate the Wal-Mart expanse.

Sam Walton’s Philosophies: Sam’s three Basic Beliefs and 10 Rules for Building a Business are still in force today after more than 40 years. Sam Walton built Wal-Mart based upon philosophies of excellence in the workplace, customer service and always having the lowest prices. Wal-Mart has stayed true to these philosophies since 1962.

Emphasis of Associates: Wal-Mart believes that its Associates should be empowered and are provided the opportunities to grow. Wal-Mart was chosen as Retailer of the Century because the company “cares about the individual, whether her or she is an associate or a customer” (Anthony, Kacmar & Perrewe`, p. 793).

Careful Emphasis of distribution logistics: Wal-Mart’s adaptation and advancement of computer and satellite technology has allowed them to order stock as soon as it is out with the use of the remote merchandise wands used by Wal-Mart Associates.

Name recognition and reputation: Wal-Mart has a reputation of meeting the needs of shoppers without the higher prices of competitors. Wal-Mart is known as the hometown store and has even developed “Neighborhood Markets”, a smaller version of the larger Wal-Mart stores. This strategy allows Wal-Mart into smaller stores and locations, but will serve the customers the same as the larger stores.

Superb merchandising policies: The Every Day Extreme Price (EDLP), Rollback Pricing, and Special buys offer merchandise for the lowest tag. Dr. Steidtmann, Director of Deloitte Research explained in a modern Web Cast that the success behind the EDLP concept isn’t offering merchandise at a lower price than it was purchased. The success is from an Every Day Low Cost practiced by Wal-Mart. This means Wal-Mart buys products at the very lowest prices and passes the savings onto the customer. Volume creates enough revenue to make up the thin profit margins on products.

Customer friendliness: From the greeter that you first explore when you enter Wal-Mart to the cashier at the checkout, Wal-Mart associates are expected to provide what Sam Walton called “aggressive hospitality.” Each associate is supposed to exude the nicest, friendliest arrive to all customers and give better sever than what is expected by the customer.

Adoption of advancement of technology for inventory management: The consume of the world’s largest private, fully integrated satellite network connects every Wal-Mart store and distribution center, as well as most foreign operations. This right time connection provides up to the minute transaction information to be transferred to the home office in Bentonville. It also helps to track stock and create orders with the exhaust of the hand-held computers associates use to scan inventory. These improvements increase efficiency and customer service, as well as preserve stock arriving in a timely manner.

Weaknesses

International merchandising: Each country is different and will require each Wal-Mart store to climb the learning curve. What may be even more difficult is the effect of foreign economies and the currency exchange rates.

Law suits: Law suits have plagued Wal-Mart from the predatory pricing lawsuits it experienced in the 1980’s and 1990’s to personal injury cases that appear from time to time. These law suits have done quite a bit of damage to the image of the retail giant and there are efforts in place aimed at positively changing how people scrutinize Wal-Mart.

Waning Image: Arkansas-based Wal-Mart again tops the list as the nation’s largest retailer with 2003 sales of $258.68 billion, an 11.7 percent increase over the previous year. According to STORES magazine, Wal-Mart once understanding of as a role model for retailers, has become “Public Enemy No. 1″ within and outside the industry. Wal-Mart may need to rethink its strategy regarding image.

Systems and Stakeholder Analysis

In determining the public affairs strategy of Wal-Mart, there are many groups and individuals who have a stake in what Wal-Mart does. These stakeholders can be divided into two groups: market and non-market stakeholders. Market stakeholders are those groups and individuals who have an economic stake in what the company does. Non-market stakeholders are those groups and individuals who have a non-economic, political stake in what course the company takes.

Market Stakeholders

Stockholders: These are the people who own shares of Wal-Mart and therefore are interested in seeing a return on their investment. Shareholders hope the value will rise, thus increasing dividends. According to the 2001 Annual Report, Wal-Mart paid out $.24 per portion in dividends (Annual Report 2001, 45).

Wal-Mart Executives: Many of the top executives receive stock options as part of their salary. Obviously, these executives want their stock value to rise because it effects their compensation.

Employees: While some of the employees may have stock in the company, many of them have an economic stake in the company because their job is their primary source of income. Those that do not have stock rely on the stability and growth Wal-Mart emanates.

Communities: Many of these communities rely on Wal-Mart not only for jobs, but for a place to engage necessities at a low price. Communities without Wal-Marts might experience higher unemployment rates and families may pay higher prices for the goods.

Consumers: According to the 2001 Annual Report, Wal-Mart is the country’s largest grocery retailer (Annual Report 2001, 7) and therefore many people rely on Wal-Mart for their groceries.

Non-profit Organizations: Wal-Mart community non-profit organizations gain a potential funding source or contributor. The Wal-Mart Foundation provides many non-profit organizations with funding; if the company is not doing well, the Foundation is not going to do as well either. According the Wal-Mart Good Works Foundation, 97 percent of their funding goes to non-profit organizations in the communities where their stores are located. The Wal-Mart Good Works Foundation provides funding to programs that deal with community, education, environment and children.

Other Retailers: If Wal-Mart moves into a community, the chances are retailers in that community are going to lose money or worse – cessation. Wal-Mart’s power gives them the ability to buy at lower costs, lower their prices, and force other retailers out of business.

Online Retailers: Like other retailers in communities where there is a Wal-Mart, online retailers also have a stake in how well Wal-Mart is doing. Wal-Mart totally revamped their website in 2000 in order to make it a more profitable part of their retail empire. Wal-Mart’s online sales only represent a small portion of their overall sales, but the website is a indecent cost method for Wal-Mart to swear goods to consumers who live in communities without physical stores.

Gasoline Retailers: In 1996, Wal-Mart made its first partnership with the gasoline industry. Today, Wal-Mart has contracts with companies such as Murphy Oil USA, Sunoco, and Tesoro Petroleum. Wal-Mart contracts with these companies and leases staunch estate on their lots to offer gasoline onsite. The local gas stations often cannot compete with Wal-Mart in either price or convenience

Non-Market Stakeholders

Labor Unions: Labor unions have a political stake in Wal-Mart because of the strict policy about not having their workers unionized. Wal-Mart takes the position that it is able to lift care of their employees and provide them with the best benefits and compensation plans without a union.

International Retail Stores: One of Wal-Mart’s key policy issues has been to move into the international retail market and open stores in other countries. Currently, Wal-Mart has stores in China, Puerto Rico, South Korea, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Argentina, Germany, Canada and Mexico. Wal-Mart must work closely with Public Relations firms in those countries to mitigate backlash against them. Wal-Mart must also be careful to follow the laws of each country when opening new stores.

Politicians: Politicians have a non-market stake in Wal-Mart for several reasons. First, politicians may or may not want Wal-Mart opening in their district. On one hand, it may be good for the community; however, if it is a district with a large union presence, the politician may not want Wal-Mart in that area. Also, politicians may rely on Wal-Mart for campaign funding. Wal-Mart’s Political Action Committee (PAC) has contributed over $752,500 to various committees and candidates during the 2001 cycle.

Assessments &Future Prospects

Problem Statement

The spot in this case is how can the Wal-Mart culture transcend international boundaries and improve the Wal-Mart image?

Generation and Evaluation of Alternatives

Many in retail see the company as a bully and a tyrant while presenting the impression that Wal-Mart destroys communities and clamps down on workers rights (www.walmartwatch.com). While Wal-Mart displays a cheery attitude in public, off camera this industry giant is quite aggressive. Coming to an understanding with organized labor is needed. Wal-Mart must ease their map into foreign markets, instead of barging in and buying up companies.

Alternative strategies available to Wal-Mart are to:

1. Soften the Aggressive Corporate Strategy,

2. Increase Philanthropy,

3. Consider Unionization, and

4. Examine Political Capital & Culture.

Recommendations

Soften the Aggressive Corporate Strategy: Although there is nothing wrong with being aggressive in the marketplace, Wal-Mart seems ruthless. Countless grassroots, anti-Wal-Mart groups have sprung up to sustain the retail giant out of their communities. The pubic perception is that Wal-Mart can destroy a community. Wal-Mart inflames this perception by moving in and shutting down local. Wal-Mart boasts that it provides jobs for the people in a particular state it moves into. The underlying reality is that people have to work at Wal-Mart because the local stores closed. To fight this negative image, Wal-Mart must terminate trying to circumvent laws when building new facilities. It must present precisely how it can be a worthy neighbor, and “walk the walk.”

Increase Philanthropy: Wal-Mart loves to be charitable to show they have helped communities; however the company needs to be more active in this work, and not simply provide cash to organizations such as the United Device. The company boasts over $150 million raised funds in 2001. That money however was raised from the contribution of employees, rather than from company coffers (www.walmartfoundations.org).

Wal-Mart needs to send its store managers and executives into local communities to give their time in the community in a meaningful way. It would also be a positive if store managers were permitted to work on community projects on company time, rather than on their own time. The public loves to see powerful organizations and people help the community. For example, President Jimmy Carter wealthy, a former President of the United States, and yet he helps everyday people build homes through Habitat for Humanity. If Wal-Mart could do something similar, derive positive media coverage, it could mitigate much of the negative press that hurts company. The headlines could change from “Wal-Mart Behemoth Rolls into Town” into “Local Wal-Mart Workers Donate Money, Time to Help the Local Poor”. Wal-Mart could continue to expand, but shift the focus from dominance to philanthropy. This would raise its suffering profile immensely.

Consider Unionization: Wal-Mart could relax its anti-unionization policy and allow its employees to freely choose to organize themselves. Wal-Mart is hit hard for their unfair labor practices constantly publicized. The public sympathizes with the rights of workers, their choice to unionize, and have a collective voice in the workplace. A current impart involves workers in Wal-Mart’s automotive division, who want to unionize. Wal-Mart is using serious political capitol to keep that from happening. This mistake could be detrimental to the corporation in the long run. Wal-Mart is being sued by the National Labor Relations Board and several unions, a fight that could end up costing Wal-Mart a great deal.

In addition to litigation costs, Wal-Mart loses creditability and reputation. Wal-Mart’s fight to keep out unions forces the company to battle with employees, fight local regulators, and gain negative media attention. Expansion into foreign markets will mean that Wal-Mart will increasingly encounter the unionization grunt. The reaction could land the company into trouble not only with European regulators, but with angry European customers.

Examine Political Capital & Culture: Wal-Mart must better utilize its political capitol and learn from the experience of local retailers when attempting to expand overseas. The stores must be willing to bend their uniformity and consider the reaction of the local culture. Wal-Mart has begun to adopt this posture in their dealings with Japan and Seiyu, a Japanese retailer. Some of their other ventures have not been so successful. For example, stores in the province of Quebec had some initial cultural difficulties. The over-patriotic style of Wal-Mart does not work well with the culture in Quebec, which spurns overt patriotism. Flying a Canadian flag in a Quebec store can become an embarrassing political deny due to heightened francophone Quebec nationalism in some regions of Quebec. Yet to fly only a Quebec flag and not the national flag of Canada is a symbol of supporting separatism. The company learned mercurial to tone down its use of patriotism in Quebec. Another mistake the company made in Quebec was to publish its circular in English to a mostly French-speaking population.

Suggestions Concerning Decision Implementation

The world is not yet-ready for full-on, U.S. Wal-Mart-style retail, especially in the anti-American European climate. Wal-Mart must consult with business leaders in the various countries they are growing into, resolve the best way to attract business, and not upset the local populace. For example, Wal-Mart experienced problems in Germany where they attempted to drop all their prices below their competitors. Price-fixing in Germany is commonplace, and Wal-Mart’s faux pas was against the law. Wal-Mart eventually circumvented the law, making more enemies than friends. Wal-Mart needs to work with governments, not against them, to adjust to the various markets and achieve success overseas.

Wal-Mart might have to spend more time and money to implement the aforementioned strategy ideas, but bad press is simply not good for the bottom line. A friendlier corporate image is more than a smiley face that slashes prices. Encouraging Wal-Mart’s people to participate in philanthropic or community events is what makes a company image positive and perceptions improve. Working with governments and being sensitive to local cultures will benefit the company in the long term.

By implementing these suggestions, Wal-Mart would not only expand into foreign markets at a quicker pace, they would also be better positioned to defend themselves against their critics. These strategies could make Wal-Mart the largest retail chain in the world and one of the most popular stores in history.

Conclusion

Wal-Mart is the number one retailer in the United States and is at the top of the Fortune 500 listing. Wal-Mart operates in many countries world-wide and is animated into unique countries every year, continuing to expansion in more ways than one. Wal-Mart has expanded into many sectors of the marketplace, including groceries, gas stations, electronics, and auto maintenance. Each year, Wal-Mart finds new ways to grow and offer more services to their customers. Additionally, the number of people who have a stake in Wal-Mart grows. Consequently, more claims are made against Wal-Mart by the unions and other businesses that have been forced to close. As a result of Wal-Mart’s ever-growing size and variety of services, the public affairs department is going to become increasingly well-known.

As animosity becomes more widespread, in the U.S. and abroad, Wal-Mart is going to have to work harder to maintain a good reputation. Wal-Mart’s Foundation will become increasingly more important and strategic in the effort improve community relations. In order for Wal-Mart to stay at the top leadership will need to improve their relationship with stakeholders and change the public’s perception of Wal-Mart from a cut-throat industry giant to a community’s true best friend.

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Assisting authors to submitting author: Chris Kelly & Kristin Slyter December 8, 2004

History:

Established in 1733 as the last of the Original Thirteen Colonies, and bordered by Florida, South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, North Carolina, and the Atlantic Ocean, Georgia ratified the United States Constitution on January 2, 1788 to became the Fourth State, seceded from the Union on January 21, 1861 as one of the seven Original Confederate States, and on July 15, 1870 was the last State restored aid to the Union following the Civil War Reconstruction Era.

Geography:

Consisting of approximately 59,425 square miles Georgia is the twenty-fourth largest State, the largest State east of the Mississippi River in terms of land area, the fourth largest Situation in total area, and the ninth most heavily populated State. Brasstown Bald, at 4784 feet above sea level, is Georgia’s highest elevation point, and the highest point in the Deep South subregion known as the “Plantation,” or “Cotton States”. The northern part of Georgia can be located in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and the State’s Central Piedmont area containing Milledgeville, Columbus, and Macon, rolls down the Fall Line to the Atlantic Coastal Plain, and part of the Eastern Continental Divide, marking the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Seaboard watersheds.

National Historic Sites:

Georgia is the home of 48 National and State Parks, 15 historic sites, and many wildlife preserves including the Andersonville National Historic Site, known as Camp Sumter, the largest Confederate Military Prison of the Civil War, and includes the Andersonville National Cemetary, the National Prisoner of War Museum, and the location where more than 12,000 Union prisoners died. Other historic sites found in Georgia include part of the approximately 2200 mile long Appalachian National Scenic Trail and its Southernmost starting point at Springer Mountain, the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area with the Marietta Paper Mill ruins, the Akers Mill ruins, Powers Island, the scenic Vickery Creek, and the Cochran Shoals Unit, the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park that preserves the two well-known Civil War battle sites, the Cumberland Island National Seashore in Saint Mary’s, the largest of Georgia’s Golden Isles, the Fort Frederica National Monument on Saint Simons Island built to protect Georgia’s southern boundary from Spanish invasions, the Fort Pulaski National Monument noted as the plot of the Union Army’s successful test firing of rifled cannons during the Civil War and as a prisoner of war camp, the President Jimmy Carter National Historic Site in Plains, the Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, the Ocmulgee National Monument and Mississippi Mounds, a portion of the infamous Perambulate of Tears where many tribes of Indians, including the Choctaw, the Chickasaw, the Muscogee-Creek, the Cherokee, and the Seminoles were forcibly relocated from their native territories, and the Martin Luther King Junior National Historic Site.

Chattahoohee National Forest:

Comprising approximately 750,502 acres of eighteen northern Georgia counties with a name meaning “flowered stones,” and originally inhabited by Creek and Cherokee Indians, the Chattahoochee National Forest was purchased by the United States on June 14, 1920 as part of the Cherokee National Forest, then added the Tallulah Ranger District, including the second, third, and tenth highest mountain peaks in Georgia, the Coleman River Scenic Area, and the Blue Ridge Wildlife Management Space.

Oconee National Forest:

Located between Macon and Athens, the Oconee National Forest contains the Wise Creek Trail through piney woods along the Ocmulgee River, the Twin Bridges Trail, an exceptionally productive birding area on the Little River, the 4735-acre Brender Demonstration Forest outmoded to educate visitors about the Southern Piedmont Plateau, Lake Sinclair featuring several National fishing tournaments, the Town Creek Bike Slump for ATVs and motorcycles, the Scull Shoals Historic District, the home of Georgia’s first paper mill, the Oconee Recreation Area and indian mounds, the Ocmulgee River Trail and historic 1840-built Rose Hill Cemetery, a wellknown hangout for the Allman Brothers Band during their early years, the popular Kinnard Creek Horseback Riding Flow, the Indian Mounds Dash, the Hitchiti Pace along Limited Falling Creek, the Dyar Pasture Wetlands and Wildlife Management State, the Burgess Mountain Trail leading to the highest point in the Oconee National Forest, and the Boarding House Trail and Ruins.

State Parks:

Popular Georgia State Parks include the 1825 established Indian Springs Site Park, one of the oldest in the Country, the Vogel Site Park at the base of Blood Mountain in the Chattahoochee National Forest, the sixth tallest peak in Georgia, the Amicalola Falls State Park, one of the Seven Natural Wonders of Georgia, the Black Rock Mountain State Park, the Cloudland Canyon State Park, one of the largest and most scenic in Georgia, the Crooked River State Park and McIntosh Sugar Works ruins, on the National Register of Historic Places, the Dahlonega Gold Museum Historic Site that commemorates America’s first gold rush in 1836, the Etowah Indian Mounds Historic Site, the Fort King George Historic Site, the Fort McAllister Historic Park that is the home of the best preserved earthwork fort of the Confederacy, the Georgia Veterans State Park, the Hofwyl-Broadfield Plantation Historic Site in Brunswick, the Jefferson Davis Memorial Historic Site where he was captured by Union forces on May 9, 1865, the Little White House Retreat of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in Warm Springs, the Sapelo Island Reserve and Reynolds Mansion, the Stephen C. Foster State Park in the Okefenokee Swamp, and the F.D. Roosevelt State Park, a National Historic Landmark.

