The Bay Of Pigs Invasion. Essays (4081 words) -

The Bay of Pigs Invasion. The story of the failed invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs is one of mismanagement, overconfidence, and lack of security. The blame for the failure of the operation falls directly in the lap of the Central Intelligence Agency and a young president and his advisors. The fall out from the invasion caused a rise in tension between the two great superpowers and ironically 34 years after the event, the person that the invasion meant to topple, Fidel Castro, is still in power. To understand the origins of the invasion and its ramifications for the future it is first necessary to look at the invasion and its origins. Part I: The Invasion and its Origins. The Bay of Pigs invasion of April 1961, started a few days before on April 15th with the bombing of Cuba by what appeared to be defecting Cuban air force pilots. At 6 a.m. in the morning of that Saturday, three Cuban military bases were bombed by B-26 bombers. The airfields at Camp Libertad, San Antonio de los Baos and Antonio Maceo airport at Santiago de Cuba were fired upon. Seven people were killed at Libertad and forty-seven people were killed at other sites on the island. Two of the B-26s left Cuba and flew to Miami, apparently to defect to the United States. The Cuban Revolutionary Council, the government in exile, in New York City released a statement saying that the bombings in Cuba were ". . . carried out by 'Cubans inside Cuba' who were 'in contact with' the top command of the Revolutionary Council . . . ." The New York Times reporter covering the story alluded to something being wrong with the whole situation when he wondered how the council knew the pilots were coming if the pilots had only decided to leave Cuba on Thursday after " . . . a suspected betrayal by a fellow pilot had precipitated a plot to strike . . . ." Whatever the case, the planes came down in Miami later that morning, one landed at Key West Naval Air Station at 7:00 a.m. and the other at Miami International Airport at 8:20 a.m. Both planes were badly damaged and their tanks were nearly empty. On the front page of The New York Times the next day, a picture of one of the B-26s was shown along with a picture of one of the pilots cloaked in a baseball hat and hiding behind dark sunglasses, his name was withheld. A sense of conspiracy was even at this early stage beginning to envelope the events of that week. In the early hours of April 17th the assault on the Bay of Pigs began. In the true cloak and dagger spirit of a movie, the assault began at 2 a.m. with a team of frogmen going ashore with orders to set up landing lights to indicate to the main assault force the precise location of their objectives, as well as to clear the area of anything that may impede the main landing teams when they arrived. At 2:30 a.m. and at 3:00 a.m. two battalions came ashore at Playa Gir?n and one battalion at Playa Larga beaches. The troops at Playa Gir?n had orders to move west, northwest, up the coast and meet with the troops at Playa Larga in the middle of the bay. A small group of men were then to be sent north to the town of Jaguey Grande to secure it as well. When looking at a modern map of Cuba it is obvious that the troops would have problems in the area that was chosen for them to land at. The area around the Bay of Pigs is a swampy marsh land area which would be hard on the troops. The Cuban forces were quick to react and Castro ordered his T-33 trainer jets, two Sea Furies, and two B-26s into the air to stop the invading forces. Off the coast was the command and control ship and another vessel carrying supplies for the invading forces. The Cuban air force made quick work of the supply ships, sinking the command vessel the Marsopa and the supply ship the Houston, blasting them to pieces with five-inch rockets. In the end the 5th battalion was lost, which was on the Houston, as well as the supplies for the landing teams and eight other smaller vessels. With some of the invading forces' ships destroyed, and no command and control ship, the logistics of the operation soon broke down as the other

