Colombia sacks troops over deaths
October 30, 2008
The sackings could just be the first stage in a wider scandal
The Colombian government has sacked three generals and 24 other soldiers over alleged extrajudicial killings.
They are suspected of being involved in the deaths of 11 young men from Bogota, whose bodies were found in mass graves in the north-east of the country.
Rights groups say they were kidnapped or lured with the promise of work, then killed in combat zones to inflate army statistics on rebels killed.
One of the sacked officers, Gen Jose Joaquin Cortes, denied the allegations.
He told Colombian radio: “I still absolutely believe in the innocence of my men.”
The scandal broke last month, after the 11 civilians’ bodies were found in communal graves in north-eastern Colombia.
The dismissed soldiers include three generals, 11 colonels, four majors, a captain, a lieutenant, and seven non-commissioned officers.
Officials had initially said 25 people had been sacked.
The head of Colombia’s armed forces, Gen Freddy Padilla, read out their names at a news conference with President Alvaro Uribe and Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos.
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COLOMBIA DEATHS
11 young men disappeared from poor Bogota suburb in early 2008
Their bodies were found in mass graves near Venezuela border in August and September
Rights groups accuse the army of killing civilians to inflate successes
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Mr Uribe said a military inquiry had determined they had been guilty at least of negligence that included allowing “the collusion of members of the army with criminals” in “the murder of innocents”.
He added: “We cannot allow any violation of human rights.”
No further details about the soldiers’ alleged role were given. Mr Uribe said the cases would be turned over to prosecutors.
The 11 men disappeared from the poor Bogota suburb of Soacha early this year.
Their bodies were found in mass graves near the Venezuela border in August and September.
Sources in the attorney general’s office said hundreds of soldiers were under investigation in similar cases.
Source: bbc.co.uk/
UN urges end to DR Congo conflict
October 30, 2008
Thousands of displaced people have been fleeing to Goma
The United Nations Security Council has condemned fighting by Congolese rebels, calling on the governments of DR Congo and Rwanda to work to defuse tensions.
An emergency session of the council expressed concern over the humanitarian consequences of the fighting.
Earlier UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called for an immediate end to the fighting, which he said was creating a “humanitarian catastrophe”.
Thousands of people have been fleeing a recent upsurge in fighting in the east.
Earlier, the Tutsi rebel leader whose forces are threatening the city of Goma declared a ceasefire and urged others to do the same.
The BBC’s Laura Trevelyan at UN headquarters in New York says that officials are hoping the ceasefire holds as losing control of Goma would severely undermine their authority throughout the rest of the country.
Concrete steps
The Security Council met late on Wednesday and unanimously adopted a non-binding statement which condemned the fighting and called on the Tutsi rebel group CNDP, led by Laurent Nkunda, to “bring its operations to an end”.
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 Exodus as terror spreads
In pictures: Thousands flee fighting
Q&A: DR Congo conflict
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The council also expressed concern at reports of firing across the Congolese border with Rwanda, echoing comments made by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon earlier in the day.
They urged the governments of the DR Congo and neighbouring Rwanda to “take concrete steps to defuse tensions and to restore stability in the region.”
In a statement before the summit, Mr Ban said the intensifying conflict was “creating a humanitarian crisis of catastrophic dimensions and [threatening] dire consequences on a regional scale”.
He said the “collapse of discipline” among DR Congo troops was “especially worrying” and appealed to the Congolese government to “spare no effort establishing control over its forces”.
UN officials in Goma have said DR Congo soldiers in the city are nervous and out of control and have been firing into the air.
Mr Ban said he deplored the deliberate targeting of civilians and their use as human shields and said UN peacekeepers were “doing everything possible to protect civilians and fulfil their mandate in untenable circumstances”.
Troop support
Correspondents say the 17,000-strong UN force in DR Congo - the world’s largest - is stretched to breaking point.
Both Congolese President Joseph Kabila and the head of the UN mission have called for more troops.
Laurent Nkunda urged the government to declare a ceasefire too
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The UN meeting did not make a decision on the request but said it was considering it.
In the meantime, peacekeepers from elsewhere in the country would be redeployed to Goma to back up the 800 troops stationed there.
Before the meeting, UK Africa minister Mark Malloch-Brown said the world was mobilising to avoid a repeat of tragedies like the 1994 Rwandan genocide, when the international community looked on as hundreds of thousands were killed.
“We all have those ghosts in the backs of our minds,” he told the BBC. “We need to stop this before it escalates to anything like that level.”