Rivers:

Major rivers found in the Set of Georgia include the Flint River, the Broad River, the Tallapoosa River, the Chattahoochee River, the Ogeechee River, the Chatooga River, the Coosa River, the Etowah River, the Oostanaula River, the Coosawattee River, the Toccoa River, The Ochlockonee River, the Suwanee River, the Saint Mary’s River, the Satilla River, the Ocmulgee River, the Oconee River, the Altamaha River, the Savannah River, the Conasauga River, the Tugaloo River, the Chattanooga River, the Hampton River, the Little River, the Tallulah River, the Coleman River, the Hooked River, the Turtle River, the East River, and the Brunswick River.

Wildernesses:

Ten Wilderness areas in Georgia are considered part of the Chattahoohee National Forest including the Tray Mountain Wilderness, the Rich Mountain Wilderness, the home of many endangered animals, the Southern Nantahala Wilderness that contains the Blue Ridge Gap and Rocky Nob, the Mark Trail Wilderness with forty-one miles of trout streams, the Cohutta Wilderness, the second largest Wilderness in Georgia and the largest, most frequently visited Wilderness in the Southern Appalachian Mountains, the Ellicott Rock Wilderness surrounding the location where North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia converge, the Blood Mountain Wilderness containing the highest elevation point in the State, the Brasstown Wilderness across the northeastern, northern, and southwestern flanks of Brasstown Bald, and the Mountainous Frog Wilderness, the smallest Wilderness area in the State.

Okefenokee Swamp:

Possessing a Hitchiti Indian name meaning “bubbling water,” or “trembling earth,” and bordered by Trail Ridge, the Okefenokee Swamp, considered to be one of the Seven Natural Wonders of Georgia, is a 438,000 acre blackwater wetland protected by the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, and the Okefenokee Wilderness, and is the home of alligators, egrets, herons, sad bears, and other wildlife species.

Located at the Suwanee Canal Recreation Area in Folkston, the Stephen C. Foster and Suwanee Sill Recreation Areas in Fargo, and the Kingfisher Landing site at Race Pond, there are four main entrances into the Okefenokee Swamp providing kayaks, canoes, motorboats, and guided tours to more than 400,000 yearly visitors to the southeastern residence of the State.

Seven Natural Wonders:

The Seven Natural Wonders of Georgia are known as Warm Springs, because of its mineral springs, Tallulah Gorge, Dome, Falls, and State Park, Radium Springs, the largest natural spring in the State, Providence Canyon, famous as Georgia’s “Little Grand Canyon,” with massive deep gullies, Amicolola Falls and its 729-foot waterfall, Stone Mountain, and the Okefenokee Swamp.

Golden Isles:

Located in Glynn County and consisting of Sea Island and its Five-Star facilities found at the Cloister Resort, the Lodge at Sea island, the Georgian Room at The Cloister Resort, and the Cloister Spa, Jekyll Island with the Marshes of Glynn County, guided tours of its Landmark Historic District, and the Summer Waves Water Park, Little Saint Simons Island, the most remote and uninhabited of the Golden Isles, with island occupancy not exceeding more than thirty people at a time to enjoy dolphins, otters, true whales, alligators, fallow deer, cypress, pine, and live oak trees, and Saint Simons Island, containing the Fort Frederica National Monument, a very famous lighthouse dating back to 1811, and the King and Prince Hotel that is on the National Register of Historic Places, the Golden Isles are one of the most distinct regions of the State of Georgia.

Native American Indians:

Native American Indian Tribes that lived in Georgia include the Apalachee, the Chatot, the Cherokee, the Chickasaw, the Creek, the Guale, the Hitchiti, the Oconee, the Shawnee, the Tamathli, the Yamasee, the Yuchi, the Miccosukee, the Timucua, the Etowah, and others.

Names:

Popular names for Georgia include the Peach State because of that fruit’s agricultural importance to Georgia, the Yankee-Land of the South because of the State’s industrial and economical developments, the Goober Place because of the peanut agriculture Georgia is famous for, the Cracker State because of the immigrants from Virginia and North Carolina who settled there, the Buzzard State because at one time Georgia passed a law protecting those birds in the State, and the Empire Area of the South because Georgia was determined to be a leader among the Southern States.

Attractions:

From waterfalls to their own version of the Statue of Liberty Georgia is full of Attractions sure to appeal to all visitors to the State including the Prehistoric Nacoochee Indian Mound in White County, the six weeks long Oktoberfest celebrated from the middle of September to the end of October, the Marietta Antique Street Festival, the Marietta Museum of History, the Marietta National Cemetery with more than ten thousand Civil War soldiers entombed there, the Georgia Winecountry Festival, the Dahlonega Annual Own on the Square Mountain Festival, the childhood home of President Theodore Roosevelt’s Mother known as the Bulloch Hall Greek Revival Mansion, the Stately Oaks Plantation in Jonesboro, the Pine Mountain Wild Animal Park, the Callaway Gardens, Stone Mountain’s carved figures of Stonewall Jackson, Jefferson Davis, and Robert E. Lee, the Dawsonville Kangeroo Conservation Center, the Founder of the Georgia Colony James Oglethorpe Monument, Anna Ruby Falls, the Fort Morris Historic Set, the Thomas County Museum of History, the Southeastern Railroad Museum, the Childrens Art Museum, the Benton McKay Wilderness Trail, Valdosta’s Wild Adventures Theme Park, the Saint Mary’s Submarine Museum, the Georgia Guidestones known as the American Stonehenge, the Crime and Punishment Museum, the Rollins Planetarium, the McRae Small-Scale Statue of Liberty, the Ski Valley Ski Area, the Jefferson Davis Memorial Park, the Suwanee Canal Recreation Area, the Massee Lane Botanical Gardens, the 1850s Jarrell Plantation State Historic Plot, the Labaire Pottery Museum, the Fire Ant Festival, the Unadilla Old West-style Biker town known as Angel City, the Braxton Rocks Nature Preserve, the Pickett’s Mill Civil War Battlefield, the Pig Hill of Fame, Allatoona Pass, the Duckbill Glassblowing Museum, Tiger Mountain, Toccoa Falls, the Warner Robbins Museum of Aviation, the Candler Field Museum, the World’s Largest Peanut in Ashburn, the World’s Largest Apple in Cornelia, the Uncle Remus Museum, the Georgia Rural Telephone Museum, and Lookout Mountain’s Rock City.

Atlanta:

One of the fastest growing metropolises in the United States, Atlanta is the 33rd largest city in the Country, and has the world’s busiest airport, the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

One of eight US Beta World Cities Atlanta has been the World Headquarters for many major Corporations such as Coca-Cola, Delta Air Lines, AT&T Mobility, United Parcel Service, Home Depot, Rubbermaid, Arby’s Equifax, Chick-Fil-A, Georgia Pacific, RaceTrac Petroleum, SunTrust Banks, Waffle House, the Federal Reserve and Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Wachovia Bank, KIA Motors, WTBS Television, the Cable News Network, the Cartoon Network, The Weather Channel, Cox Enterprises and Communications, and the Center For Disease Control and Prevention.

Incorporated December 29, 1847, the Cherokee Indian village Standing Peachtree was the originating station of the area that became Atlanta in 1822.

An vital railroad and military supply station during the Civil War, as well as the site of many noted battles including the July 20, 1864 Battle of Peachtree Creek, the July 22, 1864 Battle of Atlanta, and the July 28, 1864 Battle of Ezra Church, Atlanta was abandoned by the Confederacy and burned to the ground by the Union Army on November 11, 1864.

The Atlanta skyline contains the Bank of America Plaza, the world’s 37th tallest building, and the high rises found in the Cumberland and Vinings Office Park Areas, the upscale Buckhead District, the Perimeter Center with the King and Queen Towers, the Downtown Atlanta financial district, and the Midtown Atlanta financial center.

Hosting the 1996 Summer Olympic Games, and the 2007 NCAA Mens Final Four Basketball Championships, several major league sports teams have played in the Atlanta area since 1966 including the Atlanta Braves, the Atlanta Falcons, the Atlanta Hawks, and the Atlanta Thrashers. Other professional sports teams that have played in Atlanta include the Atlanta Dream WNBA team, the Atlanta Flames, the Atlanta Silverbacks of the USL, the Atlanta Chiefs of the NASL, and the PGA Tour Championship Golf Tournament.

Atlanta draws several million tourists every year and features many popular Attractions such as the Georgia Aquarium, the world’s largest indoor aquarium, the World of Coca-Cola, Underground Atlanta, the Atlantic Status, the Georgia Dome, the Centennial Olympic Park, the CNN Center, the High Museum of Art, the Atlanta Institute For The Arts, the Atlanta History Center, the Atlanta Cyclorama and Civil War Museum, the Fernbank Science Center, the Margaret Mitchell House and Museum, the Carter Center, the Rhodes Memorial Hall, Piedmont Park, the Atlanta Botanical Gardens, the Atlanta Dogwood Festival, the Zoo Atlanta and Panda Exhibit, the DragonCon Convention, the APEX Museum, the Carter Presidential Library and Museum, the Fox Theater, the Six Flags Amusement Park, the Martin Luther King Junior Center, the Fernbank Museum of Natural History, the Georgia State Capital Complex, the Millennium Gate, the Roswell Historic District, the Booth Western Art Museum, the Atlanta Braves Museum and Hall of Fame, the William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum, and many more.

Augusta:

Settled in 1735 to provide defense against the French and the Spanish, and the second capital of Georgia from 1785 to 1795, Augusta is the host city for the US Masters Golf Tournament, one of the sport’s four major championships, that is played at the Augusta National Golf Club the first week of April with a green jacket awarded to the winner.

Located on the border with South Carolina, and containing the Clarks Hill Dam, the Stevens Creek Dam, Lake Strom Thurmond, and the Augusta Canal, medicine, the military, education, biotechnology, and major Companies such as International Paper, NutraSweet, Electrolux, T-Mobile, Club Car, John Deere, the Delta Air Lines Baggage Call Center, Procter & Gamble, Kellogg’s, the Solo Cup Company, and others are major businesses in Augusta.

Attractions found in Augusta include the Riverwalk Augusta City Park, the Aqueduct Lagoon swimming park, the Diamond Lakes Regional Park, the Phinizy Swamp Wetlands Nature Park, the Sacred Heart Cultural Center, the Boyhood Home of President Woodrow Wilson, the Earth Day Augusta Celebration and 5K Run, the Confederate Powderworks, one of the last standing permanent structures built by the Confederacy, the Meadow Garden House Museum, Augusta’s oldest house and the home of George Walton, one of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence from Georgia, the Enterprise Flour and Textile Mill, the Morris Museum of Art, the National Science Center’s Fort Discovery, and the Augusta Museum of History.

Columbus:

Columbus was a major plantation and international cotton producing location founded in 1828 on a bluff overlooking the Chattahoochee River, one hundred miles south of Atlanta, and has been ranked by Best Life Magazine as being Number Four on the List of 100 Best US Cities To Live In.

One of the most principal industrial centers of the Confederacy, the railroad, ironworks, textiles, and ship building earned Columbus the wellknown name of the “Lowell of the South”.

The “Last Battle In The War Between The States” was faught on Easter Sunday, April 16, 1865 when the Union Army attacked and burned many of the industrial buildings of Columbus after Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House ending the Civil War.

Known as the Fountain City, Historic Districts in Columbus include the Wynnton Village Historic District, the Columbus Historic District, the Peacock Woods-Dimon Circle Historic District, the Columbus Historic Riverfront Industrial District, and the Dinglewood Historic District.

With the first recipe known as Pemberton’s French Wine Coca, and first sold at Jacob’s Pharmacy in Atlanta on May 8, 1886, Coca-Cola was created in Columbus as a patent medicine by Doctor John Pemberton.

Columbus Attractions include the National Infantry Museum and Soldiers Center, the Coca-Cola Space Science Center, the National Civil War Naval Museum, the Columbus Museum, one of the largest museums in the Southeastern United States, the Bradley Performing Arts Theater, the RiverCenter For The Performing Arts, and the Springer Opera House, Georgia’s State Theater, a National Historic Landmark.

Savannah:

Founded on February 12, 1733 by James Oglethorpe at Yamacraw Bluff as the Colonial Capital of the Georgia Province, the first State Capital of Georgia, the primary port on the Savannah River, and Georgia’s largest port, cotton, silk, indigo, manufacturing, the military, and tourism have been major industries in the “Hostess City of the South”.

Popular Savannah Attractions include the historic buildings and architecture millions of tourists flock to the city every year to experience drawn by such notable locations as the Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the first museums in the South, the Central of Georgia Railroad Roundhouse Complex, the Temple Mickve Israel, the third oldest synagogue in America, the Savannah Historic District, the Savannah Victorian Historic District, 21 Parklike Square, one of the largest National Historic Landmark Districts in the United States, the First African Baptist Church, one of the oldest African-American Baptist Congregations in the Country, Tybee Island Beach and Light Station, the original lighthouse on the southern Atlantic coast, Hutchinson Island, twenty-one public squares such as Johnson, Savannah’s largest, Crawford, Liberty, and Ellis, Ossabaw Island, Fort Jackson, the Bamboo Farm and Coastal Gardens, the Savannah Childrens Theater, the Architectural Tours of Savannah, Skidaway Island State Park, the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge, the Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge, the River Street Savannah District, the Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum, the Jepson Center For The Arts, the Blackbeard Island National Wildlife Refuge, the Savannah History Museum, the Savannah Riverboat Cruises, and the distinguished Annual Saint Patrick’s Day Celebrations the city is wellknown for.

Athens:

Located on the Oconee River in the northeastern allotment of the Set, and known as the “Manchester of the South” because of its cotton mills and industrial development, the University of Georgia was primarily responsible for the creation and growth of Athens which became a town in December 1806.

Originally known as Cedar Shoals, popular musical Acts that have grown out of the Athens area include the Indigo Girls, the Primates, Deerhunter, Danger Mouse, the Drive-By Truckers, Elf Power, Neutral Milk Hotel, the Athens Boys Choir, R.E.M. bandmembers Bill Berry, Michael Stipe, and Mike Mills, and more.

Popular Athens Attractions include the only remaining double-barreled cannon produced during the American Civil War, the State Botanical Gardens of Georgia, the famous Globe Bar that was voted by Esquire Magazine as the 2007 Number Three Bar in America, the Twilight Series Bicycle Races, the North Oconee River Greenway and Heritage Trail, the Federalist-style Church-Waddel-Brumby House, the North Georgia Folk Festival, the Oak Tree That Owns Itself, the Georgia Museum of Art, the Watson Mill Bridge State Park, and the Navy Supply Corps Museum.

Brunswick:

Founded in 1771, and the city in which this Author graduated from college, Brunswick is located on the Atlantic Ocean’s western-most harbor about thirty miles north of Florida, in the southeastern fraction of the State, and was proclaimed by George Washington to be one of the five original ports of entry for the United States.

Incorporated February 22, 1856 the Port of Brunswick is the fourth largest automobile port in the eastern part of the Country, and the city has an agricultural processing, manufacturing, bulk cargo, and tourism based economy.

Known as the “Shrimp Capital of the World” Brunswick is the State’s center for the crab and puny industries and the location of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Facility.

Including the SS James M. Wayne, and the SS Coastal Ranger, ninety-nine Liberty Ships were constructed in Brunswick during World War Two to transport needed war materials to the Pacific and European Theaters,

The “Gateway To The Golden Isles,” Brunswick Attractions include the 1898-built Ritz Theater, the Gallery On Newcastle for coastal Georgia marsh scenes, the Golden Isles Speedway, Hanover Park, Howard Coffin Park, the Blythe Island Regional Park, the Earth Day Nature Coast, the Georgia Heritage Theme Park and Animal Experience, the Brunswick History Museum, and the Mary Miller Doll Museum.

Series:

The United States Series I am writing here on associatedcontent.com provides an indepth look at all fifty States that make up this GREAT Country of ours and their five largest cities.

The current list of Articles for the United States Series I have published to date includes:

So This Is Sweet Home Alabama
Alaska – The Land of the Midnight Sun
Arizona – The Valley of the Sun
Arkansas – People of the South Wind
California – The Golden Gate, Earthquakes and Grizzly Bears
Colorful Colorado – The Rocky Mountains, Skiing, and High Technology
Connecticut – The Land of Right Habits
Delaware – The Miniature Wonder
Florida – The Snowbirds R Us State
Hawaii – Luaus, Pineapples, and Beaches
Idaho – The Gem of the Mountains and Potatoes State
Illoinois – Mining, Factories, and Labor Unions
Indiana – Land of Steel and Ducks
Iowa – The Ethanol and Food Capital of the World
Bleeding Kansas America’s Flattest State
Kentucky – The Land of Tomorrow
Louisiana – The Child of the Mississippi
Maine – Lobsters, Lighthouses, and Black Bears
Maryland – The “Oh Say Can You Eye” State
Massachusetts – The Cradle of Liberty
Michigan – The Automotive State
Minnesota – The Bread and Butter State
Mississippi – Where Cotton Was King

Comments from readers are always welcome so let me know what you think about these Articles.

Sources:

This article was compiled from several websites that provide much more information on Georgia including:

atlantaga.gov, augustaga.gov, visitcolumbusga.com, tripadvisor.com, and roadsideamerica.com.

Situation
On April 20, 1999 Eric Harris and Dylan Kliebold implemented their plan to bring weapons to their high school and waste people. Kliebold and Harris were students at Columbine High School. Kliebold and Harris parked in separate parking lots. Harris parked in the junior lot and Kliebold in the senior lot. It is speculated, that these spots were chosen because of their views of main entrances.

Kliebold and Harris began planning implementing their attack, in the parking lot. They had already set a firebomb a half-mile away. Evidence indicates this bomb was meant to distract emergency responders. The fire bomb was set to detonate at 11:14 a.m. The bomb did not completely fail. A small fire was produced that was quickly extinguished by fire personnel. Kliebold and Harris also prepared two propane bombs. They met at Harris’s car and placed the bombs inside two duffel bags. Each bomb weighed approximately 20 pounds.

