Meeting: 6/30/10 "The Fall of the Roman Empire" by Peter Badger

ALPHA LITERARY & PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY
Founded 1973
… To engage in moderate debate, discussion, and exchange of views and opinions on timely affairs or on social and political theories of earlier thinkers … with dissenting and diverse views that are intellectually credible and expressed in reasonably civilized form.                                                         
-- Maxwell Flapan, Ph.D., (1906-1973), Founder
Wednesday,  June 30, 2010
The Fall of the Roman Empire
By
Peter Badger
at 
                                                                                                            
Green Acres Center
4401 Sideburn Road, Room 112,  Fairfax City, VA 22030
7:45  PM
Presenting the Presenter:
Peter Badger is an attorney, now retired. He is a US Marine Corps officer, serving in Vietnam. He served with various US Government agencies as a civilian. Peter earned his AB, at Hamilton Col., and JD at Capital U School of Law, Columbus, OH. Peter is a student of history and military affairs, having volunteered as a docent at George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate in recent years.  Come hear his interpretation of how and why Rome fell. Maybe there are parallels that we should note.
On the Calendar .... Opportunities ….
2010
July                        Summer break – no paper
August                   Summer break – no paper
Sep 29                   Elena Kagan by Maria Ivusic
Oct 27                    Presenter needed
Nov 17                   Presenter needed
Dec                        Holidays – no paper
Attendance in 2010 has been 5 - 16
***
ALPS web site is restored as a blog - Thanks to James Peterson, the ALPS web site and discussion blog is now open.   Web address is:http://alpsociety.blogspot.com/ Check out this blogspot today.
Three Terse Book Reports:
1.  Why Care About Israel?  Sandra Terplinsky. Chosen Books, Grand Rapids, MI. 2004. 287 pages. Sandra is a lawyer, a Messianic Jew and articulate author. She makes the Old Testament come alive for those who may have forgotten those stories in today’s sanitized, politically corrected, non-Biblical milieu. She ties ancient stories from Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses and others to today’s Middle East events, always putting a positive turn on the predicted outcome. Timely, familiar, well argued, clearly written.
2.  Stealth Jihad. Robert Spencer. Regnery Publishing Co., Washington, DC. 2008. 328 pages.  Spencer is a daily watcher of Middle East events and the stealthy rise of Islam in the US. He warns us of the real objective of Islam, as he sees it, and that is to replace the US Constitution with sharia law and make the US a Muslim nation. He details Islam’s international progress toward that goal and our tepid national response, if any at all. He cites multi-culturalism, political correctness, accommodation, appeasement, and ignorance of current history as bases for his charges. His detailed documentation of facts and his persuasive arguments makes one wonder about our national will, our current leaders at all levels, and the media.
3.  Atomic Iran, Michael D. Evans. TimeWorthy Books Phoenix, AZ. 2009. 477 pages. Evans is a Middle East expert, political analyst, author of 38 books, frequent lecturer. He sounds the alarm for growing tensions over Iran’s possession and uses of nuclear capabilities, actual and potential. He sees a determined move toward conflict and the possible use of nuclear weapons in the Middle East. His copiously footnoted facts and arguments are compelling.
These three books were generously provided to ALPS by Chris and Maria Ivusic. They are available to any member who would like to read them. Just ask your secretary.
Finances ...
            Balance 5/17/10                        $246.44
            Income                                                 0
            Expense - postage                           1.39
            Balance 6/17/10                        $245.05
I hope I shall always possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider to be the most enviable of all titles: the character of an ‘Honest Man’.                                       George Washington
C.  R.  Thompson, Sec., 4219 Burke Station Road, Fairfax, VA  22032  703-978-5823, Mrcharlest@aol.com