France, which holds the rotating presidency of the EU, has said that it supported sending forces to the area.
Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said that up to 1,500 men could be deployed “in Europe’s name within eight to 10 days”.
European governments will meet on Monday to discuss the possible deployment of peacekeeping troops.
Panic
Earlier on Wednesday, rebel leader General Laurent Nkunda told the BBC he was declaring a ceasefire in Goma and urged government troops to do the same.
A BBC correspondent in the city says there was a “stampede” as thousands of displaced people poured into Goma on the third day of fierce fighting in the area.
Congolese soldiers withdrawing from the village of Kibumba, 30km (20 miles) to the north, also retreated to the city, creating a sense of panic among the population, our correspondent added.
Earlier in Kibumba, our reporter saw an exchange of fire across the Rwandan border. Rwanda denies claims it is backing the rebels.
A peace deal was signed in Goma between the government and various rebel groups at the end of January.
Although he signed the deal, Gen Nkunda has refused to disarm while Rwandan Hutu rebels still operate in the area.
Suicide attack at Afghan ministry
October 30, 2008
Suicide attack at Afghan ministry
A suicide bomber has blown himself up inside an Afghan ministry in Kabul, causing a number of casualties.
The attack took place at the information and culture ministry and ambulances have been carrying wounded people from the scene.
The bomb caused massive damage to the ministry building, which is located in the city centre.
Security at ministry buildings in Kabul is usually very tight and attacks such as this are not common.
A ministry worker told the BBC’s Ian Pannell at the scene that two or three men fought their way into the building and that one of them was wearing an explosive device which he then detonated.
Many of the building’s windows were blown out by the force of the blast.
The atmosphere outside the ministry is chaotic and very tense, with a heavy police presence, our correspondent says.
Source: bbc.co.uk/
Obama Hits on Campaign Themes in Half-Hour Prime-Time Ad
October 30, 2008
Barack Obama appears in a scene from the half-hour prime-time TV ad that aired Wednesday on seven networks and cable channels.
In a campaign ad aired at a cost of millions, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama promised a rescue plan for the middle class in tough times Wednesday night as he reached for victory in his 21-month quest for the presidency.
“I will not be a perfect president,” Obama said in the commercial. “But I can promise you this — I will always tell you what I think and where I stand.”
Aides described the unusual ad as a final summation of Obama’s campaign. They put the total cost at roughly $4 million, enough to show it simultaneously on CBS, NBC and Fox. It also was running on BET, Univision, MSNBC and TV One.
Republican John McCain derided the event as a “gauzy, feel-good commercial,” paid for with broken promises.
Across 30 minutes, the commercial blended views of Obama speaking in a setting that resembled the Oval Office, at the Democratic National Convention and elsewhere as well as scenes of Americans discussing their economic and health care troubles, and testimonials to the Democratic presidential candidate by politicians and business executives.
The ad showed his wife, Michelle, and his two daughters as well as past photos of his black father from Kenya and white mother from Kansas.
The campaign arranged to end the program with a live transmission of a campaign rally in Florida, one of several states where Obama is trying to capture traditionally Republican territory.
Without the money to match the commercial, McCain sniped at the man and the moment.
“He’s got a few things he wants to sell you: He’s offering government-run health care … an energy plan guaranteed to work without drilling … and an automatic wealth spreader that folds neatly and fits under any bed,” McCain said during a campaign stop in Florida.
McCain also criticized Obama for having signed a pledge to accept federal funds for the fall campaign and then breaking his word.
By opting out of the public financing, Obama was free to raise unheard of millions for the final weeks of the race, and afford costly events such as the television commercial.
After months of campaigning, Obama offered no new proposals in the ad. Instead, he stressed his plan to offer tax cuts to the middle class, “restore the long-term health of our economy and our middle class.”
Obama said the nation’s neglected problems predate President Bush, but that the economic crisis that erupted a few weeks ago was a “final verdict on eight years of failed policies.”
The video features footage shot by Davis Guggenheim, the director and executive producer of former Vice President Al Gore’s global warming documentary “An Inconvenient Truth.”
Guggenheim also produced and directed the HBO series “Deadwood.” In the commercial, his scenes play out against a soaring score.
“His campaign is calling this the phase where he will be making his closing argument,” said Democratic media consultant Tad Devine, a senior adviser to John Kerry’s 2004 presidential campaign. “This is a tremendous opportunity to make that argument and to make it at some length.”
