April 16, 2010 journal, the flag of St. Andrew has sacred Christian roots deep in history. Its traced back to Ireland and even to South Africa in general form but it is forbidden in America even though it refers to the 13 original colonies and bears 13 stars. This is the celebration of the Confederacy but that name has been poisoned by politically corrects. No one ever used the Confederate flag in America to fight against the African-American people but try telling that to the biased news media or the African-American community. http://www.lewrockwell.com/dieteman/dieteman44.html "For about the last 140 years the South has had a reputation for being a "poor" section of the United States. In a way, it is true but it has not always been so. Before the War for Southern Independence, 1861- 1865, the South was the richest part of the country and considered the land of plenty. In fact, according to a statement made by Senator Thomas H. Benton in 1828, 33 years before The War, he said, "Under Federal legislation, the exports of the South have been the basis of the Federal revenue. Virginia, the two Carolinas, and Georgia, may be said to defray three fourths, of the annual expense of supporting the federal government, and of this great sum, annually furnished by them, nothing or next to nothing is returned to them, in the shape of Government expenditures. You read that correctly. Four Southern states provided the federal government with 75% of its revenue. You can be sure the other seven agrarian states of the former Confederacy contributed most of the balance totaling 100%. Where did all the money go? To Northern cities, of course, to improve their public works, education & raise their standard of living. What happened to the land of plenty? During the War for Southern Independence the federal government of the United States instituted policies of war unheard of in that time. Southern civilians and their means of livelihood and survival were targeted for destruction. Vast areas of croplands were purposefully flooded, fields were burned, livestock butchered and left to rot. Homes, barns and other personal property were burned. What was not destroyed was stolen and carried North or used to supply the army of the U.S. government. The crimes against the Southern people and their property are numerous and fortunately, well documented. After the War, the South was reduced from a land of plenty to a land of dependency. What the War had left behind, 13 years of reconstruction finished off. (Who were the carpetbaggers?) As an example, it took over half a century before the taxable assets of the state of Georgia surpassed their value of 1860. Some tariffs established against the South during the War were not even lifted until the 1940's during World War II. The 1960 United States census showed that even 100 years later after The War not a single Southern state appeared in the top fifty percent of per capita income. The 1980 census showed us that the South was still the poorest part of the country with a poverty rate 20% higher than the rest of the nation as a whole. 41% of all Americans living below poverty level live in the South. All the states with the lowest poverty rates were in the North. The 1990 census showed that the average worker in the South will make 20% - 30% less than a Northern worker for doing the exact same job! According to the Congressional Quarterly, the South is more populous and out-produces every other region of the U.S. but we are forced to do this for less pay than the rest of the nation. Those unfortunate Southerners who find themselves receiving welfare will find their payments to be 47% lower than in other states. 140 years after The War, the South still has not recovered its economic status. Despite cries from the ignorant that The War was fought over slavery the truth is it was fought for economic, political and cultural independence. That independence has not been won yet".