Free Republic

A name is more than a combination of letters. It represents an identity, a belief and, ultimately, a prophecy. So it should be no surprise that Nathan B. Forrest High School in Jacksonville is failing. The school, named for a Confederate army general and prominent Ku Klux Klan participant, is not performing to the academic standard set by the state's educational authorities.

Forrest's soldiers loved him. His fellow generals admired him. His enemies were terrified at the mere mention of his name. Gen. Robert E. Lee said of his finest subordinate commanders, the most remarkable was one he "had never met" — Forrest. And U.S. and foreign military officers alike have studied Forrest’s campaigns over the decades since the end of the war. It has even been speculated that some aspects of the German Blitzkrieg were patterned after some of Forrest's operations.

Geologists have found the remains of a huge underground rainforest hidden in a coal mine in Illinois. The fossil forest, buried by an earthquake 300 million years ago, contains giant versions of several plant types alive today. ... Also surprising is the presence of remains from mangrove-like plants. "It was always assumed that mangrove plants had evolved fairly recently," says Falcon-Lang.

His style was that of a celebrity lecturer, spreading "enlightenment" in a rich baritone with the help of jokes and references to pop stars as he addressed rapt audiences the length of Britain. News of the arrival of the extremist Muslim cleric Abdullah el-Faisal would spread by word of mouth, and he attracted crowds of up to 150 people at a time. But beneath his jocular manner lay a philosophy skewed by hatred of "kuffars", or unbelievers, and shared by a web of associates allegedly leading back to Osama bin Laden.Yesterday Faisal, 39, was convicted of soliciting murder and stirring...

Republicans back Forrest name By SCOTT BRODEN sbroden@dnj.com The counter petition to retain the name of Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest at the Army ROTC building at MTSU included the names of three local Republican leaders. Rutherford County Mayor Ernest Burgess, State Sen. Jim Tracy of Shelbyville and Rutherford County Republican Party Chairman Howard Wall confirmed Tuesday that they were among the 1,350 people to sign a petition organized by MTSU sophomore Matthew Hurtt. ADVERTISEMENT The counter petition was in response to an earlier petition from MTSU senior Amber Perkins, who presented a petition to the university's Student Government Association...

UN cuts details of Western profiteers from Congo report By Declan Walsh in Nairobi 27 October 2003 A controversial section has been omitted from a UN report on the plunder of wealth in the Democratic Republic of Congo due out this week. Senior UN officials objected to part of the report by a UN panel investigating the illegal exploitation of Congo's wealth, fearing it could derail the peace process. Sources say the section includes details on how shady networks of business and military figures, some tied to the governments of Rwanda and Uganda, are continuing illegally to export gold, diamonds...

'Agitators' vs. Rebels As citizens put Forrest under fire, activist Sharpton aims fusillade at city leaders By Oliver Staley August 14, 2005 On a day when many feared an outbreak of racial strife, the only violence sparked by a rally at Forrest Park was of the rhetorical variety. Attracted in part by the appearance of Al Sharpton, a modest crowd of about 250 gathered peacefully for a "Rally for Dignity" to remove the statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest, the Confederate general celebrated and vilified throughout the South. The protesters, who were surrounded by what appeared to be an almost equal...

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The mayor of Memphis on Wednesday rejected calls to rename three parks that honor the Confederacy, saying the city should focus on being part of the New South and stop worrying about remnants of the Old South. Mayor Willie Herenton, who like 60 percent of Memphis residents is black, said public fighting over the parks would only hurt the city's image, which is still tarnished by the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. "We do not need another event that portrays Memphis nationally as a city still racially polarized and fighting the Civil War all...

Editorial 07/26: That elusive common ground July 26, 2005 Extreme points of view tend to get most of the ink, but those who seek the middle ground should not be discouraged. Such is the case in the dispute over the recommendation by the Center City Commission and Shelby County Commissioner Walter Bailey to rename Memphis parks whose names suggest continued allegiance to the Confederacy... [snip] Memphis attorney Karl Schledwitz, perhaps best known for leading the campaign to bring pandas to the Memphis Zoo, is the architect of this very different sort of move. Schledwitz said he had the necessary parties...