The ad was not appearing on ABC because by the time the network decided to offer the time slot to Obama, his campaign had already finalized the ad buy, according to people familiar with the discussions who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.
Earlier, taping an appearance on the Daily Show for later in the evening, Obama said he had to reassure one of his daughters that the commercial would not pre-empt all programming.
“I was describing this to Michelle and my daughters, and Malia, who’s 10, said, ‘Hold up a second. Are you saying that my programs are going to be interrupted?’ I said, ‘No, we didn’t buy on Disney.’ So she was relieved.”
Source: foxnews.com
Picturesque Wales a welcoming getaway
October 29, 2008
Tintern Abbey was founded in 1131 in the beautiful Wye Valley.
Here, amid and around the ruins of the medieval Tintern Abbey, the solace and serenity recalled so poetically by William Wordsworth is almost palpable to 21st-century visitors.
Wordsworth wrote the poem after revisiting the abbey in 1798, at a time when it was fashionable for romanticists to seek inspiration in such picturesque places as this Wye Valley in Wales.
J.M.W. Turner, a 19th-century watercolorist and landscape painter, also found it an ideal spot for his work.
It was the first stop on our 10-day journey by car through the little (and to many Americans, little-known) nation of Wales. Our trip would take us from the abbey to a town filled with bookstores to the places where Dylan Thomas lived, wrote and yes, drank.
Wales (Cymru in Welsh) is just 8,000 square miles, about the size of New Jersey, with a population of 3 million — humans, that is. It is also home to an estimated 11 million sheep.
It is part of Great Britain and shares a border with England to its east. Yet, we found it quite different than the rest of the United Kingdom, with a unique culture and language, still spoken by about one-fifth of its people. Welsh is used on all the bilingual road signs, ubiquitous evidence (to visitors, anyway) that the names of places are too long, have too many consonants and are virtually unpronounceable.
In driving (on the left, of course) from England, through South Wales to its northwest coast, we found it a marvelous place to visit — maybe Britain’s best-kept secret.
Weather permitting, that is. Soggy is generally the most accurate description of Welsh weather, with rain a possibility at any time, winter or summer.
We had flown from the New York area nonstop to Bristol, England, just the other side of the boundary with Wales. But you can also fly into London, which is a little over two hours away by car. Other airport choices are Manchester, Birmingham and Liverpool in England; few flights go directly into Cardiff, the capital of Wales.
After a short visit to Bath, just 15 miles or so from Bristol, for a glimpse of the settings made famous in Jane Austen’s novels and a taste of the Roman baths, we drove across the sleek span, a one-way-toll bridge, over the River Severn to Tintern on the River Wye.
From Tintern, we traveled north to Hay-on-Wye, the town with the appropriate sobriquet, Town of Books. Hay features more than 30 secondhand bookstores, including Castle Hay Books, which sells some of its wares on the honesty system (just leave the 30 or 50 pence) as well as Murder and Mayhem, Bookends, Boz Books, Cinema Bookshop, and Outcast, tucked away behind a side street of a side street.
We had arranged a one-night stay in a bed-and-breakfast (Gwely a Brecwast in Welsh) irresistibly named Rest for the Tired, and next door to a bookstore, of course.
The bed-and-breakfast was our home of choice on this trip, made simple by the help from the numerous information centers throughout Wales (just follow the dotted i signs), which aided with directions, local restaurants and sights and, for a small charge of $3.50, arrange your accommodation reservation anywhere in the United Kingdom. Ours cost $104-$121 a night (for two), with the typically hefty breakfast of cereal, fruit, eggs, bacon, sausage, tomato and coffee or tea and toast.
There seem to be few, if any, straight roads through the hills and mountains, so we meandered south from Hay-on-Wye, through the mid-Wales Brecon Beacons National Park, a magnificent magnet for hikers and bikers, to South Wales, the more populated of the Welsh areas.
The valley here was at one time the heart of Wales’ coal mining communities, as described in Richard Llewellyn’s book (and the movie), “How Green Was My Valley.” But it’s all gone now, replaced by farming, forestry and tourism, and an occasional sign for a local mining museum.
(Many of the miners, incidentally, migrated to the United States, settling in similar coal mining areas such as eastern Pennsylvania, where there are telling place names like Bryn Mawr, Nanty Glo and Balacynwyd.)
This part of South Wales (and a little west) is Dylan Thomas country. Schools here are named for the favorite-son poet who was born in Swansea. There is a Dylan Thomas Center in a museum in Swansea, and in area bookstores, his writings are outnumbered only by the books about his life.