Native American Dance Regalia in the Powwow

Native American Dance Regalia in the Powwow The making of dance regalia is for Native American people a tradition. It is a distinctly indigenous activity that is illustrative of the reality that for indigenous people there is no separation between art and everyday life, between culture and creativity, or the sacred from secular. All styles of regalia are remarkably elaborate, and while the degree of beauty of an outfit doesnt necessarily equate to dancing talent, it does say something about a persons commitment to dancing. They all have stories as historical categories and as individual creations. The making of powwow dance outfits is an art form all its own. Powwow History Powwows are intertribal social gatherings that began roughly in the 1880s. This was at a time when Indians were experiencing great upheavals in their communities. Those were the years of the assimilation era when tribes were being forced onto reservations, into more sedentary lifestyles, and families were being broken up due to the boarding school policy. By the 1960s the federal governments relocation policy led to large populations of Native Americans in urban centers, and powwows became an important way for Indians to stay connected to their tribal cultures and identities. Native American Beliefs For Native people, everything is imbued with spiritual meaning even in the context of the modern world, and especially when it comes to the expression of culture and identity. For dancers, not only is the act of dancing that expression, but the wearing of dance regalia is the visible manifestation of ones heritage. A dancers regalia is one of the most powerful symbols of her Native identity and in that regard, it can be considered sacred. This is one reason why it is incorrect to refer to dance regalia as a costume. Many of the elements that make up a dance outfit are items often associated with the ceremonial function, such as eagle feathers and parts, animal hides, items that have been handed down through generations, as well as designs that may have been handed down or were given in dreams and visions. How Outfits are Acquired In todays world not everybody in Native societies possesses the skills required to construct dance regalia, and, in fact, most simply do not. Often dance outfits or elements of outfits are passed down; grandmas moccasins, dads dance fan or bustle, or moms buckskin and beadwork. More often outfits are made by family members, purchased in the marketplace, or custom made by professional artists. Far less commonly are outfits actually made by the dancer her or himself. No matter which way a dancer acquires their dance regalia, it typically takes many years to build a wardrobe of dance outfits (most dancers own more than one outfit) and is very expensive. Skills It takes a variety of skills to put together a dance outfit. First, it takes the knowledge of different dance styles which will guide the vision for an outfits design. An eye for design is imperative so that all elements of the outfit will be consistent. Sewing is one necessary skill, but not just the ability to sew fabric. The ability to sew leather is also necessary which means a person must have leather smithing skills as well. They must also have certain crafting abilities, like knowledge about how to make feather fans, moccasins, and beadwork. This is such a wide variety of skills and because very few people possess all of them, most dance outfits come from several different sources. Dance Styles There are a number of different dance techniques that are divided into mens and womens in the categories of northern and southern styles. Men and women both have a style of fancy dancing (which is considered a northern style), and both have styles of traditional dance within the northern and southern genre. Other styles include grass dancing, the chicken dance, southern straight, jingle dress, and gourd dancing.

Inflation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 6

Inflation - Essay Example In case proportionately controlled incomes failed to bring about changes in demand, devaluation of money was used as a means of returning to efficiency. However, the failure of the Bretton Woods model led to a period of higher inflation caused by increases in additional demand. (Charles Bean, 2003, pp 1-4) The Bretton Woods model failed for three main reasons. Firstly, the gold standard exchange endangered the U.S. economy with a convertible crisis and the U.S. took stringent measures, which in effect made exchange even more difficult. Secondly, the adjustable peg system failed to work in the wake of capital mobility, which cause even small changes in parities to become large costs. Thirdly, the countries with a trade surplus were becoming progressively reluctant to adjust. The first world countries were uninterested in revaluating their currencies every time the U.S. had a trade imbalance. This resulted in the waning of the American economic power relative to European countries and Japan. The G10 lost its power and the stage was set for a more individualistic and decentralized system for stabilizing macroeconomic conditions. (Michael D. Bordo, 1993) In the 1980’s all monetary targets were unsuccessful because it was very difficult to predict if the policy goals would reap the intermediate or economic targets. So an inflation target was proposed- and the system converted in 1992. The target measure chosen was the Retail Price Index (RPI), which omitted mortgage payments. The target was set at 1-4% with the expectation that it would come to be so near the end of the parliaments term at office. The adoption of the system of inflation targeting was followed closely by utilitarian systems whereby the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Governor of the Bank of England met together with their advisory teams and the minutes of the meeting were published in the Bank’s Inflation Report, which analyzed all inflationary trends with the