Klebold and Harris entered the cafeteria and left both duffel bags. They placed the bags a few minutes before the “A” lunch shift started. Klebold and Harris returned to Harris’s car to wait for the bombs to detonate. Their intentions were to shoot students fleeing the cafeteria.

Brooks Brown, a fellow student, ran into Klebold and Harris. Brown and Harris had recently patched up a long-standing argument. Harris warned Brown, “Brooks, I like you now. Earn out of here. Go home.” Brown, feeling uneasy, walked away.[5] Students leaving for lunch reported seeing Brown walking away from the school.

The propane bombs failed to explode. Klebold and Harris armed themselves with an arsenal of other weapons and walked into the building. They entered the school through the West entrance. Klebold and Harris began their plan at 11:19 a.m. A witness hears Harris yell, “Go! Go!” Klebold and Harris pulled shotguns from under their trench coats. Rachel Scott and Richard Castaldo were sitting on a grassy knoll to the honest of Harris and Klebold. Scott was shot four times. Castaldo was hit eight times.

Harris removed a 9 mm semi-automatic from under his trench coat and removed his coat. Harris aimed down the West staircase, near his position. Three students were walking up the staircase. All three students were shot. Harris and Kliebold then began shooting away from the school. They were targeting students eating lunch, south of the school. Two students were shot. One was able to run away. The second student played dreary. Three other students were able to escape without being injured.

Klebold moved down the West steps towards the Cafeteria. He shot one student on the way to the Cafeteria. A wounded student was lying on the stairs. Klebold shot him again, in the face. Another wounded student was struggling to get down the steps. Klebold shot him from behind, killing him. Klebold entered the gym.

Harris was still at the top of the steps. He targeted several students sitting approach the cafeteria’s entrance. He began shooting down the steps at them. One student was wounded while trying to flee. Klebold returned to Harris’s position. It is speculated, Klebold was checking on why the propane bombs did not detonate.

Klebold and Harris began opening fire on students standing near the soccer field. They began moving west into the school. They threw several pipe bombs, every pipe bomb failed to detonate (4). A teacher thought the two were shooting a video or pulling a prank. She began moving towards the West entrance with another student (6). Klebold and Harris shot out nearby windows. The teacher was hit by flying glass. The student was hit in the shoulder by shrapnel. The teacher ran down the hall and told students in the library to duck under the desks and be calm. She dialed 911 and hit behind the library’s admin desk. 911 records time stamped her call at 11:25 a.m.

At 11:24 a.m., Klebold and Harris began taking fire themselves. A Jefferson County deputy had arrived and began shooting at them. Ten rounds were fired at the deputy. The deputy radioed that he was in need of assistance. Harris and Klebold began lively down the school’s main hallway. They shot anyone that they saw and three pipe bombs down the hall. They shot out the windows to the East entrance. They headed back towards the West entrance and turned towards the library.

Meanwhile, a coach had evacuated students from the cafeteria through a staircase that led to the second floor (4). The stairwell was near the library hallway. The coach and another student saw Klebold and Harris enter the hallway towards the library. The coach was hit in the chest. The student escaped into a nearby classroom. The room’s teacher pulled the coach into the classroom. The teacher and several students former cell phone to contact police.

Klebold and Harris were now near the library above the cafeteria. Two bombs were thrown down into the cafeteria. A third bomb was thrown down the library hallway. All three bombs successfully exploded. Harris and Klebold entered the library at 11:29 a.m. The library contained 50 students, 2 teachers, and 2 librarians (4). Harris immediately shot a display case at the opposite end of the admin counter. His shot injured one student. On the 911 recording, Harris can be heard yelling “Get up!” Students from an adjacent room reported Harris saying, “Everyone with a white cap or baseball cap, stand up!” and “All jocks stand up! We’ll get the guys in white hats!”[4] Traditionally, members of the school’s sports teams wore white hats. No one stood up. Klebold and Harris moved along the library wall to two rows of computers. Klebold fired at a student in the upper row of computers. The student was struck in the head and neck. Klebold and Harris laid both of their duffel bags down to reload.

Meanwhile, police had arrived and began evacuating students. Klebold and Harris walked past the windows where they had just been. They noticed the police evacuating students. They began shooting out the windows to acquire clear shots at police. Shooting out the windows caused police officers to return fire. Turning away from the windows, Klebold fired at a nearby table, injuring three students (4). Harris fired underneath the first desk in the row, killing one student. Harris then shot underneath the second desk, injuring one student. He moved to the third desk and shot a third student.

Harris moved away from the computers. He walked to a table near the computers. Harris slapped the table three times, looked underneath, and said “Peek a boo.” He then shot one student in the head. His weapon recoiled hitting him in the face and breaking his nose. Another student was sitting beside a nearby table. There was not enough room for the student to hide under the table. Another student was trying to assist a wounded student. In doing so, the top of his became visible. Klebold fired two shots at him.

Klebold moved to yet a third table. Three student athletes were hiding under the table. Klebold attempted to pull one out but was unsuccessful. He called to Harris to join him. Harris knelt down and shot one student in the chest. Klebold also fired under the table and killed another student. The third student escaped harm by playing dead. Klebold and Harris left the library at 11:42 a.m.

Klebold and Harris headed toward the cafeteria. On the way, they three a fire bomb into a closet and fired into an empty classroom. They entered the Cafeteria at 11:44 a.m. Harris tried to detonate a propane bomb by shooting it. He was unsuccessful. They left the cafeteria at 11:46 a.m. At 11:48 a.m. a gallon of fuel was ignited causing a fire that was extinguished by the fire sprinklers. Harris and Klebold then wandered the North and South halls, looked into classrooms, and made notice contact with students; however, they never attempted to enter the classrooms. At 11:55 a.m. they returned to the cafeteria and walked through the kitchen. At 11:58 a.m. they returned to the South hall. Shortly after noon, Klebold and Harris committed suicide.

At 12:00 p.m., SWAT teams arrived on campus. Several explosives are found on the external of the building by police officers. First students are loaded into ambulances and taken for medical care. At 12:30 p.m. SWAT teams began a room-by-room sweep of the school. A few hours later the school is declared honorable. Between 12:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. 615 officers representing 27 agencies converge on the school. Anguished parents gather at a nearby elementary school.

Five Major Organization Activities
Management -
Jefferson County Sheriff Department’s deputy and SWAT commander was the first to respond to Columbine High School. Lt. Manwaring requested both the SWAT Team and Command Staff be paged. The initial ICP was established at 11:36 a.m. Lt. Manwaring is the initial IC. The serve SWAT commander arrives on scene and begins trying to gather information for the IC from radio traffic. At 11:45 a.m. Lt. Welcher arrived on scene. Lt. Welcher assumed the role of IC. Lt. Welcher would retain the role of IC throughout the event. EMS and Fire operations were assigned to Fire Chief Pessemier. Police officers from Denver aided in crowd control, scene protection, explosive ordnance disposal, investigation, and interviews. The Colorado State Patrol (CSP) also assisted initial operations. CSP officers assisted in a variety of roles.

Operations –
In all, 35 different law enforcement agencies and 11 fire and EMS agencies would respond. Among them were:

Fire Departments fervent were Littleton Fire Department, Denver Fire, Englewood Fire, Sheridan Fire, South Metro Fire, West Metro Fire Protection District, and West Metro Fire Protection District.

Emergency Medical Services (EMS) involved were American Medical Response, Columbine Ambulance, Denver Health, Pridemark Paramedic Services, and Rural Metro.

Law enforcement agencies involved were Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Adams County Sheriff’s Department, Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office, Arvada Police Department, Aurora Police Department, Blackhawk Police Department, Boulder Police Department, Boulder County Sheriff’s Department, Central City Police Department, Columbine Valley Police Department, Commerce City Police Department, Denver Police Department, Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, Edgewater Police Department, Englewood Department of Safety Services, Police Division, Erie Police Department, Gilpin County Sheriff’s Department, Golden Police Department, Greenwood Village Police Department, Lafayette Police Department, Lakewood Police Department, Littleton Police Department, Northglenn Police Department, Sheridan Police Department, Thornton Police Department, Westminster police Department, and Wheat Ridge Police Department.

Government agencies involved were Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Colorado Bureau of Investigation, Colorado Attorney General’s Office, Colorado National Guard, Colorado State Patrol, Drug Enforcement Administration, and Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Planning and Intelligence -
School officials and external response agencies had only worked together superficially. During the incident, critical site data such as floor plans and classroom charts were not available. IC and Incident Management Team had to rely on hand drawn floor plans and second hand information from students, teachers, and administrators that had escaped. IC and Incident Management Team’s information collection was made more difficult by conflicting information between radio traffic and 911 calls.

Logistics -
Over 600 law enforcement, fire, and EMS personnel responded to the Columbine shooting. The shear number of responders produced many logistical challenges including interoperability between radios, marking identified staging areas, and even feeding all the officers.

Incident Management Team had very little credible information to view from. Lack of information caused a delay in SWAT teams entering the building. Three SWAT teams were available shortly after the incident began. However, they did not have credible information as to how many shooters, where the shooters were, or if they had hostages. Incident Commander and the Incident Management Team had to hold the teams until they had enough information to keep from sending the teams in “blind”.
Finance and Administration -

Columbine High School shooting involved agencies from local, state, and federal government. Exact cost figures were not available. Jefferson County Sheriff’s office estimates the response and following investigation at over $1 million dollars. Jefferson County Sheriff was determined to be the agency having jurisdiction. Initial funding of all operations was their responsibility. Over the next year many agencies would provide funds to the school, law enforcement, and victims to benefit alleviate costs.

Assessment
There has been school shooting prior to Columbine High School. One of these occurred in Jonesboro Arkansas. This shooting was one of the first ones that involved a very high level of planning and preparation. Klebold and Harris had procured and prepared firearms, ammunition, pipe bombs, Molotov cocktails, and propane bombs. They had even planned a diversion for emergency response personnel.

The number of casualties was partly produced by the incident’s timing. Students were outside eating, entering the cafeteria, and moving through the halls. Klebold and Harris knew the routine and chose an entry point that gave them access to multiple targets.

Columbine High School did have an emergency plan. However, like many plans of this time, they included only natural events. Neither teachers nor students had been trained in identifying suspicious behavior. One student was even warned of the event. Instead of alerting authorities, he went home. Proper identification could have reduced law enforcement’s response time, if not stopped the incident.

Personal Opinion
No one wants to see anyone hurt or killed. Columbine High School shooting did produce several well-known changes to school emergency preparedness.

Schools realized that they are not immune to terrorism. Schools began working with their local public safety professionals to identify ways to prepare for such emergencies. School emergency response plans now take an all-hazards approach. Trainings have been produced that voice school staff, teachers, administrators, and students how to identify potentially dangerous behavior. Congress funded a discover by the Secret Service that outlined exactly the steps that someone takes before actually committing an attack. This study gives warning signs that can be seen and acted upon.

Federal funding became available for these actions. Prior to this shooting, schools did not have the well-known funding for grand emergency preparedness. Congress dilapidated Columbine to push through legislation that provided funds for everything from emergency plan development to security cameras.

The most important lesson was that events could require the response from multiple agencies. This lesson changed the previous mindset that response agencies should only drill with other agencies in their town or county. The importance of regionalization was reinforced. Columbine was not the only event that reinforced this, however, it contributed to this awareness. Today, we have region Homeland Security Working groups in every site. Some places even have regional Hazmat and Urban Search & Rescue teams. All of these groups provide small communities with resources they would not otherwise have that are close enough to quickly respond.

References
Managing the Incident. n.d. CNN.com. Retrieved on December 3, 2009 from http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2000/columbine.cd/Pages/Managing.the.INCIDENT.htm.
Columbine Tragedy Timeline. n.d. Rocky Mountain News. Retrieved on December 3, 2009 from http://denver.rockymountainnews.com/shooting/timeline.shtml

Kansas City couples have some great choices for romantic getaways over a weekend. The nearby Ozark Mountains to the South near the border with Arkansas are so rich with history and beauty. What better way to acquire a weekend off to renew your romance? Lots of streams and rivers, plenty of romantic ambiance and the cool, beautiful woods and mountains are good here for you.

How about a romantic stay at a hilltop chateau in Branston, the town that rivals Nashville for entertainment and country music and live performances? Well this chateau stay is outside the typical Branston hooplah, and is romantic enough to acquire any weekend visit memorable. Their web site is full of information: http://www.countryclubhotel.com/

The Country Club Hotel & Spa at Lake Ozark Missouri is an ideal choice for a minute romantic pampering over the weekend. This is a luxury resort in the Ozark hills that’s just a few hours drive from Kansas City, just perfect for escaping the stresses of the workaday world of any couple. The landscape is breathtaking with woods, hills, the lake vista and fresh mountain air. This a perfect choice for couples wanting to escape the rush and hustle of their city lives and renew the romantic aspect of their relationship. They have a special Romantic spa package with champagne and chocolate strawberries that are offered on your arrival. You’ll have dinner entrees for two at their Bourbon Street Grill, one breakfast for two in the privacy of your room with a Deluxe room (an upgrade available to a suite). They also give you a voucher for a voucher for a free Osage Beach Premium Outlets VIP coupon book if couples want to splurge and shop for some upscale outlet bargains in the afternoon. There are tennis courts for the couples who may want to enjoy their favorite sport, and a heated indoor Olympic-sized swimming pool to relax in on chilly, rainy days! Four of the tennis courts are indoors for inclement weather! This place is luxury galore. You can even play a round of golf on one of the fine golf courses in the area. Call them and book a room for your romantic weekend now! (800) 964-6698.

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The setting here is the draw. It’s loveliness and tranquility will put the romance in any conclude, with the surrounding Ozark woods and the overlook of the ravishing lake. They are also having something special for Valentine’s Day, so try to book for that weekend and regain a special treat!

Sometimes a romantic weekend can be had right in your own city. Why not take some luxury time off in an AAA Four Diamond Award winning hotel that’s been host to world travelers and even Presidents for over 70 years! This is one of the country’s “grand old hotels” in every sense of the word. The hotel itself treats everyone who enters its doors to a step back into an pleasing, safe past. Their web space has wonderful pictures and tons of information about all the special features of their services: http://hotelphillips.com/index.asp. This Art Deco Hotel is luxury incarnate, with large rooms, unparalleled room service and features that include a lavish entry foyer with a curving stairway, plush carpets and statuary and magnificent chandeliers. Phone 816.221.7000 to book your weekend now.

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Chapter 1 “New World Order”

                "Welcome to Arizona" said the dusty sign hanging on it's
               arch with a sun logo designed in the old day's swinging back
               and forth. But no one really noticed it anymore in this land
               of one tremendous state.

               It used to be that illegal aliens were the only one who hid
               under the wheel wells when crossing borders but now it is the
               preferred method of the resistance. 

               The military has sophisticated ways to scan cars so even our
               hiding places are usually futile; But we try to muffle their
               sensors with metal magnets and other devices to deflect the
               radiation rays.

               Now our only hope is the native American trackers who can
               execrable soundlessly through the desert-"Shadow wolves" passing
               messages. Ironically they musty to track illegal aliens as
               they attempted to pass through borders. But these days, we
               are the illegals trying to travel through our bear country.

               It started after the military finally cracked down on borders
               but it was too late by then... Ranches has been overrun,
               cattle dull from ingesting the plastic bags and other garbage
               left behind by the border runners.  The government allowed
               them to run wild in a deliberate attempt to court favor with
               foreign governments and the new arrivals which they quickly
               christened "Democrats" and "naturalized citizens" shifted the
               vote to a leftist government in the blink of an eye.

               After they had enough to declare victory in the elections
               they gradually seized control centralizing the schools,the
               banks, health care, businesses until little vestige of a
               republic still stood ground.

               Small bands of people began to organize and hold vigils
               around landmarks like the Statue of Liberty and the Hoover
               Dam Bridge over the Gargantuan Canyon. They blocked roads to try
               and grab headlines. They posted Internet blogs. But then the
               government seized control of the Internet and blocked all
               communication with other bands of disconcerted American
               citizens. 

               The government now owned everything and our only hope for
               freedom is the decentralization tactics to create unrest
               among our comrades who only care if their check arrives on
               time.  If we can disrupt their checks we can start the murmur
               of unrest we need to be our distraction.

               Our heros are the few remaining blood Indians who can send
               messages in coded language and pass noiselessly though the
               desert.

               I perched soundlessly at the checkpoint waiting to see if the
               car made it through. I wore my cap low over my ears to hide
               the shock of thick platinum hair which created suspicion among
               the police officers. Normally I wore one of the many wigs
               which I am fortunate to have saved from my days as an
               celebrity impersonator and actress in the 90s   I never
               view I'd use them again---It was just nostalgia which
               prevented me from sending them off to the Goodwill store in
               the late 2000's   It was almost ten years later when the
               freedom force decided to wage war against the new world order
               which robbed us of our basic freedoms after the illegal
               population gave them the majority vote and they felt good to
               nationalize the country and then combine all countries into
               one stout centralized government. Europe had already started
               the process so it was easy to persuade the other continents
               to follow. In fact, most nations collapsing under the weight
               of debt and the fumes of factories making products no one
               could afford or even wanted to buy-- were happy to oblige. 

                 Jacob fiddled aimlessly impatient as I put on the Cher wig.
               "No, no  that one is ridiculously long---he waved at three
               feet of black weave which extended down my back. " How about
               Reba McIntyre I suggested?  " "No, no, your own hair is great.
               Let's go." We could have been going on a date from the sound
               of our conversation.  We were always aware of our
               conversation in case the house had been bugged by a covert
               visitor. But we weren't on a frivolous pace of fun. Those
               days were gone. We were preparing to pick up a visitor from
               the other side with crucial information on how the resistance
               was going in the other half of the country.  

               Jacob kissed me on the cheek for luck and I held his strong
               hand in mine.  I liked his hand it was calloused from years
               of hard physical labor and I stroked his beautifully muscled
               arm.  I drew my strength from watching the firm confident
               arch of his arm. It was if nothing could go wrong in the
               company of his confident body. Jacob was a man who acted
               purely on instinct honed by hundreds of generations scouting
               the land of his ancestors. And now he tucked his long black
               ponytail into a cap to blend in better with the general
               population and off we went for another day at the office.          