According to local lore, Thomas did much of his drinking at pubs in Mumbles, just to the south of Swansea. Many of the Mumbles stories detail where he drank, much like tales of where George Washington slept in the United States. Certainly, the Mermaid on Mumbles Road was a favorite of Dylan Thomas’. That old hotel burned down some time ago; it is now a fine restaurant.
Mumbles (Mwmbles in Welsh) is a splendid spot (in good weather) on Swansea Bay, enticing strolls along the promenade, stopping for ice cream or a light lunch outdoors at Verdi’s or dining at Castellemare with its magnificent view.
Not far from there is the village of Pontrhydyfen, birthplace of another favorite son of Wales, actor Richard Burton. (Burton, incidentally, played the role of First Voice in Dylan Thomas’ “play for voices,” “Under Milk Wood.”)
Of course we had to visit Laugharne, a little north and west of Mumbles, where Dylan Thomas lived with his family from 1949 until his death in New York in 1953. It is Laugharne that served as the model for the fictional Welsh seaside town of Llareggub in “Under Milk Wood.” The home, called the Boathouse, sits high on a hill overlooking the Taf (pronounced Tav) River. It is now a heritage center, a museum of his life and works. The small garage that was converted to his writing shed, where he penned “Under Milk Wood,” among other works, has been preserved.
We then found our way to Aberystwyth on the west coast, stopping in Solva, near St. David’s, site of St. David’s Cathedral and the adjoining ruins of the Bishop’s Palace.
Aberystwyth is the home of a branch of the University of Wales and of the National Library. We parked the car and hopped on to a train for a three-hour trip north. Trains are a great way to see Wales, if you can be flexible enough to adjust to railroad schedules. There are myriad choices, of routes and train types.
Ours followed the rocky coast, with its stretches of sandy beach where campers set up, past seaside village and farms with gamboling sheep and grazing cattle. We were on our way to Portmeirion, changing at Machynlleth, with stops at Penheig, Tywyn, Llwyngwril, Fairbourne, Barmouth, Talsarnau, Penrhydeudraeth and, finally, Minffordd. From there, it’s a mile walk to Portmeirion, an unusual village built, between 1925 and 1973, on a peninsula on the coast and surrounded by 70 acres of woodland gardens. (It’s also unusual in that visitors have to pay a toll to see it.)
We were back in Aberystwyth for dinner and the next day drove back the 135 miles or so to Bristol Airport in three-and-a-half hours. (The roundabouts had us, at times, going around in circles.)
Homeward bound, we recalled the farewell refrain from the Welsh we had met.
“Did you enjoy your stay here? Come back and see us again. And tell your friends too.”
And we did.
If You Go…
Wales: http://www.travelwales.org or 800-959-2537.
Tintern Abbey: Located in the Wye valley, South Wales; http://www.cadw.wales.gov.uk/default.asp?id=6&PlaceID=132 daily (closed Dec. 24-26 and Jan. 1). Winter hours (November-March): Monday-Saturday 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m., Sundays 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Adults, $6.50.
Town of Books: Hay-on-Wye, http://www.hay-on-wye.co.uk/. Home to some 30 bookshops. Lodging options include the Rest for the Tired bed-and-breakfast, http://www.restforthetired.co.uk/.
Dylan Thomas: Dylan Thomas Centre in Swansea, http://www.dylan-thomas-books.com/shop/. Mumbles on Swansea Bay, http://www.visitswanseabay.com/. The Dylan Thomas Boathouse at Laugharne includes house and museum, http://www.dylanthomasboathouse.com/.
Portmeirion: Village in Gwynedd on the coast surrounded by woodland gardens, http://www.portmeirion-village.com/.
Source: cnn.com
Autopsy: Hudson nephew shot multiple times
October 29, 2008
Jennifer Hudson
Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Hudson’s 7-year-old nephew — one of three Hudson relatives found slain in Chicago since Friday — died of multiple gunshot wounds, the Cook County medical examiner’s office said Tuesday.
Julian was found shot to death in an abandoned Chevrolet Suburban on Chicago’s West Side on Monday. Police had begun a massive search for him on Friday, the day Hudson’s mother, Darnell Donerson, and brother, Jason Hudson, were found shot to death in their South Side Chicago home.
Julian was the son of Jennifer Hudson’s sister, Julia Hudson, who police said found Donerson’s body and called police.
