Base on true story MOVIES

Seven Years in Tibet

2008-01-24T09:02:00.000Z

Seven Years in Tibet is a 1997 film based on the book of the same name written by Austrian mountaineer Heinrich Harrer based on his experiences in Tibet between 1944 and 1951 during the Second World War, the interim period, and the Chinese People's Liberation Army invasion in 1950. The film was directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud and starred Brad Pitt and David Thewlis. The score was composed by John Williams and features cellist Yo-Yo Ma.

Seven Years in Tibet tells the story of how Austrians Heinrich Harrer and Peter Aufschnaiter, having been imprisoned by the British while mountaineering in the north of India at the beginning of World War II in 1939, eventually escape across the border into Tibet in 1944 and cross the treacherous high plateau. There in Tibet, after initially being ordered to return to India, they are welcomed at Lhasa and become acquainted with an unfamiliar way of life. Harrer is introduced to the Dalai Lama, who is still a boy, and he becomes a tutor and then close friend to the young spiritual leader during his time in Lhasa. Harrer and Aufschnaiter remain in the country until the Communist Chinese invasion in 1950.

Seven Years in Tibet : Plot

2008-01-24T08:50:00.000Z

The introduction shows the young Dalai Lama receiving gifts from Tibetan monks. One gift he receives, an ornate music box, has special meaning to him, as he is still a young child.

The progress of Heinrich Harrer through India and Tibet on his trek across the high plateau to Lhasa is interwoven with the story of the young Dalai Lama growing into an 8 year old boy who becomes the spiritual leader of Tibet, with a thirst for western knowledge and later into an adolescent. The Dalai Lama is portrayed by three different actors as he grows up.

Harrer (Pitt) and his pregnant wife Ingrid (Ingeborga Dapkunaite) are briefly shown being driven to the train station in Graz, for Harrer's departure on an expedition to Nanga Parbat. It becomes evident that Ingrid resents his departure. At the station Harrer barges through the crowds, dragging his wife by the hand, and shows his resentment of Peter Aufschnaiter's selection as leader of the expedition.

Harrer at the train station in 1939 appears hostile to the Nazi Party, taking their flag with reluctance. The real-life Heinrich Harrer admitted he had Nazi sympathies at the time which he later regretted. Harrer's arrogance and self-sufficiency become apparent as he sits by himself on the train journey to India.

Harrer, Aufschnaiter, and the expedition group begin climbing Nanga Parbat. Harrer falls, injuring his leg, but hides his injuries from the group. Harrer places Aufschnaiter's life in danger by his inability to pull him safely up a cliff due to the pain of his injury; this worsens their relationship. After an avalanche, Aufschnaiter orders the group to retreat back to the base, despite Harrer's determination to reach the summit.

While descending from the mountain, Harrer encounters a Tibetan traveller who gives him a photograph of the Dalai Lama for his protection. On reaching the base, they learn that Germany has invaded Poland, and they are arrested by the British and taken by truck to Dehra Dun prison camp. Harrer writes to Ingrid in Austria, telling of his capture; she responds with divorce papers and tells him she wishes to re-marry. Harrer's son Rolf is now two. Harrer makes several unsuccessful escape attempts. Eventually Aufschnaiter manages to steal a British uniform and several of the prisoners escape. The members of the group go separate ways, with Harrer heading for northern India.

On reaching northern India in 1943, Harrer steals food from a religious offering, but is later violently sick from food poisoning. The rest of the group, apart from Aufschnaiter, have been recaptured. Aufschnaiter plans to travel to China to find work.

They cross the border into Tibet and set out east, but are met by two men on horseback who tell them they must turn back. Aufschnaiter attempts to speak to them in Tibetan, which he learned while in prison, but is told that foreigners are strictly forbidden in Tibet. On reaching the next town and requesting food, they are confronted by the same two men. They learn that one of them is the garpon, leader of the province, and that the reason that foreigners are forbidden from Tibet is that there is a threat of attack from outside forces. Harrer attempts to appease the garpon by offering him the photo of the Dalai Lama, but they are forced to return towards India, escorted by two guards who are told to shoot them if they try to escape.

Harrer and Aufschnaiter are escorted to a small town near the border with India where they trade what little they have in return for food. Harrer persuades Aufschnaiter to trade a watch that was given him for climbing Mont Blanc. Seeing one of the guards trying on a Chinese army uniform, he offers him his "German army boots" while actually giving him crampons. The guard takes a liking to the "boots" and puts them on. Harrer and Aufschnaiter escape to the mountainside where the guards, clad in the heavy crampons and uniforms, are unable to follow.