               Jacob was a half breed- American Indian and French Canadian.  
               He had drifted from status to place his whole life so he knew
               the back roads in his sleep.  He wandered the desert through
               his childhood and knew every crevice of the land.  He had the
               added advantage of a French Canadian mother who was a
               talented astrologer and scientist. His father had been a
               shaman. Yes, I know shamans are not supposed or have sex but
               even they slip up from time to time. And this fortunate
               seduction produced a amazing man. Most likely, the shaman a
               voyeur into the future knew that this child needed to be
               conceived in order to fulfill a sure destiny. So Jacob
               spent time with his father learning the traditional ways and tapping
               into his psychic power while his mother continued her work as
               a professor at McGill university in Canada. Jacob would join
               her-- on and off--from about the age of six. More off than on
               after the age of 16 when he began to wander the nation
               working as a picker of fruit with migrant workers and
               immigrants.        

               As a tracker,Jacob would normally drive the car to a trail
               and then hike towards the border meeting the messengers at
               rest stops along the highway.  We watched breathlessly as the
               police questioned the driver of the feeble Cadillac and scanned
               it with the wand. An expression exchanged between the
               officers told us disaster was going down.  They motioned for
               the car TO stop and the driver opened the car door as if to
               comply. Jacob raised his rifle and fired a shot into the
               distance which distracted the officers turning their heads in
               the opposite direction giving the driver a moment to act. 
               The car door closed and the engine gunned as the car moved 
               through the border.  Before the officer could pull out his
               weapon, or signal to lower the guard rail ---they were gone.

               We chose this border check point as this was one of the last
               holdouts from modern technology.  Few passed through from
               Needles to Laughlin now that the Mohave river had hasten dry.
               The border checkpoint kept the lanes free and put up orange
               cones as if that was going to stop people from rushing it
               while they roused themselves to check the car or truck.  

               This was a sleepy town with the occasional truck and it
               operated with a skeleton crew. There was talk of closing the
               courthouse and relocating the residents to another zone. But
               the oldest residents resisted the change and the government
               conceded that it was too dangerous to allow the highway to
               rot in case of an insurgence, this was a active escape route
               for resistors and nationalists who would certainly take over
               the town.  Even the local " meth heads" and drug dealers
               would be useful to cook up dangerous concoctions which could
               plot up mini explosion to keep the army at bay. 

                We also felt that the officers were most likely on our side,
               not ardent internationalists paid to promote the recent world
               programs. These were righteous old guys who grew up here and
               secretly sympathized with us. They missed their set and the
               pledge of allegiance to a national flag.

               They probably mild secretly partied on the 4th of July even
               though it was a forbidden holiday.  Patriotic days were a
               bittersweet time for those of us who remembered how it used
               to be in the United States of America. And we place on old
               records collecting dust in the basement playing Kate Smith
               and the national anthem. All of that was gone replaced by a
               new song to honor the world union and people were strongly
               encouraged to wear patches which identified their zone of
               residence to keep everything nice and orderly. Of course,
               none of that was really necessary now that people were fitted
               with microchips to track who they were and where they came
               from. This was more of a psychological border.  

               You can order military law but you can't always change the
               hearts and minds of the citizens to agree with it.

               We tried not to threaten or hurt the officers we only wanted
               the message bearers to get away. Hopefully, the officers
               would just shake their head and go benefit to their post with a
               little bit of luck.

               But unfortunately a military officer just happened to be
               there so that was not to be. He sounded the alarm and we
               waited for the chunky wrath of the helicopter scout crew to try
               and weed us out from the landscape of desert stragglers and
               travelers at the rest cessation.  

               I looked at Jacob trying not to panic, he hid leisurely the
               Joshua tree and motioned for me to go alone back to the
               picnic table while he sank into the desert landscape blending
               into the rocky landscape.

               I sat at the table digging a stick into the surface. I
               scribbled a message " Welcome to Arizona "  This would be a
               sign for the car passengers to find me if they made if far
               enough into the rest area to scatter and hit the road 

               I waited a moment for the car to enter the rest stop and a
               young man rolled out from the aid wheel cover compartment. I  
               put my head down as if I was a street person catching a nap.
               Out of the corner of my search for I glanced behind me and then back
               in his direction-- watching the figure depart on all fours
               toward me. He was very young, very fragile no more than 85
               pounds.

               But his face wore a resolute expression as he raced toward
               the table under the cover of the cloud of dust surrounding
               the car as it rolled around in a large circle giving him
               cover to perform his getaway. The car reversed at high speed and
               sped away from us and back onto 40. I imagine from there they
               would pick up lost on the ruins of route 66 where officers didn't
               bother to look anymore as the road scattered into pieces and
               nothingness. 

               The passenger waved the driver to go and the car lurched
               forward as the young man had rolled half walked over to my
               side. Obviously my disguise did not fool him. He saw my green
               eyes and knew I was his contact.   

                Welcome to Arizona I murmured holding out my hand and
               weaving rhythmically on the bench. He passed me the message
               rolled into an empty dark beer bottle and smiled a wan and
               weary smirk which belied his tender age. This was a boy born
               into the cause.  None of our children have childhoods
               anymore. 

               We live in an age, not like the industrial revolution, where
               boys are sent to perform the jobs of men. 

               This small red haired boy who ironically could have filled
               the role of Huckleberry Flynn as visualized by central
               casting, walked conchalantly with a cocky swagger past me
               onto the rest room just as the helicopter buzzed into range. 
               I heard the pilot mumbling his describe to headquarters as he
               buzzed so halt to me I could feel the wind and dust whirl
               into my face choking my larynx as I pretended to rob another
               swig from the bottle .  

               Fortunately, This intrepid manchild was safely inside the
               rest room as the pilot scanned the scene and saw only my
               dreary figure pretending to drink a non existent drink form
               the beer bottle and swaying as I sang into the arid desert
               air:' Gypsy tramps and thieves. I hear it from the town they
               called us gypsies tramps and thieves  

               I could hear the pilot in a Southern drawl chuckle into the
               mike Nothing here but an used hippie drinking her lunch" 

               His accent sounded like it might be Arkansas.  I searched my
               memory for the sound." Did he say that for my own precaution
               Or did he really retract this lame disguise  Do hippies really
               retreat to the desert and sing Cher songs? 

                Was I just a non existent person in his mind, harmless waste
               of the government's rationed resources. Or could this be a
               SIGN that he had our backs.

               I enjoyed being 40, It gave me a cover No one suspected a
               middle aged woman to be the mastermind of a plot to save the
               country.  And in addition, because of my age I had escaped
               the scourge of mandatory sensors. Children born after the
               year 2000 were secretly  implanted in the hospital,and anyone
               seeking medical treatment received one in the clinic.
               Fortunately, I no longer got traditional treatment after the
               year 2000. Jacob and I and I our followers practiced the
               natural arts.  Mandatory national healthcare did not bother
               us one bit. Without jobs, or unemployment checks, or chips--
               we virtually melted into the hardscrabble landscape, we had
               fallen off the radar.     

               In addition, Jacob had the additional advantage of no social
               security number or birth certificate. His father or mother
               had never bothered to obtain one for him and his life as an
               wandering migrant worker had not required he register with
               the government in nay way. In their viewpoint, he was a
               faceless illegal body moving through space.

               Unfortunately, I had a life before Jacob and the National
               resistance movement. I was the widow of a prominent attorney
               and my social security number, public documents, birth
               certificate and so forth, was a matter of international
               relate. The outline of my existence was firmly etched into
               the public consciousness of the supercomputer world and if
               the international government agency wanted to locate me, they
               could. But they didn't care to spy me out. I was just a
               faceless female soul wandering the desert to "Derive Herself".
               (That's what I told the mainstream socialites who asked me
               what I would do now that my husband was buried and the
               stepchildren I had adored where whisked back to Brazil with
               their natural grandmother who despised me. Somehow the courts
               had seen it fit to award her custody as she was a blood
               relative even though she didn't know them well at all, and I
               was the woman who had raised them after their mother's
               untimely death at the age of 35.)   

               So after admiring the red rocked beauty of Sedona and other
               touristy places, I retreated deep into the desert to explore
               my heart and soul. I mulled over the evidence of my former
               husband's suspicious death and realized he had been murdered
               to silence him. If I wanted to know the truth I had only to
               retreat and disappear deeper while building a case against
               his killers. My ex-husband was a good man who deserved that
               much from me.  What I didn't expect is that I would
               eventually fund a movement to restore sanity to the world.    

               And the next day I joined the underground revolution my
               husband had started unbeknownst to me in our little summer
               cottage. A perverse game of cat and mouse had begun between
               the people who saw themselves as patriots and the fresh world
               government determined to change the status quo once and for
               all. And my husband had been the first patriot to drop victim
               murdered accurate here at the foot of the Joshua tree outside
               our home.  It was my mission to achieve justice.

                I felt myself a worthy opponent to our Vice president A
               Cuban woman appointed after the fall or borders in 2012. Now
               that Mexico, Cuba, Canada, and South America was part of the
               American federation the president appointed Marisa Luban as
               the head of the North America state. It was largely symbolic
               as the Federation was really ruled by a group of Czars
               appointed by the recent president for life.   

                  It was as if someone had dropped happy gas into the air
               and we embraced the changes. Only a few protested onto the
               night and their voices were hollow predictions of a dictator
               ship and permanent martial law. People laughed at them and
               called them racist. Militias members were at first shunned
               and then hunted down and jailed.  Protestors sang songs about
               the first rebel a man named Carver whose family was shot in
               cold blood serve in the 80's, he predicted this day would come
               when ordinary citizens were jailed for practicing their first
               amendment rights. The first hints at despotism happened as
               early as that time but it turned a corner with the use of the
               Internet when groups who posted patriotic web sites were
               targeted for IRS audits in order to have an excuse to weed
               out zealots.  Ordinary citizens came under suspicion for the
               first time in American history. Still people closed their
               eyes and made excuses to themselves. " They must have been
               part of just wing militias with designs against the  
               government. This was the story people tried to occupy.   To
               lull themselves into complacency.

               A popular lullaby was that only unpleasant people are targeted and
               jailed by the FBI. Good people are left to mind their own
               business. If I am a good person I will be OK.

               It is this mantra all good citizens say to themselves before
               falling asleep. And many many people were asleep right now
               not willing to face their beget fears of globalization.

               They MUST have something to shroud. Americans are not jailed
               for voicing their opinions and gathering in survivalist
               groups. That CAN'T be illegal, can it? 

               Well, the surge against militia members was subtle and
               effective.  Web sites were too easy to spot, too easily
               targeted by the government who made sure the members were
               scrutinized and put on a watch list. Not terrorists, not
               crazy zealots, but sane ordinary people who had the temerity
               to call the current government an over reaching and unjust
               influence on the people. A corruption on the US constitution.

               It was the devout Christians and Protestants who suffered the
               most scrutiny and watched their freedom stripped away as
               crosses were banned and any kind of religious demonstration
               was deemed un-American. Separation of church and state became
               a convenient excuse to quell religious fervor and punish the
               European populations which first populated the nation
               formerly called North America. A odd wave of reverse
               discrimination seized the country led by ardent leftist
               groups who now dominated the Senate performing perverse laws
               of self flagellation for our collective history of past
               wrongs .  

               One Central American comedian joked that next week was "Beat
               yourself with a strap" day in Congress. Needless to say he
               was black balled from returning again to the tedious night
               comedy show. 

                In June OF 2011, the leading talk show host announced his
               retirement stating he had no ability to voice jokes for the
               novel atmosphere and he feared for his life from devout pro
               government extremists. Most other talk shows left the air
               involuntarily the following plunge. "Happy" talk reality shows
               replaced them. I had long since conclude watching television as
               most stations were charging to watch their programs and I am
               philosophically opposed to "Pay TV".    

                April 12, 2012, The day they stripped Arlington cemetery of
               crosses was the day I cried. My uncle Tim  who fought and
               died valiantly at the age of 23 in the Vietnam war and was
               buried there. A foolish West Point cadet, a voluntary patriot
               he was stripped on his  final dignity when a oval tablet was
               placed on his grave saying " Citizen Tim Byrne  1946- 1969
               Vietnam " Deliberately vague, as if Tim wandered onto a ship
               and fell off in a foreign country where he met his demise
               from food poisoning.  If the word " war" was removed from
               monuments, children of future generations would never
               comprehend why these plots of largely young people were
               buried in the middle of Washington DC on such famous land. 

                A subtle tactic that might have worked if the relatives of
               dead servicemen did not harbor their own resentment for the
               patriots who lay there unaware their holy ground has been
               desecrated by the unique president.  

               Groups began to "tag" monuments and public buildings with the
               word, " They died for your freedom" in spray paint. 

               The government saw it as a threat and banned all spray paint
               form being sold in North America.  But it was useless. People
               who hoarded paint had plenty of cans to spare and the
               uprising continued.  Even with around the clock surveillance
               tagging continued and the first cries of rebellion reached
               the ears of congress.  Anyone harboring spray paint in their
               homes or vehicles were charged with a felony.

               People young and old-- most surprisingly old--- were caught
               with spray paint in their possession.  It became a suitable way
               to get back at an ex- lover or neighbor. Turn them in under
               the spray paint law. Divorce accusations almost always
               included the accusation, Emotional distress, physical abuse,
               and possession of illegal weapons including spray paint.

               Households almost always had a can of paint hanging round
               somewhere the occupants had forgotten about. It was a great
               excuse for search warrants: Illegal spray paint.

               Yes, it would have been funny, were it not the cause of
               imprisonment and property confiscation.  Like the old broken
               taillight excuse, bored law enforcement officers could use it
               to search your car and drag the unwitting occupants off to
               jail in order to meet quotas.

               It became a way to search for papers of rebellion and secret
               messages against the fresh administration.

               What started as a spray paint search become a life sentence
               for criminals harboring anti government literature.  

               Urban anti government Terrorists would snap pictures of the
               offending graffiti for books called rebellion logs. They were
               circulated through out the world. 

               A weird kind of collector's items, like Indian artifacts,
               forbidden and desired at the same time. 

               But possessing one would almost certainly result in prison
               times as a collaborator.

               So people hid them in wine cellars like jugs of moonshine 
               during the prohibition. 

               People were hiding alot of things these days including old
               history textbooks from before the e-book revolution.

               Old textbooks were a problem for the government.  They could
               not be erased like computer files. They were black and white
               testimonials to patriotism and history and the constitution
               from the olden days which many people were fascinated to read
               and collect in their wine cellars or attics.  

               Textbooks became a currency to barter with for food or
               currency. Yes, folks I did say Textbooks." Those old battered
               things which used to be discarded every four years by the
               public school system. This became the only living testament
               to what people once lived and died for: The American
               traditions. The American Revolution. The branches of
               government. The laws by which people safeguarded their
               property rights, privacy,sovereign rights and freedom of
               religion.  But most importantly, the freedom to move around
               the country.  Or perhaps more importantly the map we
               prevented ample groups of people from moving here and
               subverting our government from the current intentions of
               George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.   

               Textbooks were an instrument to indicate our offspring how life
               was before the new world order sabotaged our notion of what
               it was to be a citizen of a great nation. 

               Now we were citizens of one mammoth dissolute world with problems
               spilling onto our shores in every direction. 

               We objective wanted to go back to being Arizona, or California, or
               New York or South Dakota when life was small and confined to
               our little towns and neighborhood.  

               " Welcome To Arizona" I scrubbed it clean and prepared to
               take the minute red haired boy home to the underground
               nation.  

















                                  

I remember years ago my aunt began to research our family history. I was a young adult doing my thing at the time and I didn’t pay much attention to what she and my mother discovered as they dug through file after file of information. I have never been fervent in history and I figured whatever those people back then did, it had nothing with me today. So, I went on about my business and they went on with their research. I had radiant much forgotten about their efforts until recently when my best friend and her sister began to search their own ancestry and I became very interested again.

I guess it is something that comes with age, this appreciation of knowing where ancestors came from and how they eventually ended up where they did, in this area. I have learned that it is not the interest in “history” that really sparks my attention; it is the connection to these people that I have in history that I find fascinating.

The first place they suggest that you start is to write down your name, age, date of birth, place of birth, and all of your immediate information. The next step is to write down your parents’ information from their date of birth, marriage dates, all the places they have lived, not just states but names of cities, towns, counties as well. When you have noted all this, then you should go on to note all the same information about your grandparents, aunts, uncles, and anyone else you know all of this information about in your lifetime. The one thing the lady at the library stressed to us was: “BE SURE TO DOCUMENT YOUR SOURCES”. It is far too easy in this computer age, for people who have no business doing so, to change information and unless there is, in fact, a source listed, you cannot be sure you are getting accurate information. Also, when you continue to search, you will find that keeping track of where you have looked and where you found your information will greatly help you in the future and save you a lot of time.

Now, I am not going to recount you I am an expert of all this because, in fact, I am just now learning how to begin to observe for my ancestors, so I have a lot to learn about the subject. My purpose for writing this is help steer you in the right direction to the people who do know and are experts.

The lady in my county that has done all the legwork and put all the informative material together is a member of the Craighead County Genealogy Society in Arkansas. Her name is Nancy Matthews and she has an absolute wealth of information that she has gathered and put together over the 12 years that she has been doing this. You can find her at THE GENEALOGY SOCIETY OF CRAIGHEAD COUNTY,ARKANSAS. P.O.BOX 2614, JONESBORO, AR 72042. . The book that Nancy and her co-workers have put together here locally is called “Walking Through Your Past” and it is totally chubby of facts, forms, websites, suggestions, cemetery information, instructions as to how to read the records found, information on how old census were taken, and a world of information on things I would not have even thought of to help with your historical journey. I would benefit anyone looking for this kind of information to contact the Genealogy Society in your town or county. My friends and I began at our county library and that is where we met Nancy. She has compiled a list of everything about everything and if there is something that she does not have a list for, she can tell you someone who does have one. I am sure that in every city or county library there is a genealogy specialist to help you with finding documents and books, I am fairly sure that you can find someone in your own community that is also an expert on historical information and I would say the best place to study for that person would be to visit your local public library. Also, if you live in a college town, any major university will have a wonderful library with information offered to you free of charge.