William Balfour, 27, who is Julian’s stepfather and Julia Hudson’s estranged husband, was detained Friday for questioning in connection with the slayings, a police representative said. Julian was not with Balfour when he was detained.
Balfour was later transferred to prison on a parole violation, the police representative said. According to the Department of Corrections, he spent nearly seven years in prison for attempted murder, vehicular hijacking and possessing a stolen vehicle.
No charges had been filed against anyone in connection with the slayings.
The Family
• Julian King, 7, was Jennifer Hudson’s nephew and Julia Hudson’s son
• Julia Hudson is Jennifer Hudson’s sister and Julian’s mother
• Julia Hudson’s estranged husband is William Balfour, who is in police custody
• Michele Davis-Balfour is William Balfour’s mother
• Jennifer Hudson’s mother, Darnell Donerson, and brother Jason Hudson were found shot to death Friday in Chicago
The Illinois Department of Corrections said it could not comment on the specifics of Balfour’s parole or how he violated it. But Balfour’s parole history report shows the department issued a warrant for him Saturday on allegations he violated his parole by possessing a weapon and failing to attend anger management counseling and a substance abuse program, according to The Associated Press.
Parole records also show that Balfour had missed a meeting with his parole agent on Friday, and that the agent subsequently reached him by phone around the time the first bodies were found, the AP reported.
Balfour told the agent he was “baby-sitting on the West Side of Chicago,” and that the agent thought he heard a child in the background, the records show, according to the AP.
Balfour will be held until a prisoner review board takes up his case, a department representative said. That process could take several weeks.
On Tuesday, William Balfour’s mother, Michele Davis-Balfour, said her son had nothing to do with the slayings.
“I’m sorry this happened to this girl’s family, but they’re not going to put it on my own son,” she said. “He hasn’t been framed, but he’s been wrongly accused.”
She said that after her son got out of prison, he was trying to improve his life by working at a sandwich shop. She also said he obtained his GED in prison by studying horticulture. “How many minorities are in the penitentiary and study horticulture?” she said.
Later Tuesday, Davis-Balfour told CNN’s Nancy Grace that Balfour’s brother told her Balfour was with “one of his girlfriends” around the time of the killings.
Jennifer Hudson
• Born: September 12, 1981, Chicago, Illinois
• TV: Rose to fame on third season of “American Idol”; despite finishing seventh, she developed a strong fan base
• Movies: “Dreamgirls” (2006); “Sex and the City: The Movie” (2008); “The Secret Life of Bees” (2008)
• Music: “Jennifer Hudson” (2008), released September 30
• Honors: Academy Award for best supporting actress for “Dreamgirls”; Golden Globe for best supporting actress for “Dreamgirls”
Authorities have said the Chevrolet Suburban in which Julian was found was Jason Hudson’s. During the search for the boy, postings on Julia Hudson’s MySpace page showed a picture of Jason Hudson and the white SUV.
Julia Hudson posted a message on the page after her son’s body was found.
“His li’l soul is at ease, I take comfort in knowing that Julian is with my mother and my brother and most of all the Lord, and now he’s my angel, he’s protecting me,” she wrote.
“Now because I chose to do what was natural to me and love someone, it cost me my beautiful family, my wonderful beautiful loving supporting mother, Darnell, my true blue baby brother, Jason, I love u big baby … and last but never not least, my only son, Julian,” she added.
Meanwhile, mourners continue to offer their support for the Hudson family.
On Monday night, a group of women huddled together in the cold singing “Spotlight,” Hudson’s latest hit song. “No I don’t like living under your spotlight,” they sang, “just because you think I might find somebody worthy.” Mourners left stuffed animals, cards balloons and crosses.
“The hurt that she’s feeling, this community is feeling for her,” a woman said into a microphone about Julia Hudson.
“I’m really concerned for the mother and how she’s feeling. I just want her to know she is in my prayers,” neighbor Stephanie Patton said.
“I don’t understand how someone could be so cruel,” said the Rev. Krista Alston, a cousin in the Hudson family. “I mean, God gives life and God takes life, and it’s just so devastating to our family.”
Jennifer Hudson made her second trip in three days to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. She first identified her mother and brother, and on Monday, had the grim task of helping her relatives identify Julian by viewing images the medical examiner projected on a video screen.
Police are collecting evidence from the SUV and reviewing surveillance tapes from all over the city as the investigation continues, Weis told reporters.