Statue OK to move to Southaven Mayor willing to let Jefferson Davis stand Southaven Mayor Greg Davis said Thursday he would be willing to display the Jefferson Davis statue, which is in Downtown Memphis, near City Hall at the end of Northwest Drive. Horn Lake Mayor Nat Baker also said he would take the statues of Davis and of Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest "in a heartbeat, even if we'd have to find some privately owned land to put them on." The statues have been a controversial topic in Memphis, with Shelby County Commissioner Walter Bailey leading a charge to...

NASHVILLE - The Sons of Confederate Veterans plans to donate at least $10,000 to be used in efforts to fight a proposal to change the names of three "Confederate" parks in downtown Memphis. Nearly 1,000 SCV members approved the "emergency donation" at the group's annual convention, which concluded Saturday in Nashville, according to a statement released by the SCV. The $10,000 represents the "first installment of cash" and will be used for "any and all purposes including litigation," the statement says. "This outrageous affront to our Southern heritage will be met with every financial and legal means available to the...

A prominent Memphis businessman has proposed that the Memphis City Council move the graves of Nathan Bedford Forrest and his wife from Forrest Park and turn the park over to the neighboring University of Tennessee. Lawyer and real estate developer Karl Schledwitz suggests that Elmwood Cemetery officials have agreed to a plan in which the graves would be moved to the historic cemetery -- their original location -- along with the 9,500-pound bronze statue of the Confederate general. Elmwood officials couldn't be reached for comment Saturday. Sue Harpole, UT vice chancellor for development, said school officials have agreed to maintain...

This Day In History | Civil War June 10 1864 Battle of Brice's Crossroads Nathan Bedford Forrest's legend grows substantially when his Confederate cavalry routs a much larger Union force in Mississippi. When Union General William T. Sherman inched toward Atlanta, Georgia, in the summer of 1864, he left behind a vulnerable supply line through Tennessee. Of utmost concern to Sherman was the Rebel cavalry under the command of Nathan Bedford Forrest, a daring leader who gave Union commanders in the west difficulty throughout the war. Sherman insisted that Forrest be neutralized and ordered a force from Memphis to hunt...

Vandals strike Forrest monument Apr 13, 2005, 11:02 PM Vandals spray painted a 4-letter word followed by the letters "K-K-K" on a monuimen to former Confederate Gerneral Nathan Bedford Forrest. It's the latest turn in an effort to change the names of confederate Mid-South parks. Gene Ingram says this isn't the first time the monument of Nathan Bedford Forrest has been vandalized. "The people that do these things they don't read they don't know they take the word of other people" said Ingram. Ingram is a relative of the general's wife, Mary Anne Montgomery who is buried inside the tomb...

<p>SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. (AP) -- Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., blames environmental ally the Sierra Club for Congress' failure to pass legislation last month to thin national forests to reduce wildfire threats in the West.</p> <p>Sierra Club President Carl Pope said Republican leaders are responsible, and a timber industry leader points the finger at Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., who he accused of "election year politics."</p>

<p>HOLLYWOOD -- For decades Forrest Street cut through Hollywood seemingly unnoticed, separating the north from the south, carving an insidious path through the heart of the city’s black community.</p> <p>Only a few seemed to know about the road’s namesake, thinking it to be Confederate general and the first Ku Klux Klan leader Nathan Bedford Forrest. But as more residents of the city’s mostly black Liberia neighborhood learn about him, the street name is evoking painful images of hooded men and burning crosses.</p>

A Mobile judge has breathed new life into a Selma controversy that appeared dead more than a year ago. U.S. District Judge Brevard Hand has ruled the Friends of Forrest, a group that erected and placed a Nathan Bedford Forrest monument on the grounds of the Smitherman Building, has a right to file suit against the city of Selma on four different counts. The city had asked Hand to dismiss the major issues of the Friends of Forrest suit against the city. Hand denied the city's request and said the Friends of Forrest can sue on the following grounds: The...