The first thing that surprised me, was to find out that the Church of Latter Day Saints hold more information about our US history, territories, settlements, counties, and people than any other source of information in my town. I would never have thought of checking with The Church of Latter Day Saints for records about my family because no one in my family was ever a member of that church. However, The Church of Latter Day Saints has tons of micro-film, war records, birth records, and death records that date serve to before the Spanish American War.

Their main library of course, is located in Salt Lake City, Utah. Family History Library – (801) 240-2331 – 35 N West Temple, Salt Lake City, UT Also, Sons of Utah Pioneers – (801) 484-4441 – 3301 Louise Ave, Salt Lake City, UT, but, you might be surprised to find, as I was, that the local Church of Latter Day Saints in your town may have all your family records on micro-film just waiting for you to discover them.

The next largest genealogy library is located at Ft.Wayne, IN. Genealogy Society near Ft Wayne – - (260) 337-5769 – 5680 County Road 75, St Joe, IN : Scottish Cultural Society of Fort Wayne – Indiana Highland Games. We learned that information from our area is already being compiled and printed to be shared with other libraries and that the Ft. Wayne, IN. Library communicates with our library regularly to share books and information. That is a great thing because it means any book that I might not be able to find here, I would probably be able ask my local library to contact the Ft. Wayne Library, and they might be able to send the information I needed for that particular chapter of my history.

The one other thing that totally impressed me was to find that this lady had compiled a list of cemeteries for not only my own town and county, but the surrounding towns and counties as well. I remember going with my parents and a couple of aunts and uncles to an over-grown cemetery way out in the middle of an empty patch of land when I was about 12 or 13 years old. They took shovels, hoes, rakes, buckets and all kinds of cleaning instruments to shapely that position up. As I steal, it took a week or maybe longer to get through the briers, weeds, and brush enough to see the old faded, broken headstones that were there. My dad said that was “OUR FAMILY” graveyard and we should try harder to keep it cleared off.

Well, years passed, and my parents both died and were buried in a cemetery we had bought plots in long ago. My aunts and uncles passed away and I had forgotten all about that cemetery. When I went with my friends to the library to aid with their research, we found out about a website that has listings of all the cemeteries in our area. I came home, logged on, and guess what? There was our little old cemetery in which my grandma and grandpa on my dad’s side of the family are buried. I could not believe my eyes!! Someone had actually gone out there, waded the weeds, the briers, the sugar cane, the swamps, and the snakes to find our cramped little cemetery, the “BROWN CEMETERY”. I almost cried. That is just an example of how dedicated to their work these improbable genealogy people are in my location.

So, that weekend my friends and I loaded up and set out to find our historical burial grounds. I could see it at a distance, but there is no longer a road to get to it, and it is no longer in an open field. There are grain dryers, farm equipment, a dwelling between it and the road and various other barriers to support me from getting to that former cemetery. My friends and I decided that rather than wade the astronomical snaky grass, we would wait for the first frost of the year to go explore that area.

My next quest will undoubtedly be to either find a way to get to the “BROWN CEMETERY” and peer just how badly it has grown up, once again, and try to obtain someone who will help neat it, or to find someone in authority that can tell me if it might be possible to proceed those people to a better, more respectful resting ground. I don’t know if that is even a possibility or not, but my first reaction was to want to move them to a place more suitable for them. I can honestly say: THAT is when the importance of my ancestry and the history of my family hit my heart. Now, I am also looking as often as I have time for my ancestors.

Anyway, the best place to launch to look is your local public library and you local genealogy society. One of the pieces of invaluable information they shared with us was to be aware of going on-line and starting an yarn with an ancestry website. The reason being, that websites and computer generated places change so quickly, that you might get well into your investigation only to find that that website has gone down or out no longer works and you have no way to retrieve the information you have worked so hard to find. Also, the peril I had with some of the on-line sites is that I would just win started and find something interesting only to be hit with a cover telling me that in order to get that information it would cost me so much money. That is why the library websites, and the state and county websites are the best ones because they are free. And, all this tells you that you should always have back-up information, whether it is hand-written, stored on a floppy, stored on a CD, or stored into a jump drive, you should be SURE that you have another copy of everything or maybe two or three copies of everything just to be sure your information is not entirely lost, should there be some sort of anguish. The method used to store and file all this information is up to you but we were told that you should pick one method or system and use it consistently. This helps keep your information more organized.

We were also told that a digital camera is almost the most valuable piece of equipment you can have when you are tracing your family history. You can use a camera not only to take a picture of a page in a book at the library instead of paying money for a paper copy of it, but also your camera can be used as a draw to journal you findings in each graveyard. Taking pictures of each family member’s grave, who they are buried beside, and pictures of what graveyard they are in can save you a lot of time when you open putting all of your information together because you can look at those pictures and know just exactly who was where and ticket it not only with words but with pictures. If someone had taken pictures of my family’s gravestones at the time of their burial, I would now be able to know the ones buried there that the stones are no longer readable or no longer exist, so I can definitely witness how a digital camera can be a very useful tool. I would never have view of that myself, so I was really impressed with that information given to us by Miss Nancy.

When I started getting interested in this, I had no idea there was so much involved in doing the research. I did not know there would be so many places to look for information, so many websites, books, county records, land records, marriage and divorce records, townships, communities, states, military records, probate records, naturalization records, delayed birth certificates, and various other records used to label people. Many times you can go to your local court house and look through file after file of information which will cost you nothing but time and energy. I know now, that is exactly what my mom and my aunt were doing back when I was much to into myself to care about my ancestry. I wish now, I had paid more attention to my mother, my aunt, and their search. I guess, as I said before, the appreciation for the past comes to us with age when we begin to realize how linked we really are to our ancestry. .

I hope the information I have given might help someone like me who is objective starting out on this adventure and give them an idea of a starting place so that you do not feel overwhelmed before you even launch on your search. The more you learn about each person as you go, the more interested you derive and I did not believe that until I started doing this myself. Each person will disclose a little more about who you are, where you came from and adds another small piece to your family puzzle. So, with that said, elated hunting, good luck, and don’t forget your camera. Oh, and DO NOT FORGET TO LIST YOUR SOURCES.

Statehood:

Mississippi joined the Union on December 10, 1817 as the 20th Location and is composed of lowlands, large bays, the Potomac Ridge, the Fall Line Hills, the Mississippi Sound, a coastline chubby of islands, Woodall Mountain, the highest elevation point in the State at 806 feet tall, the Mississippi River Delta, the Mississippi Alluvial Plain, many catfish aquaculture farms where most of the farm-raised catfish consumed in the United States are produced, and the Mississippi Delta, between the Yazoo and Mississippi Rivers, that contains some of the world’s most fertile soil.

Name:

Heavily forested, especially with pine, elm, cottonwood, oak, pecan, hickory, tupelo, and sweetgum trees, outside of the Mississippi Delta’s northwestern section of the State, and containing the Ojibwe Indian name “misi-ziibi,” meaning the “Great River,” Mississippi is bordered by Tennessee, Louisiana, Alabama, Arkansas, and the Gulf of Mexico.

Native Americans:

Along with the Prehistoric Mississippian Mound Builder Culture other Native American Indian tribes that resided in Mississippi included the Biloxi, the Chickasaw, the Choctaw, the Houma, the Natchez, the Ofo, the Quapaw, the Tunica, the Acolapissa, the Chakchiuma, the Koroa, the Mosopelea, the Opelousa, the Pascagoula, the Yowani, the Alabama, the Coushatta, the Caddo, the Apalachee, the Cherokee, the Creek, the Guale, the Hopewell, the Muskhogean, the Hitchiti, the Kansa, the Mobile, the Osage, the Pawnee, the Seminole, the Yamasee, and the Ojibwa.

History:

Originally inhabited by Prehistoric Mississippian Culture Mound Builders, whose earthen works remain throughout the Mississippi Valley, the Magnolia Plot was first encountered by the Hernando de Soto Expedition of 1540, followed by the French in April of 1699, who created the first European settlements at Fort Maurepas, Ocean Springs, and Fort Rosalie, or Natchez, which became the major town of their New Louisiana Territory.

Under French and Spanish Colonial governments the Territory that became Mississippi developed a Class of Free People of Color that included European men, enslaved women, and their multiracial children, who formed a third Class between European and enslaved Africans, and ceded the Territory to England under the 1763 Treaty of Paris following the French and Indian War.

Becoming part of the United States after the Revolutionary War, and organized on April 7, 1798, the Mississippi Territory, taken from parts of Georgia and South Carolina, became the 20th State of the Union on December 10, 1817.

Beginning in the 1850s cotton became the king crop grown in the State’s Delta and Shadowy Belt areas, and plantation owners became extremely wealthy owning many slaves, numbering about 436,631, or fifty-five percent of Mississippi’s total population in 1860, with most of them living along rivers that supported the plantations, leaving approximately ninety percent of the Delta as undeveloped frontier.

One of the founding members of the Confederate States of America, and the second to secede from the Union, on January 9, 1861, Mississippi typified the Jim Crow racial segregation laws of the early 20th Century, although at that time approximately two-thirds of all Mississippi farmers were ex-slaves and African-Americans, who eventually lost their lands and became Sharecroppers. Mississippi also experienced two Great Migrations of Blacks to Northern cities and the West Fly in search of a better way of life than the Residence offered.

Mississippi was an activity center during the Civil Rights Movement with Freedom Schools, the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission, White Citizen Councils, and KKK attacks that earned Mississippi the dubious distinction of being a Reactionary State in the 1960s, and in 1995 symbolically ratified the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution, that had been Nationally adopted on December 6, 1865 abolishing slavery, and prohibiting involuntary servitude except as punishment for a crime, and was the first Reconstruction Amendment following the Civil War.

Mississippi suffered extensive destruction by Hurricane Camille on August 17, 1969, and was further devastated by Hurricane Katrina on August 29, 2005, that destroyed ninety miles of the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

Brices Harmful Roads National Battlefield Site:

Located in Lee County, six miles west of Baldwyn, Brice Cross Roads, the only National Battlefield in the National Park System, and a National Register of Historic Places Spot, commemorates the June 10, 1864 Confederate Army’s victory over Union forces attempting to capture Tupelo during the Civil War, that secured supply lines between Chattanooga and Nashville, Tennessee, and temporarily kept the North out of Alabama and Mississippi.

Gulf Islands National Seashore:

Including barrier islands such as Petit Bois Island, Horn Island, East Ship Island, West Ship Island, coastal mainlands, bayous, salt marshes, southern magnolia forests, live oak forests, celebrated sandy beaches, Fort Pickens, Fort Barranca, Fort McRee, Advanced Redoubt, the Santa Rosa Peninsula, the Navel Live Oaks Native American archaeological area, nature trails, and abundant wildlife, the Gulf Islands National Seashore contains a one hundred and fifty mile long stretch of Mississippi and Florida.

Vicksburg National Military Park and Cemetary:

Including reconstructed forts, twenty miles of historic trenches, 1325 historical markers, two antebellum homes, the USS Cairo gunboat, the first American ship sunk by a torpedo, the Grant’s Canal site, and the Illinois State Memorial, with forty-seven steps, one for each day the town was under seige, the Vicksburg National Military Park and Cemetary preserves the May 18 to July 4, 1863 seige, battle, and surrender of the city that gave the United States control of the Mississippi River, and was considered the turning point of the Civil War. The December 26 to 29, 1862 Battle of Chickasaw Bayou and Walnut Hills, the January 9 to 11, 1863 Battle of Arkansas Post, the April 29, 1863 Battle of Grand Gulf, the April 29 to May 1, 1863 Battle of Synder’s Bluff, the May 1, 1863 Battle of Port Gibson, the May 12, 1863 Battle of Raymond, the May 14, 1863 Battle of Jackson Crossroads, the May 16, 1863 Battle of Champion Hill, and the May 17, 1863 Battle of Big Black River Bridge were all instrumental in Vicksburg’s eventual fall to Union forces.

Tupelo National Battlefield:

The Tupelo National Battlefield commemorates the July 14 and 15, 1864 Union victory in the Battle of Old Town Creek, the last major Civil War skirmish faught in Mississippi, that opened a route for General Sherman to march to Atlanta.

Natchez National Historical Park:

The Natchez National Historical Park contains the 1716 French-built Fort Rosalie, where the town of Natchez began, a Prehistoric Indian settlement known as the Grand Village of the Natchez, the William Johnson House, and the Melrose Mansion, a National Register of Historic Places site equipped with pre-Civil War furnishings.

Natchez Trace Parkway:

The Natchez Price Parkway, a 444-mile long two lane road featuring panaramic scenery of the original route of migratory American Bison along the low hills and ridges between Mississippi and the Cumberland Plateau, contains the Meriwether Lewis National Monument, the 1780-built Mount Locust Inn, one of the oldest structures in the State, the Mississippi Craft Center, the Rocky Springs Ghost Town, Cypress Swamp, the Ackia Battleground National Monument, Chickasaw Village, the Tupelo National Battlefield, and the Brices Inferior Roads National Battlefield Site.

Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail:

The Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail was an old Choctaw and Chickasaw indian footpath, used by various American explorers, that includes the Rocky Springs Tear near Port Gibson, the Ridgeland Trail north of Jackson, the Leipers Fork Trail south of Nashville, and the Tupelo Scamper.

National Forests:

National Forests in Mississippi include the Bienville National Forest, in the central part of the Spot, that contains approximately 178,542 acres, and the Bienville Wildlife Management Area, the Tombigbee National Forest, in north central Mississippi, that possesses about 66,000 acres, and is divided into the Coffeeville, Houston, and Ackerman units, the Homochitto National Forest, Mississippi’s first National Forest, and the heaviest producer of pace in the South, that contains about seventy-five percent of all the oil wells found on National Forest property in the State, the Delta National Forest in the Lower Mississippi Valley, that contains more than 60,000 acres and the Sunflower Wildlife Management Area, the Holly Springs National Forest, with its 156,661 acres in north central Mississippi, and the home of the Puskus, Chewalla, and Choctaw Lake Recreational Areas, and the more than 500,000-acre De Soto National Forest in Southeastern Mississippi overlooking the Gulf of Mexico.

State Parks:

Mississippi’s twenty-six State Parks are known as the Buccaneer State Park in Waveland that was closed by Hurricane Katrina, the Wall Doxey State Park at Holly Springs, the Clark Creek National Area west of Woodville, the Trace Plot Park reach Hamlet, where famed Frontiersman Davy Crockett once lived, the Clarkes State Park north of Quitman, the Tishomingo Site Park in the Appalachian foothills north of Tupelo, the Shepard Station Park west of Pascagoula, the George P. Cossar Residence Park east of Oakland on Enid Lake, the Roosevelt State Park near Morton, the Percy Quin State Park south of McComb, the Golden Memorial State Park east of Walnut Grove, the Grand Gulf Military State Park northwest of Port Gibson and the Ghost Town of Substantial Gulf, a Mississippi Landmark found on the National Register of Historic Places, the Paul B. Johnson State Park on Geiger Lake, the Natchez State Park near Stanton, the Great River Road Residence Park in Rosedale with unmatched scenic views of the Mississippi River, the Leroy Percy State Park at Hollandale, the Legion State Park and Historic District in Louisville, the Holmes County State Park at Durant, the LeFleur’s Bluff State Park near Jackson, where the State’s Capitol city began, the Lake Lowndes Station Park at Columbus, the Hugh White State Park in Grenada, the Lake Lincoln State Park in Wesson, the J.P. Coleman State Park reach Pickwick Lake, and the John W. Kyle State Park in Sardis.

Lakes:

Mississippi’s largest lakes include Arkabutla Lake on the Coldwater River in the northern part of the State, built after the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 to help alleviate damages caused by the continual overflowing headwaters of the Yazoo River, and featured in the motion picture O Brother Where Art Thou, Grenada Lake, on the Yalobusha River, Mississippi’s largest lake, and home of the Hugh White State Park, the Ross Barnett Reservoir, on the Pearl River, the State’s largest drinking water resource, Sardis Lake on the Little Tallahatchie River that is popular with University of Mississippi students, Marathon Lake, Shongelo Lake, Choctaw Lake, Lake Ferguson, Geiger Lake, Lake Lowndes, Lake Lincoln, Pickwick Lake, Gainesville Lake, Martin Lake, Lake Tom Bailey, and Enid Lake.

Rivers:

Major rivers found in the State of Mississippi include the Yazoo River containing at least twenty-nine sunken ships from the Civil War, the Tombigbee River, the Mississippi River, the Leaf River, the Strong River, the Homochitto River, the Bouie River, the Sucamoochee River, the Pascagoula River, the Eseatawpa River, the Dog River, the Noxubee River, the Chickasawhay River, the Stout River, the Buttahatchee River, the Tchoutacabouffa River, the Biloxi River, the Jourdan River, the Pearl River, the Yockanookany River, the Tangipahoa River, the Tickfaw River, the Amite River, the Big Black River, the Big Sunflower River, the Tallahatchie River, the Little Tallahatchie River, the Yalobusha River, the Shuna River, the Hatchie River, The Tuscumbia River, the Tennessee River, the Coldwater River, the Yazoo River, the Okatoma River, Mississippi’s only white water rapids area, and the Wolf River.

Delta Blues:

One of the earliest forms of Blues music originated in the Mississippi Delta, an state famous for its abstract poverty, and features the harmonica, cigar box guitar, slide guitar, and guitar as its dominent instruments, with vocal styles ranging from soulful to passionate to fiery to introspective. The Delta Blues style of music was first recorded in the gradual 1920s, although it definately existed long before that, when record companies realized the potential of the African-American music market for one person singing and playing recordings. Defined by its instrumentation, rhythm, “bottleneck” slide, and vastly different harmonic structure, some of the most famous early Delta Blues musicians included such Performers as Ishman Bracey, Tommy Johnson, Garfield Akers, Big Joe Williams, Son House, Charley Patton, Robert Johnson, Willie Brown, Bukka White, Lead Belly, Muddy Waters, Skip James, Elmore James, Memphis Minnie, Bertha Lee, Geeshie Wiley, and perhaps the most influencial woman to ever perform the Blues, Janis Joplin, primarily known for her version of such songs as “Piece Of My Heart,” and her biggest Hit the Kris Kristofferson Smash “Me And Bobby McGee,” and who’s life the motion describe The Rose, featuring Bette Midler, loosely portrayed.