“There’s a lot of work to be done. We’ll be sure we go through this thoroughly,” Weis said.
Asked about possible motives, Weis replied, “We don’t know what the motive really was at this time. But, clearly, you have people who do know each other, so it wasn’t a case of a stranger-type homicide.”
Over the weekend, Jennifer Hudson offered a $100,000 reward for the safe return of her nephew.
“Please keep praying for our family and that we get Julian King back home safely,” Hudson said in a posting on her MySpace page Sunday. “If anyone has any information about his whereabouts, please contact the authorities immediately.”
Jennifer Hudson also posted two pictures of her nephew in the brown-and-orange-striped polo shirt he was wearing when he was last seen.
Police said the bodies of Hudson’s mother and brother were found about 3 p.m. Friday, when Julia Hudson arrived and found the body of a woman on the living room floor. Hudson backed out of the house and called police, authorities said. Authorities found Jason Hudson shot to death in a bedroom.
The Cook County medical examiner’s office said Saturday that Donerson and Jason Hudson suffered multiple gunshot wounds and ruled the deaths homicides.
Neighbors reported hearing gunshots earlier Friday, Deputy Police Chief Joseph Patterson said. Authorities found no signs of forced entry to the home and were not sure whether other items were missing.
“You’ve got two people who were killed inside a home. That alone will produce a great deal of evidence,” Weis, the police superintendent, said of forensic evidence at the crime scene.
Hudson won a best supporting actress Oscar for her portrayal of Effie in the film version of the Broadway musical “Dreamgirls.” She competed on the third season of “American Idol” in 2004, making it to the top seven contestants before being eliminated from the contest.
Source: cnn.com
Sarah Vowell ’sounds like no one else’
October 29, 2008
- Sarah Vowell stands next to the tomb of John Winthrop. Winthrop is a major character in
Sarah Vowell has some unconventional thoughts about the Puritans — not the Pilgrims who sailed from England on the Mayflower and ended up in Plymouth, but the other Puritans, the ones who settled Massachusetts a decade later.
“Because to me, they are very specific, fascinating, sometimes brilliant, judgmental killjoys who rarely agreed on anything except that Catholics are going to hell,” Vowell writes in her new book, “The Wordy Shipmates,” which was released earlier this month and already climbing best-seller lists.
Vowell, an author, humorist and commentator, has carved out a career telling stories from American history with a mix of humor, sarcasm and painstaking research.
She doesn’t consider herself a historian, but has recently become more comfortable thinking of herself as a writer who can teach history in her own way.
“I’m offended that people think history is boring,” she said in a recent interview in Boston.
“I find the same part of me that loves movies and TV shows and novels is the same part of me that is obsessed with history because it has all the drama, it has all the characters and strange dialogue … and all the killers that the films of Martin Scorcese have.”
Vowell, 38, started out on public radio’s “This American Life,” where since 1996 she has been a regular contributor and talked about everything from the romance of Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash, to her own goth makeover. She turned her interest in radio into her first book, “Radio On: A Listener’s Diary,” published in 1997.
Since then, she has written four books, including “The Partly Cloudy Patriot,” a collection of essays about American history; and “Assassination Vacation,” about Vowell’s road trip to tourist sites devoted to the assassinations of Presidents Lincoln, McKinley and Garfield.
She was also the voice of Violet Parr, the gloomy teenage superhero in the 2004 animated film, “The Incredibles.”
Readers know her for her one-liners and her frequent references to pop culture and politics.
Consider Vowell’s portrayal of the Puritans — led by John Winthrop — as well-educated, literary people.
“Winthrop and his shipmates and their children and their children’s children just wrote their own books and pretty much kept their noses in them up until the day God created the Red Sox,” she writes in “The Wordy Shipmates.”
Listeners know her for her distinctive voice, which has a nasal, childlike quality.
“We still get complaints about her voice — ‘Why is she on the radio?’ There are still some people who are resistant that somebody would sound so nontraditional on the air,” said Ira Glass, host and producer of “This American Life.”
“She jumps out. She sounds like no one else,” Glass said. “It’s a funny combination because she has incredible energy and it’s an incredibly young energy, but at the same time, what she’s saying is really smart, so you have two things that don’t always go together.”
Vowell grew up in Oklahoma and Montana in a religious, Pentecostal household of mixed politics. She and her twin sister, Amy, would put up posters for Democratic candidates in the upstairs of the house, while her parents put up posters for Republican candidates on the lower level.