While recovering from the escape, Aufschnaiter discovers that Harrer has deceived him about not having a watch to trade, and is furious at Harrer's selfishness. Harrer begs forgiveness, offering all three of his watches and his wedding ring. Aufschnaiter declines the ring, but Harrer insists, stating "I didn't deserve it either." The two then start on their way over the high Tibetan plateau to Lhasa.

The arduous journey to Lhasa (including footage secretly captured by director Jean Jacques Annaud in Tibet) causes Harrer to reflect on his son Rolf and the Tibetan custom that the longer and more difficult the journey in a pilgrimage, the greater the repentance of past sins. High in the Himalayas, Harrer and Aufschnaiter are abducted by bandits, but they escape on horseback. Harrer and Aufschnaiter are forced to kill their horses and eat the meat raw.

The pair encounter pilgrims travelling to Lhasa. They are only allowed to join the group after saying they have "special permission" and showing one of the pilgrims the instruction sheet from their first aid kit. As the Tibetan they show it to cannot read English, he allows the two men to join the pilgrims.

In Lhasa, Harrer and Aufschnaiter cover their faces to avoid recognition as foreigners. When they try to steal food, Kungo Tsarong, played by Mako, seeing the condition of the travellers, invites them to stay.

Tsarong asks for permission for the explorers to remain in Lhasa. The conversation is overheard by the secretary to the regent Ngawang Jigme (B. D. Wong). Jigme offers Harrer and Aufschnaiter a gift of new clothes, and at the guest quarters of Tsarong's home a Tibetan tailor named Pema Lhaki arrives to measure the two men. Not having seen a woman for several years, they immediately attempt to win her affections.

Settled in Lhasa, Harrer continues his attempts to impress Pema Lhaki by demonstrating his climbing techniques and showing a scrapbook containing his achievements back in Austria in skiing and his gold medal at the 1936 Winter Olympics. Lhaki is seemingly unimpressed, stating that climbing is a foolish pleasure and informing Harrer that Western civilization is very different from Tibet, where a man is more respected for abandoning his ego.

Harrer, still interested in the Tibetan tailor, rips out a jacket pocket as an excuse to visit her and have it repaired. Harrer enters the store to find Aufschnaiter already there. The three go ice skating together, and Harrer realises that Aufschnaiter has succeeded in winning the Tibetan woman's love.

The foreigners have been observed through a telescope by the young Dalai Lama from the nearby Potala Palace. Ngawang Jigme visits the Chinese embassy in Tibet and becomes acquainted with the Chinese ambassador. He has been sent by the Tibetan government to persuade Chinese officials to stop sending financial gifts to Tibetan monasteries as they are becoming suspicious of Chinese intentions. The Chinese official hints that Jigme could gain advancement by offering his services to the Chinese.

By May 1945, Harrer visits Aufschnaiter and Pema Lhaki to congratulate them on their marriage. They discuss the activities of the Chinese Communist Party. Lhaki asks Harrer about his life in Lhasa, and he reveals he is very busy and moved out of Tsarong's house five months ago into his own settlement. But he has not found love, and shows his resentment over Aufschnaiter's marriage.

Returning to Lhasa, where he has been hired to survey the city, he is told by Ngawang Jigme that World War II is now over. Heinrich immediately begins packing for home when Kungo's elderly wife arrives with a letter for him from Austria. The letter is from his son Rolf, telling him to stop writing. A depressed Harrer receives another letter, this time from the `Great Mother` of the Dalai Lama.

In a beautiful Deyangsar courtyard, Harrer greets the Great Mother (played by Jetsun Pema, the sister of the living 14th Dalai Lama). She gives him instructions on how to behave when in the presence of the Lama, who has learned of Harrer's presence in Lhasa and would like to meet him personally.

Harrer enters the interior halls of the Potala Palace. Turning into a dark chamber, he sees the mysterious Dalai Lama seated on a throne at the end. Entering behind the Great Mother, he bows repeatedly, much to the amusement of the young Lama. Harrer walks up to the throne, and the Dalai Lama plays with Harrer's mop of blond hair, calling him a yellow head. Shortly afterwards, the Dalai Lama asks a surprised Harrer if he can build a movie cinema at the monastery for himself and other monks, and if he can teach him about western civilization and become his private tutor during the building process.