Attractions:

Popular Mississippi Attractions include the Old Capitol Museum, the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science, the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Museum, the Mississippi Museum of Art, the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame, the State Capitol Complex, the City of Jackson Public Fire Education Center and Fire Museum, the Jackson Zoological Park, the Margaret Walker Alexander National Research Center, the Mississippi War Memorial Building, the Russell C. Davis Planetarium, the Presidential Library of Confederate President Jefferson Davis and his post-Civil War Beauvoir residence, the Tomb of the Unknown Confederate Soldier, the Biloxi Lighthouse, the world’s only lighthouse in the middle of a four lane highway, the Maritime and Seafood Industry Museum, the Civil War-era Longwood Plantation, a National Historic Landmark site, the Rosalie Mansion and Gardens home of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Natchez Museum of African-American History and Culture, the Natchez National Historical Park, the Natchez National Cemetary, the Grand Village of the Natchez Indians, the Vicksburg National Military Park, the Vicksburg Battlefield Museum, the Vicksburg National Cemetary, the Blues and Legends Hall of Fame, the Gulf Islands National Seashore, the Mississippi Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the Elvis Presley Birthplace and Museum, the Tupelo Automobile Museum, the Natchez Trace Parkway, the Tupelo National Battlefield, the Corinth Civil War Contraband Camp, the Crossroads Historical Museum, the Delta Blues Museum, the Mississippi Armed Forces Museum, the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center, the Windsor Ruins Historic Natchez Cemetary, the Mississippi Delta, the Birthplace of Kermit the Frog Exhibit, the Brice’s Crossroads National Battlefield, the Oprah Winfrey Birthplace, the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience, the Jim Henson Museum, the Biedenharn Candy Company Museum where coca-cola was first bottled in 1894, the Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo, and the Mississippi Delta riverboats.

Jackson:

Named for Andrew Jackson, and possessing the wellknown slogan of “Jackson, Mississippi: City With Soul,” the capital of the State of Mississippi was ranked Number Three on Forbes Magazine’s list of Best Bang For Your Buck Cities in the United States.

Originally part of the Choctaw Nation Jackson was acquired by the US under the September 27, 1830 Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, and was known as Parkville on the Natchez Trace, then as LeFleur’s Bluff.

The October 18, 1820 Treaty of Doak’s Stand opened the area around Jackson to non-American settlers, and the city began growing before the Civil War due to railroads linking Jackson to major towns of the time located along the Mississippi River.

The city of Jackson fell twice to Union forces during the Civil War, first on May 13, 1863 during the Battle of Jackson, and again on July 4, 1863 during the Siege of Jackson. Abandoned by the Confederate Army, and burned by Union forces, Jackson earned the name “Chimneyville” because only the chimneys of houses survived the fires set by the Union forces.

From 1961 to 1963 Jackson was a hotbed of activities surrounding the Civil Rights Movement including the arrests of more than three hundred Freedom Riders on May 24, 1961, the arrests of Black Tougaloo College students for reading books in the “Whites Only” library, making the town a spot on the Civil Rights Trail, Sit-Ins by the Freedom Movement, and the June 6, 1966 James Meredith March for Civil Rights legislation, earning the city one year of martial law, the only US city to endure that distinction in the Twentieth Century.

The International Headquarters of the Phi Theta Kappa Two-Year Colleges Honor Society is located in Jackson.

Jackson was popularized in American Country Music by the Johnny Cash song “Jackson,” and is famous as the home of Gospel Music, Rhythm and Blues, and The Blues.

Major industries that have been found in Jackson include railroads, manufacturing, natural gas, aviation, medicine including the first successful cadaveric lung transplant operation, music, electrical equipment, processed foods, fabricated metals, casinos, and agriculture products such as soybeans, poultry, cotton, and livestock.

Major Corporations that have been located in Jackson include the Trustmark Banking and Financial Services Corporation, EastGroup Properties Incorporated, Cal-Maine Foods Incorporated, Parkway Properties Incorporated, the Canadian National Railway, the Kansas City Southern Railway, and Amtrak’s City of Current Orleans passenger trains.

Common Jackson area Attractions include the Smith-Robertson Museum and Cultural Center, the Celtic Heritage Society of Mississippi, the Jackson Zoological Park, the Municipal Art Gallery, the Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum, the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, the Mississippi Museum of Art, the Malaco Records Recording Studios, the Gold Coast, the USA International Ballet Competition, CelticFest Mississippi, the Capital Complex, the Russell C. Davis Planetarium, the Oaks House Museum, the Eudora Welty House and State Historical Museum, the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum, the Medgar Evers Home Museum, The City of Jackson Fire Museum, the Mississippi Blues Trail, the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science, the Mississippi History Museum, and the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium.

Gulfport:

Incorporated July 28, 1898 the co-County Seat of Harrison County was severely damaged on August 29, 2005 by Hurricane Katrina.

Part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore Gulfport is the home of the “World’s Largest Fishing Rodeo,” historic antebellum homes, barrier islands, and famous beaches.

Major industries that have been located in Gulfport include shipping, fishing, trot, casino gambling, retail merchandising, hospitality, and healthcare.

Popular Gulfport area Attractions include the Lynn Meadows Discovery Center and Children’s Museum, the Fun Time USA Amusement Park, Ship Island, the St. James Fall Festival, the Fire in the Sky Freedom Fest, the Christmas Festival of Lights, the Gulf Islands Waterpark, the Gulfport Centennial Museum, the CEC Seabees Memorial Museum, Beauvoir, the Jefferson Davis Home and Presidential Library, the Oktoberfests, the Scottish Games & Celtic Festival, the Winter Classics Horseshows, the Gulfhaven Gardens, the Biloxi Lighthouse, and the Historic Waveland City Hall.

Hattiesburg:

Founded in 1882 the Forrest County Seat began as a lumber and railroad center and became known as “The Hub City” as a result of a 1912 local newspaper contest and because of its location.

Hattiesburg was first settled by pine timberland workers from Georgia and the Carolinas attracted to the region by the 1897 walk verbalize.

Hattiesburg can be found on the Bouie and Leaf River junction, and is the home of Camp Shelby, the largest National Guard Training Base east of the Mississippi River.

Heavily involved in the Cold War Nuclear Arms Hasten, Hattiesburg was the site of Nuclear Test Salmon and Nuclear Test Sterling, from the Project Dribble Program’s Vela Uniform and Project Vela, when two nuclear devices were exploded in the nearby salt domes of Lumberton in the 1960s.

The Civil Rights Movement of Palmers Crossing’s African-American community, after Clyde Kennard, a Korean War veteran who applied to attend Mississippi Southern College, an all-White school, was framed for a crime he did not commit and served seven years in Parchman Prison, the oldest and only maximum security prison for men in the State of Mississippi, the Freedom Summer of 1964, the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, and heavy KKK attacks on Blacks, all made Hattiesburg an activities center for Civil Rights during the 1960s.

Parchman Prison was where Elvis Presley’s Father, Vernon Presley, served a three year sentence for Forgery, and a illustrious picture of Elvis and his parents at the prison calm exists.

Ranked by CNN as a Top 25 Growing Business City major industries that have been found in Hattiesburg include railroads, lumber, food processing, filing supplies, plumbing manufacturing, electric home appliances, coffee, and paper-based consumer products.

Major Corporations that have been located in Hattiesburg include the Southern Railway System, the Gulf and Ship Island Railroad, the Illinois Central Railroad, Amtrak, the Norfolk Southern Railway, the Canadian National Railway, the Kansas City Southern Railway, the Kohler Engine Company, the Northeast Coca-Cola Bottling Company, the International Filing Company, Mr. Coffee, Sunbeam Products Incorporated, and the Kimberly-Clark Corporation.

Favorite Hattiesburg spot Attractions include the Hattiesburg Zoo, the African-American Military History Museum, the Mississippi Armed Forces Museum, the All-American Rose Garden, the Hattiesburg Area Historical Society Museum, The de Grummond Children’s Literature Collection, the Pep’s Point Water Park, the Hattiesburg Arts Council Gallery, and the Historic Hattiesburg Driving Tour.

Biloxi:

With a three hundred year old history Biloxi lays on the Mississippi Sound with its barrier islands scattered into the Gulf of Mexico.

The first settlement of French Louisiana, Biloxi was founded as Fort Maurepas in 1699, and became the capital city of the Territory from 1720 to 1723, but was ceded to England by the Treaty of Paris after the Seven Years War ended.

England and Spain ruled Biloxi from 1763 to 1798, and in 1811 the United States gained control of the city as part of the Territory of Mississippi.

Biloxi has been a Summer Resort since before the Civil War began and a casino town since the 1940s.

On August 29, 2005 Hurricane Katrina destroyed about ninety percent of the buildings along the Biloxi cruise including the floating casinos, libraries, and churches in the spot.

Major industries that have been found in Bilox include the military, tourism, railroads, food preservation, casinos, cotton, commercial fishing, and seafood.

Major Casinos that have been located in Biloxi, on the “Poor Man’s Riviera,” include the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, the Grand Biloxi Hotel, Casino and Spa, the Beau Rivage Resort and Casino, the Casino Magic, the President Casino Broadwater Resort, the Isle of Capri Casino Hotel, the Boomtown Casino, the Love Bay Casino and Hotel, the IP Casino Resort and Spa, the Palace Casino Resort, and the Bacaran Bay Resort.

Popular Biloxi area Attractions include Ship Island, the Beauvoir, the post-Civil War home and library of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, the Biloxi Tour Train, the Biloxi Island Lighthouse, the Mardi Gras Museum, the Maritime and Seafood Industry Museum, the 1836-built Grass Lawn Milner Home Showcase on the Mississippi Sound, the Crusin’ the Coast Car Parade, the J.L. Scott Marine Education Center and Aquarium, the Biloxi Historical Walking Tour, the Biloxi Shrimp Festival and Blessing of the Fleet, and the Ohr/O’Keefe Museum of Art.

Greenville:

Known as the heart and soul of the Mississippi Delta, and found in Washington County, on the eastern bank of the Ferguson River, Greenville was the birthplace of Muppet creator Jim Henson.

Greenville contains a illustrious courthouse, several historical plantations, churches, buildings, and cemetaries, Cotton Row, and Old Highway 61, the route the Blues traveled from the Delta to the Industrial North.

The noted bearhunter and ex-slave Holt Collier trapped a absorb for President Theodore Roosevelt to shoot while on a hunting trip in Greenville, and when Roosevelt could not shoot it, the Teddy Bear was born.

Resulting from the first village fading away after the American Revolutionary War, and the second hamlet being destroyed in the May 1863 Battle of Vicksburg, Greenville is the third city in Mississippi to possess that name.

In August 1877 Yellow Fever ravaged Greenville, and in 1890 the city suffered its first major flooding by the Mississippi River, then was destroyed again by the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, but grew into the largest river port on the Mississippi River.

Major industries that have been found in Greenville include cotton, shipping, agriculture, education, newspapers, trek, and casino gambling.

Major Corporations that have been located in Greenville include the Delta Democrat Times Newspaper, the Chicago Mill and Lumber Company, the Harlow’s Casino Resort and Hotel, the Lighthouse Point Casino, the Bayou Caddy’s Jubilee Casino, and more.

Current Greenville area Attractions include the Nelson Street Chitlin’ Circuit Blues Clubs, the Winterville Mounds Historic Site from the Mississippian Indian culture, the Holt Collier National Wildlife Refuge, the 1857 Belmont Plantation, one of the very few Antebellum homes not burned by Union forces during the Civil War, the Cottonlandia Factory Museum, the Belzoni Historical Museum, the Old Number One Fire Museum, and the Mississippi Delta.

Series:

The United States Series I am writing here on associatedcontent.com provides an indepth gape at all fifty States that make up this Great Country of ours and their five largest cities.

The fresh list of Articles for the United States Series I have published to date includes:

So This Is Sweet Home Alabama
Alaska – The Land of the Midnight Sun
Arizona – The Valley of the Sun
Arkansas – People of the South Wind
California – The Golden Gate, Earthquakes and Grizzly Bears
Colorful Colorado – The Rocky Mountains, Skiing, and High Technology
Connecticut – The Land of Steady Habits
Delaware – The Shrimp Wonder
Florida – The Snowbirds R Us State
Georgia – Goobers, Peaches, and Buzzards
Hawaii – Luaus, Pineapples, and Beaches
Idaho – The Gem of the Mountains and Potatoes State
Illinois – Mining, Factories, and Labor Unions
Indiana – Land of Steel and Ducks
Iowa – The Ethanol and Food Capital of the World
Bleeding Kansas America’s Flattest State
Kentucky – The Land of Tomorrow
Louisiana – The Child of the Mississippi
Maine – Lobsters, Lighthouses, and Black Bears
Maryland – The “Oh Say Can You See” State
Massachusetts – The Cradle of Liberty
Michigan – The Automotive State
Minnesota – The Bread and Butter State

Comments from readers are always welcome so let me know what you believe about these Articles.

Sources:

This Article was compiled from several websites that provide much more information about Mississippi including:

visitjackson.com, gulfport.ms.us, discoverourtown.com, gulfcoast.org, and visitgreenville.org

Despite the efforts of aggressive conservative and religious groups, gay and lesbian couples have won the right to adopt children in many states. Although some states still prohibit gays and lesbians from adopting – by way of de facto rules or actual laws – the growing number of displaced children in the United States is forcing some to change their site. While both sides continue to debate the rights of gay and lesbian couples, thousands of children remain homeless.

The key issue is finding a loving and stable home for displaced children, yet religious and political groups continuously try to overshadow the real problem by turning the state into an anti-gay crusade. I own it’s time to redirect our focus to the core problem and take a person’s sexual preferences out of the mix. In my belief, there are some rather simple solutions to this crisis. Any respectable individual or couple that is willing and able to provide a good home to a child that needs one should be given the right to do so, regardless of sexual orientation. Denying gays and lesbians from adopting is fair as unacceptable as denying a person because of their race or religion – it’s a blatant act of discrimination.

Luckily, some states appear to be on the right track. “Child-welfare organizations [have] banded together to get legislatures to allow any qualified parent to adopt, irrespective of sexual orientation,” says Rob Woronoff, Program Director at the Child Welfare League of America in Washington (Padgett, 2007). Changes is some of the adoption restrictions began in 1997 when Congress pushed states to catch homes for approximately 120,000 children that were waiting to be adopted.

Since each individual state has the right to choose their own guidelines for foster care and adoption, some have modified their laws to allow gays and lesbians to bewitch these children into their homes. Ironically, some of the very states that now permit gays and lesbians to become foster or adoptive parents strongly oppose gay marriage. For example, Colorado signed a bill making it legal for gays and lesbians to adopt in 2007 – just one year after they passed a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. While some view this adoption change as a win for the gay community, others know that the change was not made in wait on of gay rights. Colorado adoption attorney Seth Grob clarifies this by mentioning that “[the bill] was presented predominantly as child-friendly, not gay-friendly,” (Padgett). Regardless of what kind of message changes like this send to the rest of the U.S., the states need to remain focused on the ultimate goal: finding a good home for every child that need ones.

One of the biggest and most baffling flaws in the system is the apparent contradiction in rules between child foster care and adoption. How can a person that has been providing foster care to a child, sometimes for several years, be denied the right to adopt that child because they are gay? The answer couldn’t be anything less than hypocritical. For instance, the status of Florida has a specific law that bars gays and lesbians from adopting, but these same individuals can become foster parents (O’Neill and Bell, 2005). Since a foster parent is expected to provide the same standard of care as any legal parent would, then it only makes sense to have synonymous guidelines for foster care and adoption. Instead, we have people like Frank Martin Gill of Miami, Florida fighting an unnecessary battle to adopt two brothers that have been in his care since 2004. In November 2008, Gill experienced a small victory when a higher court ruled in his favor – not only did Judge Cindy Lederman overrule a lower court’s decision and grant the adoption, she also ruled that the state’s adoption ban was unconstitutional (Ruggeri, 2008).

Although Judge Lederman is not the only official to challenge the adoption ban, the reality that the law will be reversed is unlikely. In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal filed by four gay foster parents who argued that Florida’s gay adoption ban was preventing abandoned children from being placed in profitable homes (O’Neill and Bell). The Supreme Court’s silence on the matter may seem harmless, but it actually adds fuel to the fire by motivating conservative groups to push more states to pass the same kind of laws. Without an act of Congress or assist from the U.S. Supreme Court, the problem will continue throughout the nation – which may result in an ever-growing number of homeless and abandoned children.

Those who agree with and continue to fight for the ban on gay and lesbian adoption believe that they have a solid argument to support their stance. One popular viewpoint focuses on lifestyle. State defenders have contended that mental illness and addiction problems are more prevalent in gay people. I suppose this would be a reasonable estimation if it was based on valid, scientific research. Unfortunately, many experts have proven that these problems are just as celebrated in other demographic groups (Ruggeri). Without any supporting data, statements like this become nothing more than stereotypical opinions.

Another major thought on gay and lesbian adoption focuses on the need for both a Mother and a Father. Bill Maier, Vice President and Chief Psychologist for Focus on the Family in Colorado, states that permitting gays and lesbians to adopt “hurts children because it intentionally creates motherless or fatherless families” (Padgett). Even though there are strong points that can be made about the benefits of living in a traditional household, it doesn’t mean that a child would be better off homeless than living in a non-traditional setting. In fact, there are no reliable scientific studies that display that children of straight parents have any advantage over those children of gay parents (Ruggeri). The American Academy of Pediatrics confirmed this in 2002 when they reported that the “heath, adjustment and development” of children between both groups was the same (Padgett).

In spite of strong opposition and lack of aid from the U.S. Supreme court, gays and lesbians still have a chance of winning their fight to adopt based on one fact: it would have a substantially negative impact on our economy. Just as conservatives were making headway on a move to ban gratified adoption in Arkansas, the bill died after a report was released by the Williams Institute at UCLA. The report pointed out that banishing gays and lesbians from the foster and adoptive care system would cost U.S. taxpayers approximately 130 million dollars each year, and would leave between 9300 and 14,000 children displaced nationwide (Weigel, 2007).