“My dad would drive my sister and me to our teen anti-nuclear meetings in the family pickup that was emblazoned with NRA labels,” she said. “I sort of take great comfort in that aspect of my upbringing. My parents didn’t want us to be clones of them.”
Vowell and her sister, who are part Cherokee, retraced the “Trail of Tears,” the route their ancestors took when Native Americans were forcibly removed from their homelands in the southeastern United States to Oklahoma in the 1830s. Their journey was chronicled on “This American Life” in 1998.
For the last nine years, she has lived in New York City, where she does most of the research for her books from her apartment.
Vowell says she will skip over important historical facts if she finds them boring and does not pretend to be objective when writing her accounts of history.
“The Wordy Shipmates” is the story of the 700 colonists who left England in 1630, Puritan dissenters led by Winthrop, who became the first governor of Massachusetts. Vowell is fascinated by Winthrop, especially his famous sermon, “A Model of Christian Charity,” in which he calls on New England to be “as a city upon a hill” and urges the colonists to take care of each other.
Vowell contends the United States is still haunted by the Puritans’ vision of themselves “as God’s chosen people, as a beacon of righteousness that all others are to admire.” This world view, she writes, has shaped key events in American history, including the invasion of Vietnam and the war in Iraq.
Fans of Vowell’s books say she has a way of making a dry subject interesting and sometimes even hilarious. In “The Wordy Shipmates,” she describes the trepidation the colonists had as they prepared to sail from England to New England.
“For years, they’ve grumbled that England is a cesspool governed by an immoral king under the spell of the … pope,” she writes.
“But now that it’s time to light out, their dear old mother country seems so cozy, all warm beds and warm beer and days of auld lang syne.”
Humor writer David Sedaris said Vowell has created a new category through her writing: “funny historian.”
“If she wants to write about pyramids and make me laugh, I’ll read it,” he said. “I’ll read whatever she wants to put in front of me, knowing that it’s going to make me laugh.”
Source: cnn.com
Scores dead after Pakistan quake
October 29, 2008
Scores dead after Pakistan quake
At least 160 people have been killed after an earthquake of 6.4 magnitude hit Balochistan province in south-western Pakistan, officials say.
Officials in Balochistan say they expect the toll to rise.
The tremor struck 70km (45 miles) north of Quetta at 0409 (2309GMT Tuesday) at a depth of 10km (6.2 miles), the US Geological Survey said.
Many houses collapsed during the quake and some were destroyed in landslides that followed it, officials said.
Reports say teams of army and paramilitary Frontier Corps troops are in the area, helping to rescue the injured and retrieve bodies.
Senior army official Major General Salim Nawaz said the area remained accessible for convoys carrying relief material.
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  In pictures: Pakistan quake
Quake eyewitnesses
History of deadly earthquakes
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However, the mountainous region is thinly populated and local infrastructure is poor, making it difficult to get a clear picture of the casualties.
Provincial Revenue Minister Zamrak Khan told Reuters news agency that many affected areas had still not yet been reached.
And a local television correspondent reported that some people in villages outside Quetta were angry that no rescue teams had arrived on the scene.
Mud homes
There were two tremors, striking at about 0409 and then 0510. Officials say there have also been at least three aftershocks.
Many stunned survivors spent the rest of the night in the open, with little more than the clothes in which they had been sleeping.
The worst-hit area appeared to be Ziarat, about 50km north of Quetta, where hundreds of mostly mud and timber houses had been destroyed in five villages, mayor Dilawar Kakar said.
Some homes were buried in a landslide triggered by the quake, he said.
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 Graves are being dug with excavators as we can’t keep dead bodies in the open  Sohail-ur-Rehman
Senior official in Ziarat |
“Our rescuers are still working but we’ve recovered 160 bodies from various villages in Ziarat,” he said.
“There is great destruction. Not a single house is intact,” he added.
He said hundreds more people had been injured and some 15,000 made homeless.
“I would like to appeal to the whole world for help. We need food, we need medicine. People need warm clothes, blankets because it is cold here,” he said.
Another senior official in Ziarat, Sohail-ur-Rehman, said that the authorities were also scrambling to bury the dead.
“Graves are being dug with excavators as we can’t keep dead bodies in the open,” he told the Reuters news agency.
In the village of Sohi, a reporter for AP Television News saw the bodies of 17 people killed in one collapsed house and 12 from another.
Distraught residents were digging a mass grave in which to bury them.
