American Blog

  

 

911 (usually pronounced "nine-one-one") is the emergency telephone number for the North American Numbering Plan (NANP). It is one of eight N11 codes. In some jurisdictions, the use of this number is reserved for true emergency circumstances only. Hoax calls to 9-1-1 may result in a criminal charge. Some do not realize 9-1-1 is reserved for true emergencies only, not for conversations, answering questions, or for situations that do not require immediate attention, such as non-working streetlights or parking meters.

  

 

Harvard University (incorporated as The President and Fellows of Harvard College) is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S., and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1636 by the colonial Massachusetts legislature, Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. It is also the first and oldest corporation in North America.

Initially called "New College" or "the college at New Towne", the institution was named Harvard College on March 13, 1639, after a young clergyman named John Harvard—a graduate of England’s Emmanuel College, Cambridge (a college of the University of Cambridge) and St Olave’s Grammar School, Orpington in the United Kingdom—who bequeathed the College his library of four hundred books and £779 (which was half of his estate). The earliest known official reference to Harvard as a "university" occurs in the new Massachusetts Constitution of 1780.

  

 

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an agency of the United States government, responsible for the nation’s public space program. NASA was established on July 29, 1958, by the National Aeronautics and Space Act.

In addition to the space program, it is also responsible for long-term civilian and military aerospace research. Since February 2006 NASA’s self-described mission statement is to "pioneer the future in space exploration, scientific discovery, and aeronautics research."

NASA’s motto is: "For the benefit of all". The motto of NASA’s Office of Education is: Shaping the Future: Launching New Endeavors to Inspire the Next Generation of Explorers.

  

 

S.W.A.T. (Special Weapons And Tactics) is an elite Special Operations tactical unit, in American police departments, similar to the Taiwan Thunder Squad and Germany’s GSG-9 Federal Police Special Unit; which is trained to perform high-risk operations that fall outside of the abilities of regular patrol officers. These can include serving high-risk arrest warrants, performing hostage rescue and/or armed intervention, counter-terrorism, and engaging heavily-armed criminals. SWAT teams are often equipped with specialized firearms including assault rifles, submachine guns, shotguns, carbines, riot control agents, stun grenades, and high-powered rifles for snipers. They have specialized equipment including heavy body armor, entry tools, armored vehicles, advanced night vision optics, and motion detectors for covertly determining the positions of hostages or hostage takers inside of an enclosed structure (i.e. enclosed buildings, buses or airplane windows covered by hostage takers).

  

 

The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.

Designed by the Swedish American architect George Bergstrom (1876 – 1955), and built by Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, general contractor John McShain, the building was dedicated on January 15, 1943, after ground was broken for construction on September 11, 1941. General Brehon Somervell provided the major motive power behind the project; Colonel Leslie Groves (whose administrative ability, drive, and forcefulness led to his nomination to head the Manhattan Project in 1942) and Major Clarence Renshaw were responsible for overseeing the project for the Army.

   

 

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. Its primary function is collecting and analyzing information about foreign governments, corporations, and persons in order to advise public policymakers. Prior to December 2004, the CIA was literally the central intelligence organization for the US government. The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 created the office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), who took over some of the government and intelligence community (IC)-wide function that had previously been under the CIA. The DNI manages the United States Intelligence Community and in so doing it manages the intelligence cycle. Among the functions that moved to the DNI were the preparation of estimates reflecting the consolidated opinion of the 16 IC agencies, and preparation of briefings for the President. On July 30, 2008, President Bush issued Executive Order 13470 amending Executive Order 12333 to strengthen the role of the DNI.

  

 

The September 11 attacks (often referred to as 9/11) were a series of coordinated suicide attacks by al-Qaeda upon the United States on September 11, 2001. On that morning, nineteen Islamist terrorists affiliated with al-Qaeda hijacked four commercial passenger jet airliners. The hijackers intentionally crashed two of the airliners into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, killing everyone on board and many others working in the building, causing both buildings to collapse within two hours, destroying at least two nearby buildings and damaging others. The hijackers crashed a third airliner into the Pentagon. The fourth plane crashed into a field near Shanksville in rural Somerset County, Pennsylvania, after some of its passengers and flight crew attempted to retake control of the plane, which the hijackers had redirected toward Washington, D.C. There are no known survivors from any of the flights.

  

 

George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the forty-third and current President of the United States. He served as the forty-sixth Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000 before being sworn in as President on January 20, 2001. His current term will end at noon (ET) on January 20, 2009.

Bush is the eldest son of former U.S. President George H. W. Bush and Barbara Bush. After graduating from Yale University, Bush worked in his family’s oil businesses. Shortly after marrying his wife, Laura, he made an unsuccessful run for the United States House of Representatives in 1978. He later co-owned the Texas Rangers baseball team before defeating Ann Richards to become Governor of Texas in 1994. In a close and controversial election, Bush was elected to the Presidency in 2000 as the Republican candidate, receiving a majority of the electoral vote but narrowly losing the popular vote.

   

 

The President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in United States by influence and recognition. The President is at the head of the executive branch of the federal government; his role is to enforce national law as given in the Constitution and written by Congress. Article Two of the Constitution establishes the President as commander-in-chief of the armed forces and enumerates powers specifically granted to the President, including the power to sign into law or veto bills passed by both houses of Congress. The President also has the power to create a cabinet of advisers and to grant pardons or reprieves. Finally, with the "advice and consent" of the Senate, the President is empowered to make treaties and appoint federal officers, ambassadors, and federal judges, including Justices of the Supreme Court. As with officials in the other branches of the United States government, the Constitution restrains the President with a set of checks and balances designed to prevent any individual or group from taking absolute power.