So far, efforts to ban gay and lesbians from adopting seem to be doing more damage than good. I also reflect that regardless of one’s position on gay rights, we can all agree that a child deserves a good home. A good home, in my opinion, is defined as a place where one feels loved, protected and cared for – the key principles in helping a child grow. If a person can offer a good home to a child in need, and passes all practical requirements such as background, financial and criminal checks, then there are really no questions left to ask. The bottom line is that a person’s choice in partners has nothing to do with their ability to love a child.

Work Cited References

Padgett, Tim. “Gay Family Values.” Time Magazine. 16 July 2007: 51-52.

Weigel, David. “Foster follies: the cost of anti-gay discrimination.” Reason 39.3 July 2007: 12(2).

Ruggeri, Amanda. “Judge in Miami Rules Florida Ban on Gay Adoption Unconstitutional.” U.S. News & World Report 25 Nov 2008.

O’Neill, Ann W., and Maya Bell. “Supreme Court won’t intervene in case involving gay adoption ban.” Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service 11 Jan 2005: K3104.

It was 12 January 1998. There were many significant events that would occur on this date. Robert Dole, a former Senator, became a foreign agent for Taiwan when he signed a contract for $30,000 per month. The Eagles and Fleetwood Mac became members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Columbia Broadcasting Service and Fox signed deals for around $4 billion dollars each so they could televise National Football League games on Sundays. In Paris, a ban on human cloning was signed by nineteen European countries. It was announced in Germany that the government would pay $110 million in pensions over a five-year period to survivors of the Holocaust in Eastern Europe. It was reported in Venezuela that one-hundred and forty dolphins had been found dead after they washed ashore on La Tortuga Island. Reddish marks on the dolphins stomachs were the only signs of any external wounds. One-hundred and twenty people were killed in Algeria when gangs of men threw bombs into a Haouche Sahraoui mosque and a Sidi Ahmed movie theatre.[1] These are all very significant events, but there was one event that occurred on 12 January 1998 that may have carried even more significance.

On this day, Linda Tripp contacted the Office of the Independent Counsel to let its staff know that she had been taping her phone calls with Monica Lewinsky.[2] This act itself would not have been terribly notable, but recording conversations with a woman who claimed to have had an affair with the president was extremely primary, especially when the dialogue contained principal information pertaining to the affair involving President Bill Clinton as well as its alleged cover-up. Furthermore, the president’s friend, Vernon E. Jordan Jr., might be linked, through the evidence found on the tape, to these events, and to attempts at obstruction of justice in the Paula Jones case.[3] Because of the phone call from Tripp and the ensuing lies told by President Clinton under oath in the Paula Jones case, what followed was an expanding investigation of his private life, specifically concerning Monica Lewinsky. The investigation was led by the Office of the Independent Counsel, which in turn was led by Kenneth Starr. This paper will examine why Clinton alone must be forced to take responsibility for the investigation based on his un-ethical actions during and prior to the Jones case. This paper will also examine how Starr and his staff waged a small war on Clinton throughout the investigation in an effort to destroy his presidency. It was an investigation that saw the Office of the Independent Counsel and Ken Starr play unfairly and unethically at times.

How did Ken Starr and his staff get tangled up in the Clinton-Lewinsky saga? Starr took the reigns of the Whitewater probe on 5 August 1994 when the Special Division went against Attorney General Janet Reno’s wishes and appointed Starr as the leader of the probe.[4] The term “Whitewater” refers to an investigation of the Clintons, concerning their involvement in an unsuccessful exact estate deal that occurred in the early 1980s in Arkansas.[5] Once an independent counsel was appointed, he did not have to retort to anybody—except the Special Division. The Special Division was chosen by Chief Justice William Rehnquist and consisted of three federal appeals judges. This panel of men was given the ultimate authority over any sanctions that might be levied against the independent counsel for disciplinary reasons. It also had the final authority when it came to dismissing an independent counsel for misbehavior.[6] When Starr was appointed as independent counsel, he replaced Robert Fiske, who was relieved of his duties. According to the Special Division he was removed because it was “in the best interest of the appearance of independence . . . that a person not affiliated with the incumbent administration be appointed.”[7]

When taking a detailed look at the process that was used in choosing Starr, one has to wonder if there was any way this investigation could have been handled ethically and fairly. Shortly after Chief Justice Rehnquist selected Judge David Sentelle to preside over the Special Division, the panel responsible for appointing independent counsels, Robert Fiske was fired. Judge Sentelle, a protégé of Senator Jesse Helms, an ultraconservative Republican,[8] was very conservative politically. The panel he presided over was made up of three men; one of the other judges who served on this panel was also known as a conservative judge. Ultimately, then, Judge Sentelle was free to do as he wished as far as appointment of independent counsels was concerned. On 5 August 1994 Starr was named as Fiske’s successor. Starr, unlike Fiske, had no experience from a prosecutorial standpoint. The lack of experience, however, was not the cause of the unfair investigation. What kept this investigation from being conducted in a proper way was how conservative and partisan Starr was, especially when compared to Fiske. Judge Sentelle claimed that he replaced Fiske for the sake of appearance. He felt that Fiske’s relationship with Clinton’s administration was too close since Janet Reno, Clinton’s attorney general, had appointed him to independent counsel.[9] So, surely the man appointed by Judge Sentelle and his staff must not have any connections at all with either side. This concept was far from the truth.

This decision by the Special Division reeked of party politics. Starr made it clear that he was an advocate of the Paula Jones sexual harassment lawsuit against the president. If making television appearances were not enough, Starr even volunteered to compose a friend-of-the-court brief for Jones. Past presidents of the American Bar Association, five of them in all, came out in opposition to Starr’s appointment because of the clear political prejudice that motivated the Special Division’s decision. Obviously, Starr probably never seriously considered stepping down. His prejudice against Clinton was one of the main criteria considered upon his appointment. Furthermore, once it became known that Judge Sentelle had lunch with Republican Senator Lauch Faircloth, a man who strongly opposed Fiske, and Jesse Helms, shortly before Fiske was fired, it became even more apparent that the appointment of Starr was based on party politics.[10]

How could Judge Sentelle’s panel have honestly understanding that Starr would be a good independent counsel? They did get the independent part right concerning Clinton. Although Starr may not have been a great supporter of Clinton, he was not closely associated to the president. The plight was that Starr was connected to Clinton’s enemies.[11] Judge Sentelle knew exactly what he was doing when he appointed Starr as independent counsel. In legal circles, it was known that Judge Sentelle had a fairly legitimate shot at serving on the Supreme Court in the near future.[12] Undoubtedly, Judge Sentelle also knew he had a shot. He also knew that his chances would be much better if Clinton was defeated by a Republican in his 1996 re-election announce.[13] Considering these events, the decisions made by Judge Sentelle and this panel were not ethical or fair.

A limited over five months after Starr had been appointed as the independent counsel, he conducted a private interview with the Clintons concerning Whitewater. Just a month after the interview occurred, Lewinsky began her work as an intern at the White House.[14] It is improbable that the event that would come to define Starr’s investigation of Clinton was not even the event that Starr was brought on the job to investigate. Furthermore, the occurrence did not even take place until a little over a year after Starr was appointed as independent counsel. While doing her internship, Lewinsky worked in the office of Leon Panetta, chief of staff for President Clinton. According to the audiotapes given to the Office of Independent Counsel by Linda Tripp, the sexual affair between Lewinsky and Clinton began in November 1995.[15]

On 22 January 1996 Starr subpoenaed Hillary Clinton, and four days later she appeared before a grand jury to discuss some of her prior billing records. It was the first time that a sitting president’s wife had ever been subpoenaed. On 4 March 1996 Jim Guy Tucker, who was the unusual governor of Arkansas, and James and Susan McDougal, a couple that had been business associates with the Clinton’s in the past, were put on trial as part of the Whitewater investigation. All three of them were convicted on 28 May 1996 on almost all of the conspiracy and fraud charges that Starr had brought against them.[16]

While this trial was going, Lewinsky had gotten a job at the Pentagon, working under Ken Bacon, a spokesman for the Pentagon. Evelyn Lieberman, who was Deputy White House Chief of Staff, initiated the move. According to the New York Times, Lieberman said that the move was based on Lewinsky’s “infamous and immature behavior”[17] along with her negligence of work. This decision put Lewinsky and Tripp on a fateful collision course. Tripp, who worked at the Pentagon, had been a government worker for most of her career. It was in the summer of 1996 that Lewinsky opened up to Tripp about her alleged affair with Clinton.[18]

A year later, one sees a drastic change in Starr’s investigation of Clinton. On 25 June 1997 the Washington Post reported that Starr’s Whitewater investigation team had been questioning region troopers in Arkansas to notice if they had any knowledge of Clinton’s extramarital affairs when he was governor of Arkansas. The article also stated that Federal Bureau of Investigation agents had questioned numerous women who had prior connections to Clinton. According to the sources, this attempt by Starr’s office was to locate women whom Clinton may have confided in so that, as a result, these women might be able to verify the accuracy of sworn statements made by Clinton during the Whitewater investigation. As the article notes, “The nature of the questioning marks a sharp departure from previous avenues of inquiry in the three-year-old investigation. . . . “[19]

Then, in the fall of 1997, a little over a year after Lewinsky and Tripp had met, Tripp began to tape their phone conversations. In these exchanges, Lewinsky revealed details about the sexual relationship she had with the president.[20] Tripp did not keep her tape-recorded conversations with Lewinsky a secret. On 6 October 1997 Tripp met with Lucianne Goldberg in Washington, D.C., to exchange some tapes that Tripp had recorded.[21] Many people possess that Tripp’s sole motivation behind recording these tapes was to use them in a book that she was going to write called Behind Closed Doors — What I Saw at the Clinton White House. Goldberg was going to help her write the book.[22] Goldberg had received two tapes from this meeting with Tripp. In January 1998 she turned them over to the Office of the Independent Counsel.[23] More of Tripp’s tapes were turned over to the Office of the Independent Counsel in January of that same year by Jim Moody, Tripp’s attorney. On 3 March 1998 Special Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, along with Tripp and her new attorney Anthony Zaccagnini, did a search of her home that resulted in three additional tapes. Then, on 17 March 1998, Zaccagnini turned in another tape that Tripp had recently found in her home.[24] All in all, Tripp taped twenty hours of her conversations with Lewinsky.[25]

What does recording phone conversations have to do with playing unfairly and playing ethically? It has nothing to do with it unless you live in one of the nine states where taping conversations is illegal. Maryland, the state Linda Tripp called home, just happened to be one of those nine states. In Maryland, one-party taping, even if a person records just one tape, can result in a felony conviction. This conviction can carry a prison term of up to five years and a fine of ten thousand dollars.[26] The man who took Tripp’s call on 12 January 1998 was Jackie Bennett, Starr’s deputy.[27] During the conversation, Tripp made it obvious that she was worried about getting in trouble because of the Maryland law concerning one-party taping.[28] According to a report filed by FBI agent Steve Irons, the Office of the Independent Counsel made it distinct to Tripp that she could not be given immunity that would prevent her prosecution in Maryland,[29] Bennett told her, however, that “the federal government will happily immunize those tapes.”[30] Immunizing the tapes was an easy move for Starr and his office. Regarding the federal law, there were no statutes against this kind of tape recording. If Starr’s office were able to seize the tapes, it would hinder Maryland’s prosecutors in their efforts to prosecute Tripp for this crime. Both sides were able to relieve from this deal. These tapes were vital to Starr’s investigation, and, at the same time, he was able to offer Tripp a deal that would help keep her out of trouble with the federal government if she turned the tapes over to his office.[31]

Was it fair that Starr’s main witness was a lawbreaker whose main pieces of evidence were obtained illegally? Something was definitely not right about that. The attorneys working for Clinton were not allowed to offer items of value to reluctant witnesses who may have been able to assist the president’s cause. Ultimately, only the prosecution could prefer testimony. The prosecution could offer things such as cash incentives and jobs for favorable testimony. As it has already been mentioned, the defense could neither offer anything of value to witnesses nor grant witnesses immunity.[32] In the waste, Tripp was indicted for her crime concerning the taping of phone conversations with Lewinsky without the latter’s permission. During the trial, the judge would not allow the prosecution to call Lewinsky as a behold based on the immunity that Tripp had received from Starr. The judge ruled that this immunity would not allow Lewinsky to testify against Tripp. As a result, the prosecution was not able to use Lewinsky to verify that the conversations between her and Tripp had actually occurred. If the prosecutors could not prove that these conversations took place, they would have no chance of proving that Tripp had violated Lewinsky’s privacy. Such events provide expansive examples of how Starr protected those who went to bat for him—those who broke the law—while, on the other hand, going after people who refused to lie for him.[33]

Shortly after Tripp had begun taping these conversations, Lewinsky’s name appeared on a potential perceive list that had been compiled by the attorneys for Paula Jones, the plaintiff in a sexual harassment case against Clinton. Unprejudiced two weeks after her name appeared on the list, Lewinsky was served with a subpoena requiring her to wait on as a witness in the Jones case.[34] She visited Clinton at the White House in late December to say good-bye. She was leaving her job at the Pentagon to accept a job in New York at Revlon. Clinton had helped her obtain this job. During the meeting, Lewinsky talked to Clinton about her fear of being deposed. He responded by saying how some women had gotten out of questioning by filing an affidavit that stated that he had not harassed them sexually.[35]

A short time after this meeting, on 7 January 1998, Lewinsky filed an affidavit in the sexual harassment case of Jones.[36] In the affidavit, Lewinsky flatly denied that she and Clinton had ever had a sexual relationship. She stated, “I have never had a sexual relationship with the President, he did not propose that we have a sexual relationship. . . . “[37] Of course, Lewinsky’s statements bring us to the momentous date of 12 January 1998, the day Starr’s office received a phone call from a woman, Linda Tripp, who had tape recorded her secret conversations with Lewinsky.[38]

Shortly before Tripp showed up on Starr’s doorstep, Starr and his staff felt as if Clinton had defeated them. The Whitewater probe was at a dead slay, and Starr’s investigations of misconduct concerning the Clintons and White House personnel were going nowhere.[39] Starr had obviously been defeated in his attempts to bring Clinton down. Once Linda Tripp showed up on his doorstep it is easy to see why he and his staff played unethically in their attempts to bring Clinton down.

At 8:30 A.M. on 16 January 1998 Attorney General Reno and some of her key staff members had a meeting to discuss Starr’s investigation.[40] Josh Hochbery, deputy chief of the public integrity section of the Justice Department, had been assigned to Starr’s office to listen to the recorded phone conversations between Lewinsky and Tripp.[41] During the meeting, he talked about how Lewinsky indicated that Clinton and his friend Vernon Jordan Jr. had talked to her concerning her upcoming deposition in the Jones case. After summarizing his discoveries of the previous night, Hochberg mentioned Starr’s ask for the Justice Department to expand his probe to include this matter. The meeting did not even last until 9:00 A.M., and upon its completion Reno had made up her mind that she would seek permission from the Special Division to expand Starr’s investigation into these alleged incidents.[42]

So, where was the unethical or unfair act concerning this matter? When Reno wrote her letter to the Special Division recommending that Starr be allowed to investigate these newest allegations, she mentioned that Lewinsky “may have filed” an affidavit that made unfounded claims. The dilemma with such a phrase was that it was very vague. It could have meant either that the affidavit was false or that the affidavit had simply been filed, or it could mean both.[43] What was behind the vagueness of Reno’s statement?

The Office of the Independent Counsel was not able to be completely upfront about the affidavit with Reno because the office was hearing two different stories concerning it. There were only a few people who actually knew that the affidavit had been signed on 7 January by Lewinsky. The majority of those who knew this information were on the president’s side. The lawyers for Paula Jones also knew. Frank Carter, Lewinsky’s attorney, had sent Jones’ attorneys a copy of the affidavit on 12 January, and he also informed them that he was going to file the affidavit on 15 January unless a deal could be reached concerning the subpoena against Lewinsky in the Jones case. A strict gag order was in place for every lawyer who was involved in the Jones case. They were not allowed to speak about the intricate details of the case with any unauthorized person or they would be faced with the penalty of contempt. A court order was the only way the Office of the Independent Counsel could have obtained the affidavit. Assume Susan Webber Wright, who was presiding over the Jones case in Little Rock, had not made this type of order, but the Office of the Independent Counsel had obtained a photocopy of Lewinsky’s sworn statement by 15 January.[44] How did the Office of the Independent Counsel score Lewinsky’s affidavit?