Residents hurried into the streets of Quetta after the quake
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“We can’t dig separate graves for each of them, as the number of deaths is high and still people are searching in the rubble,” village elder Shamsullah Khan said.
In the nearby town of Kawas, dozens of dead and injured were brought to a hospital in Kawas in Ziarat district.
A doctor there, Mohammed Irfan, told the Associated Press news agency that the hospital was unable to cope with the number of injured.
Nearby Pishin district was also hit, and at least five people died there.
“We were fast asleep when the tremor struck. We grabbed the children and ran outside. The earth continued shaking for more than a minute,” said resident Habibullah.
The quake was also felt in Quetta itself.
“There were two tremors, the second one was serious and people rushed out of their houses,” said resident Amjad Hussain.
Quetta suffered almost complete destruction in an earthquake in 1935, with the death of about 30,000 people.
More than 73,000 people were killed in an earthquake in north-west Pakistan in October 2005 and almost an equal number were seriously injured.
US hands province to Iraqi forces
October 29, 2008
The handover ceremony took place in the provincial capital of Kut
Iraqi authorities have taken over responsibility for security in another province from US military forces.
Wasit, bordering Iran in the east of the country, is the 13th of Iraq’s 18 provinces to be transferred.
Washington and Baghdad are still negotiating the terms of a draft agreement covering the long-term presence of US troops in Iraq.
The Status of Forces Agreement aims to allow US forces to stay in Iraq after their UN mandate ends in December.
The transfer of Wasit took place at a ceremony in the provincial capital of Kut, south of Baghdad.
Iraq’s national security adviser, Mowaffak al-Rubaie, said Wasit had achieved a level of efficiency and ability in civil and security matters.
He also announced that Baghdad would take control “within weeks” of the northern province of Kirkuk (Tamim) and the neighbouring province of Salahuddin.
The transfer of Wasit comes within a week of the return of nearby Babil province to the Iraqis.
Insurgents’ route
US forces which remain in the province will now stay in their bases and only take part in security operations at the request of the provincial governor.
Lt Gen Lloyd Austin, second-in-command of US forces in Iraq, said Wasit was once a route for insurgents targeting Iraqi and coalition forces.
“Until seven months back, Wasit saw 16-18 attacks each week,” he said.
“Now the province has frequently reached zero attacks largely due to a high level of co-operation between all security units.”
Wasit has a 200km (125 mile) border with Iran and the US military has previously accused Iranian groups sympathetic to militants of smuggling weapons into Iraq through the province.
Hungary to get $25bn rescue deal
October 29, 2008
The package is dependant on Hungary reining in public spending
Hungary has been granted a multi-billion dollar rescue package by the IMF, the EU and the World Bank.
The deal, worth $25bn (£15.6bn), is intended to help Hungary cope with the ongoing effects of the global financial crisis.
It follows similar measures taken by the IMF to prop up the economies of Ukraine and Iceland.
The fund is also in talks with Pakistan and Belarus about loans to help them through the crisis.
The package, which includes $16bn from the IMF, a further $8bn from the EU and $1bn from the World Bank, far exceeds the $16.5bn (£10.4bn) loan offered to Ukraine on Sunday.
IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said it was “designed to restore investor confidence and alleviate the stress experienced in recent weeks in the Hungarian financial markets”.
Mr Strauss-Kahn said the package included measures to maintain “adequate domestic and foreign currency liquidity, as well as strong levels of capital, for the banking system”.
“These strong policies justify the exceptional level of access to Fund resources - equivalent to around 1,020% of Hungary’s quota in the IMF - and deserve the support of the international community,” he said.
Foreign debt
The BBC’s Central Europe correspondent, Nick Thorpe, says Hungary, like other emerging markets, has been badly hit by what has been called the second wave of the financial crisis - the severe shortage of foreign currency.
The Hungarian forint has lost almost 20% of its value in the past month against the euro and the dollar.
The country has already borrowed over $100bn from abroad.
The European Commission said the rescue package depends on Hungary making a strong commitment to intensify efforts to cut its current account deficit.
Meanwhile the World Bank has said it will support the implementation of reforms in areas such as the financial sector and fiscal management.
“These measures would support the country’s longer-term stabilization and economic restructuring,” said Orsalia Kalantzopoulos, World Bank director for Central Europe and Baltic countries.
Last week, the Hungary’s central bank raised interest rates by three percentage points to counter a sharp fall in the value of the forint but the effects were not expected to be long-lasting.
Source: bbc.co.uk/