In November 1998 the House Judiciary Committee hearings were coming to a close, and upon their completion Starr announced that he had come into possession of Lewinsky’s affidavit when James Irritable, Tripp’s lawyer, had faxed him a copy of the document. This insight raised another question: How did Moody collect a copy of the affidavit? He has never commented on how he came to possess one, but it is clear that the lawyers for Jones were communicating with Moody. Now we have the fair reason that Starr’s office could not be completely honest with Reno concerning the affidavit. If Starr’s office had let Reno know that they possessed a copy of the affidavit, Reno would have been forced to ask them questions about collusion. As a result, the attorneys for Jones may have been exposed to contempt proceedings.[45]

One of two things could have come from this exposure. Instead of recommending that Starr be allowed to expand his investigation, Reno might have urged the Special Division not to authorize an expansion of Starr’s probe. Furthermore, Clinton might have been saved from his incriminating testimony in the Jones case. The actions of the Office of the Independent Counsel were unethical concerning its failure to reveal the attorney general that it had obtained a copy of Lewinsky’s affidavit. This failure to snort the affidavit to Reno “could be interpreted as evidence of intentional deceit by the OIC.”[46] Because of the actions of the Independent Counsel, the Justice Department was forced to consider an investigation of how Starr obtained a copy of the affidavit and whether Starr misled officials from the Justice Department concerning his connections to people who were associated with the Jones case.[47]

The meeting at the Justice Department on 16 January 1998 was not the only critical event that took place on that date concerning the recent turn of events with Monica Lewinsky. If Clinton or Jordan were going to be caught in their crimes of obstruction of justice, Starr needed Lewinsky’s help. Prosecutors in Starr’s office asked Tripp if she could arrange a luncheon with Lewinsky. Tripp agreed to this meeting. It was to take region at the Ritz-Carlton, where FBI agents would be waiting to take over.[48] Once Lewinsky was spotted in the food court of the Pentagon City Mall, the FBI agents approached her. They asked her if she would accompany them to the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. They told her that they wanted to talk with her about her involvement in a federal crime. The agents made it clear that this involvement was confined to the civil lawsuit of Paula Jones and explained to her that she was not under arrest and that she did not have to go to the hotel room. Lewinsky voluntarily accompanied the agents to room 1012.[49]

Michael Emmick was chosen from Starr’s staff to interrogate Lewinsky. (Later, during her grand jury testimony, Lewinsky insisted that Emmick leave the chambers so she could talk about how he had exploited her that day.) Once Lewinsky entered the hotel room, Emmick informed her that the Office of the Independent Counsel was ready to charge her with a long list of federal crimes that included obstruction of justice, witness tampering, and conspiracy. He went on to clarify that if she were convicted, she would spend around twenty-seven years in jail. In order for her to escape jail time, he told her she needed to give a full statement and also wear a body wire in order to tape her conversations with Betty Currie,[50] the president’s personal secretary,[51] President Clinton, and Vernon Jordan. If he had not already terrified the young woman enough, Emmick took it one step further when he mentioned that the prosecutor would bring Lewinsky’s mother, Marcia Lewis, into the picture and file charges against her if Lewinsky did not cooperate. Despite shaking with fear, Lewinsky made a smart move by asking to bid with Frank Carter, her attorney.[52]

Emmick was required by the policy of the Justice Department to let Lewinsky call her attorney. This same policy also called for Emmick to conduct his interrogation with Carter present. If Emmick had not already broken policy enough for one night, he further went against the Department of Justice’s policy when he tried to force Lewinsky to testify by bringing her mother into the picture. The problem for Starr and his staff was that they did not have the time to treat Lewinsky with the respect that is called for in the policy of the Justice Department. Their main goals were to keep her from calling Carter and to make sure that the president did not gather out about the interrogation until after his deposition in the Jones case. When Lewinsky did ask to call Carter, the prosecutors continually tried to deter her from making the call. They said that all negotiations would be canceled if she called him. They also tried to tell her that she needed a lawyer with a criminal background and that Carter was not experienced in this field. Ironically, they must have forgotten that Carter was in charge of the District of Columbia public defenders office for six years. Lewinsky declined an offer to be set up with a criminal defense lawyer chosen by her interrogators. A cramped over four hours after FBI agents approached her in the Pentagon City Mall, an FBI agent made a call to Carter’s office. It must have been a coincidence that it was the weekend of the Martin Luther King holiday and the office had already closed. To make matters worse, the answering service at Carter’s office would not provide a forwarding number.[53]

Carter was not the only person Lewinsky wanted to get in touch with. Being timorous, she obviously wanted to call her mother. When she requested to phone her mother,[54] Jackie Bennett, Starr’s deputy independent counsel[55] and a former defensive tackle who played college football, told Lewinsky, “You’re twenty-four, you’re smart, you’re old enough. You don’t need to call your mommy.”[56] She was eventually allowed to call her mother, even though an FBI agent was in position to cut off their conversation if Lewinsky started to say anything the Office of the Independent Counsel did not think she should.[57]

In November 1998 David Kendall, an attorney for the president, questioned Starr about his office’s treatment of Lewinsky. During the questioning, Starr even denied the Office of the Independent Counsel’s scheme to use a body wire on Lewinsky in order to hear incriminating conversations between the president and Lewinsky. During Lewinsky’s titanic jury testimony, she directly contracted this assertion by Starr.[58] Her testimony was corroborated by her father, Bernard Lewinsky, who stated that Emmick told him the immunity deal would include telephone calls and body wires. Bernard Lewinsky’s testimony was further corroborated by an FBI report.[59] When all was said and done, Lewinsky had been held from around 1 P.M. to almost 1 A.M.[60] After her deliberations with Starr’s men, she even contemplated suicide.[61] The evidence speaks for itself concerning this interrogation of Lewinsky. There is no doubt that Starr’s team did not play fairly throughout the questioning.

“Unethical” is defined as “not conforming to approved standards of social or professional behavior.”[62] On 17 January 1998 President Clinton was deposed in the sexual harassment case that had been filed by Paula Jones. Throughout the course of the deposition, the president was asked various questions. He was asked if he had ever been alone with Monica Lewinsky in the Oval Office. He responded by saying that it was possible that he and Lewinsky had been alone a few times. When asked about having an extramarital sexual affair with Lewinsky, the president stated flatly that he did no such thing. He was then questioned about the truthfulness of comments made by Lewinsky concerning an affair that she had with him that began in November 1995. He responded by saying that those comments were not the truth. Finally, the lawyer who was questioning Clinton, in an effort to make sure everybody was completely clear on the details, asked Clinton if he had ever engaged in sexual relations with Lewinsky according to how the term “sexual relations” was defined in Deposition Exhibit One. This exhibit provided a lengthy definition for the term sexual relations. Clinton responded by saying “I have never had sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky. I’ve never had an affair with her.”[63]

Four days later, Jim Lehrer interviewed Clinton on his television show ‘NewsHour With Jim Lehrer.’ When Lehrer asked Clinton about the allegations facing him concerning Lewinsky, Clinton responded by saying that his relationship with Lewinsky was not cross. When Lehrer asked him to elaborate on the word “foul,” Clinton stated that he and Lewinsky had not engaged in a sexual relationship.[64] Honest from looking at this evidence, there appeared to be no doubt that Clinton did not have any type of sexual relationship with Lewinsky. Obviously, this notion was far from the truth. So, using the definition that was provided earlier, were Clinton’s actions on 17 January 1998 ethical? Actually, they were far from it. This investigation of Clinton’s personal life would have never happened if he had told the truth under oath. All of Starr’s opponents need to realize this. The taxpayers’ money that went into this investigation could have been saved. Starr’s reputation may not have had to come under so much scrutiny concerning this particular matter. For example, he was labeled “a zealous, puritanical, and clearly partisan prosecutor”[65] concerning his actions during the investigation of Clinton and his affair with Lewinsky. Hillary Clinton believed that Ken Starr was the lead man in a conspiracy to destroy the president. Dan Rather, a CBS Evening News anchor, had many negative things to say about Starr and his investigation on his evening news expose. He referred to Starr as a “hunter” who was looking to put the Clinton’s away forever. Numerous CBS News polls showed that the public felt that Starr was conducting an inappropriate investigation. On 8 May 1998 Rather reported that 57 percent of the people polled by CBS News felt that Starr should quit investigating the personal life of Bill Clinton. On 18 November 1998 Rather reported that 60 percent of the people polled by CBS News felt that Starr was not impartial.[66] It is obvious that members of the media and the American public in general did not have a really strong liking for Starr.

Not only was Starr’s professional life affected by this investigation, but his family life was also affected. The Starrs’ home in Virginia was under constant federal guard because of the death threats that had been levied against Starr. Carolyn, Starr’s middle child, who was a student at Stanford University, was also protected by federal guard because of the serious threats that came her way.[67] Was it Starr’s fault that he had to investigate this part of Clinton’s life? When he took the job as independent counsel did he know this issue was going to come up? How could so many people come to dislike Starr for something that Clinton brought upon himself in the Jones case? Starr’s reputation, and more importantly his family, would not have had to endure this firestorm if Clinton had only told the truth. Starr’s competency in handling this case is not the primary swear. He made numerous mistakes, but as Senator Orrin Hatch said, “Look, Ken Starr is not to blame for these actions. He’s (Clinton) to blame.”[68]

It has been established that the Office of the Independent Counsel definitely broke professional code at times during its investigation of Clinton and Lewinsky. As unethical as some of its actions were, the most unjust act may have been leaking grand jury testimony to the press. It does not seem merely a coincidence that the media organizations that were the most critical of Clinton during the Whitewater and Jones cases were the same ones scooping their rivals in wake of the events that occurred in mid-January 1998.[69] Because of these illegal leaks by the Office of the Independent Counsel, Starr and some of his staff were ordered to appear at a show-cause hearing on 19 June 1998. United States District Judge Norma Holloway Johnson ordered the appearance. A few months after this incident, in September 1998, she released twenty-four media stories that had been allegedly written using leaks provided by the Office of the Independent Counsel. Of the twenty-four stories that were released, three of them had been written by Scott Pelley of CBS. David Bloom, of NBC, had written two of the stories. Other publications that were mentioned in the list included the New York Times, Washington Post, Newsweek, and CNN Early Edition.[70]

Why would Starr or his associates want to leak grand jury testimony? One of the main reasons he would resort to leaking this testimony would be to assign pressure on Lewinsky and her lawyers. If the Office of the Independent Counsel was to get the upper hand in the immunity negotiations that were taking place with Lewinsky’s lawyers, it needed to apply selected pressure. The media just happened to be the best blueprint to apply this pressure. Of course, journalists in Washington D.C., loved this outpouring of leaks by Starr and his staff. As one columnist put it, some Washington journalists regarded the leaking of grand jury information “as a pinanta party.” He went on to say that some reporters considered these same leaks “to be their professional birthright.”[71] The scrape with leaking grand jury testimony is that, in most cases, the testimony cannot be checked to verify authenticity. Most of the time, a prosecutor or investigator will be the one who leaked the testimony, and their statements are normally accepted without further corroboration. More important than that, leaking grand jury testimony was a felony. The most important thing, however, was that it violated constitutional rights that should be defended by the American press. The right to a free press was meant to protect citizens from government abuse. There was no justification for the Office of the Independent Counsel’s leaks to the press. Although the prosecutors were investigating the president, he was still a citizen whose rights must be upheld.[72] It should be noted that Starr denied that he or his staff were illegally leaking grand jury testimony to the press. The possibility “that reporters, editors, television correspondents, and producers were repeatedly fabricating attributions like ’sources in Starr’s office’ and ‘Starr’s investigators’”[73] seems rather impossible,[74] making these denials by Starr seem somewhat dishonest.

This paper stated that Clinton, and Clinton alone, was responsible for the investigation carried out by the Office of the Independent Counsel concerning his sexual affair with Lewinsky. The investigation never would have taken place if he had not had the affair in the first place or if he had not lied under oath in the Paula Jones sexual harassment lawsuit. In light of that assertion, it felt necessary to pick the most critical look at the actions of Ken Starr and his staff in the allotted space; nevertheless, Clinton and his staff did not just sit back and let Starr have his way with them. David Kendall, personal counsel to the president,[75] and other White House lawyers made up their minds to go after Starr. They used every weapon they could regain in an effort to turn Starr’s investigation away from the president and to fabricate it an investigation of Starr instead.[76] In the New York Times, a White House official described these efforts as “our continuing campaign to destroy Ken Starr.”[77] It is a common come for defense lawyers to attack the prosecutor, “but not since Watergate had anyone brought the formidable machinery of the president’s office and party to the task.”[78]

The actions of Clinton were investigated for several years, and million of dollars were poured into these efforts to bring Clinton down. There were congressional inquiries, and there were even investigations of Clinton’s actions that were funded by some of the president’s wealthy political opponents. When the smoke cleared, Clinton emerged unscathed; he had committed no offenses that could be prosecuted.[79] The Office of the Independent Counsel’s actions can also be explained, to an extent, by taking a quick look at the investigations leading up to January 1998. Starr and his staff felt defeated by the president almost everywhere they turned during these investigations.[80] Furthermore, Starr and his staff felt that the Clintons had acted ruthlessly with their office concerning their investigation of the Clintons. Neither Starr nor his staff could understand how Clinton could maintain such stop contact with known criminals. Clinton refused to fire Bruce Lindsey, a White House lawyer who had been involved in a criminal conspiracy. It even seemed that Clinton and the McDougals were on the same team at times during Starr’s investigation of Whitewater.[81] Once Linda Tripp had surfaced, Starr surely felt this event was his last chance to bring the president down. It seems handsome easy to understand how a man who had been defeated so many times by the president would do whatever he could in his one last attempt to label the president as a criminal. The president started this firestorm by acting unethically and Starr followed along by conducting an investigation that was flagrantly unethical.

[1] “Today in History – January 12,” Timelines of History, http://timelines.ws/days/01_12.HTML (accessed 25 February 2007).

[2] Susan Schmidt and Michael Weisskopf, Truth At Any Cost: Ken Starr and the Unmaking of Bill Clinton (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 2000), 17.

[3] “A Chronology: Key Moments in the Clinton-Lewinksy Saga,” CNN, http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1998/resources/lewinsky/timeline/ (accessed 26 February 2007).

[4] Joe Conason and Gene Lyons, The Hunting of the President: The Ten-Year Campaign to Destoy Bill and Hillary Clinton (New York, NY: Thomas Dunne Books, 2000), 133.

[5] Dan Froomkin, “Untangling Whitewater,” The Washington Post, 2000, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/whitewater/whitewater.htm (accessed 12 March 2007).

[6] Conason and Lyons, The Hunting of the President, 130.

[7] Ibid., 133.

[8] Ibid., 612-613; Ibid.,254.

[9] Ibid., 613.

[10] Ibid.

[11] Ibid.

[12] Alan M. Dershowitz, Sexual McCarthyism: Clinton, Starr, and the Emerging Constitutional

Crisis, “The New Independent Counsel Is a Partisan,” August 1994(Unusual York: Basic Books, 1998), 67.

[13] Ibid., 68.

[14] Ibid., 252.

[15] “A Chronology: Key Moments in the Clinton-Lewinksy Saga,” CNN.

[16] Dershowitz, Sexual McCarthyism, 254; Conason and Lyons, The Hunting of the President, 30; Dershowitz, Sexual McCarthyism, 254.

[17] Ibid.

[18] Ibid.

[19] Susan Schmidt and Bob Woodward, “Starr Probes Clinton Personal Life,” The Washington Post, 25 June 1997, Washingtonpost.com (accessed 28 February 2007).

[20] “A Chronology: Key Moments in the Clinton-Lewinksy Saga,” CNN.

[21] Phil Kuntz, ed., The Starr Report: The Evidence (New York, NY: Pocket Books, 1998), 606.

[22] “Tripp: No Stranger To Controversy,” CNN, 29 June 1998, http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1998/06/29/tripp.bio/ (accessed 6 March 2007).

[23] Phil Kuntz, ed., The Starr Report, 606.

[24] Ibid., 607.

[25] “Tripp: No Stranger To Controversy,” CNN, 29 June 1998 (accessed 6 March 2007).

[26] Conason and Lyons, The Hunting of the President, 331.

[27] Schmidt and Weisskopf, Truth At Any Cost, 17.

[28] Ibid., 18.

[29] Ibid., 352.

[30] Schmidt and Weisskopf, Truth At Any Cost, 18-19.

[31] Ibid., 19.

[32] Dershowitz, “Can Bought Witnesses Be Trusted? ” May 1997, Sexual McCarthyism, 128.

[33] Clinton, My Life, 828.

[34] Ibid., 773.

[35] Ibid., 774; Dershowitz, Sexual McCarthyism, 258; Clinton, My Life, 774; Schmidt and Weisskopf, Truth At Any Cost, 19; Clinton, My Life, 774.

[36] Dershowitz, Sexual McCarthyism, 258.

[37] Phil Kuntz, ed., The Starr Report, 3.

[38] Clinton, My Life, 774.

[39] Schmidt and Weisskopf, Truth At Any Cost, 15.

[40] Schmidt and Weisskopf, Truth At Any Cost, 34.

[41] Ibid., 32.

[42] Ibid., 34.

[43] Conason and Lyons, The Hunting of the President, 358.

[44] Ibid., 358; Ibid., 213; Ibid., 358.

[45] Ibid.; Ibid., 359.

[46] Ibid.

57 Pierre Thomas, “Starr had Copy of Lewinsky’s Affadavit Before Filing: Where did he get it? ” CNN, http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1999/03/04/starr.affidavit/ (accessed 9 March 2007).

[48] Schmidt and Weisskopf, Truth At Any Cost, 37.

[49] Phil Kuntz, ed., The Starr Report, 5.

[50] Conason and Lyons, The Hunting of the President, 359.

[51] Peter Baker, The Breach: Inside the Impeachment and Trial of William Jefferson Clinton (New York: Scribner, 2000), 12.

[52] Conason and Lyons, The Hunting of the President, 359.

[53] Ibid., 359-360.

[54] Ibid., 361.

[55] Peter Baker, The Breach, 70.

[56] Conason and Lyons, The Hunting of the President, 361.

[57] Ibid.

[58] Ibid.

[59] Ibid., 361-62.

[60] Phil Kuntz, ed., The Starr Report, 5-8.

[61] Conason and Lyons, The Hunting of the President, 360.

[62] “Unethical,” WordNet 2.0, Farlex Clipart Collection, http://www.thefreedictionary.com/unethical (accessed 5 March 2007).

[63]“What Clinton Said,” The Washington Post, 1998 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/stories/whatclintonsaid.htm#depo (accessed 5 March 2007).

[64] Ibid.

[65] Conason and Lyons, The Hunting of the President, 370.

[66] “Kenneth Starr,” RatherBiased.com: Documenting America’s Most Politicized Journalist, http://www.ratherbiased.com/starr_kenneth.htm (accessed 6 March 2007).

[67] Schmidt and Weisskopf, Truth At Any Cost, 152.

[68] “A Quick Look At Commentary From Around The Nation,” CNN, http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1998/08/18/quotes/#hatch (accessed 6 March 2007).

[69] Conason and Lyons, The Hunting of the President, 372.

81 Dan E. Moldea, “The List of the 24 Now-Infamous, Allegedly-Illegal OIC Leaks,” Moldea.com, 20 October 1999, http://www.moldea.com/1999oct.html (accessed 11 March 2007).

[71] Joe Conason, “The Unholy Alliance Between Kenneth Starr’s Leaky Office and the Press,” Salon Newsreal, 12 February 1998, http://www.salon.com/news/1998/02/cov_12newsb.html (accessed 11 March 2007).

[72] Ibid.

[73] Conason and Lyons, The Hunting of the President, 372.

[74] Ibid.

[75] Peter Baker, The Breach, 12.

[76] Schmidt and Weisskopf, Truth At Any Cost, 92.

[77] Ibid., 100.

[78] Ibid., 96.

[79] Conason and Lyons, The Hunting of the President, 369.

[80] Schmidt and Weisskopf, Truth At Any Cost, 10.

92 Ibid., 11.