Harrer immediately begins building the theatre, but encounters a problem, as the workers refuse to harm the worms in the earth while digging, believing that each could have been a mother or a loved one in a past life. Harrer again visits the Dalai Lama, who emphasizes that religious concerns are paramount, and that he must honor them and find a solution. As the movie house is built, Harrer begins tutoring the boy in world geography and the ways of the west.
Harrer and Aufschnaiter with a number of important monks and ministers attend a festival near a river, where they meet Ngawang Jigme to celebrate his promotion to the position of minister. At a Christmas party, Harrer returns Aufschnaiter's old watch. Harrer had come across it by chance at a shop and retrieved it as a gift to Aufschnaiter, along with a note thanking him for his friendship. Soon afterwards, a Tibetan turns on the radio and a Chinese announcer proclaims that they plan to invade Tibet. The party breaks up, and an evil omen at night casts a shadow on what is to come.

At a meeting with the cabinet, the regent states that Tibet recognizes no foreign sovereign and banishes all Chinese officials from Tibet, including those at the Chinese embassy. As the crisis grows, the Dalai Lama has a terrible nightmare of Chinese atrocities near the Tibetan border in Amdo, his birthplace, with monasteries being burnt down and monks being forced to kill each other. He seeks comfort with Heinrich Harrer, who tells him it was a dream, only to find soon after that the Chinese have indeed invaded the Tibetan frontier and are advancing.

Three Chinese generals fly to Lhasa to speak with the Dalai Lama, and against Harrer's request Ngawang Jigme raises the Chinese flag, saying that Tibet should embrace the enemy if it cannot defend itself. Monks have spent many days creating a sand mandala to welcome the generals, who show their disrespect by wiping their feet on it. Despite the Dalai Lama's speech to them that Tibet is a peace-loving nation, the head of the Chinese delegation dismisses religion as "poison", and war soon breaks out on the Tibetan frontier at Chamdo.

Ngawang Jigme is sent to Chamdo with a small Tibetan army to defend against the Chinese attack, but many Tibetans are killed. Jigme makes the decision to surrender in just 11 days and then blows up the Tibetan ammunitions dump, destroying any hope of a counter-attack. During a treaty signing in Lhasa, Kungo Tsarong tells Harrer that if Jigme had not destroyed the weapons supply, Tibetan guerillas could have held the mountain passes, buying time to appeal to other nations for help. As the Chinese take control of Tibet and the Chinese flag flies at Lhasa, Harrer visits Ngawang Jigme to condemn him for his surrender, and insults him by returning the jacket he received as a gift.

Despite the Chinese invasion, the Dalai Lama, now fifteen years old, is formally enthroned as the spiritual and temporal leader of Tibet. Harrer pays a final visit to the Lama on top of the Potala and prays with him. As he leaves the palace, he is given a gift the music box which was shown to be so dear to the Dalai Lama at the beginning of the film.

Harrer bids farewell to Aufschnaiter and Pema and returns to Austria in 1951 to visit his son Rolf, now a young boy. Although his son initially refuses to see him, Harrer leaves the musical box as a gift for him and watches him lovingly from the crack in the door. In the film finale, Harrer gradually comes to know the son he has thought about all the years while he was in Tibet and trains him like himself in the art of climbing mountains. Having reached the top of a mountain, Harrer is shown with a Tibetan flag planted beside him at the peak.

Seven Years in Tibet : Book

2008-01-24T08:45:00.000Z

Seven Years in Tibet is a true adventure story written by Austrian mountaineer Heinrich Harrer based on his real life experiences in Tibet between 1944 and 1951 during the Second World War, the interim period, and the Chinese People's Liberation Army invasion in 1950.

Seven Years in Tibet tells the story of how Austrians Heinrich Harrer and Peter Aufschnaiter were imprisoned by the British while mountaineering in the north of India at the beginning of World War II in 1939. They eventually escaped across the border into Tibet in 1944 and crossed the treacherous high plateau. Shortly after arriving in Tibet, they were ordered to return to India. They were able to disguise themselves, and make their way to Lhasa, where they were warmly received. Harrer was introduced to the Dalai Lama, who was still a boy, and became a tutor and then close friend to the young spiritual leader. Harrer and Aufschnaiter remained in the country until the Communist Chinese invasion in 1950.

Two films have been made of the book. The first film was a 1956, 76-minute documentary directed by Hans Nieter. The documentary includes film taken by Harrer during his stay in Tibet, and Harrer himself reconstructed various scenes from his adventures. The second, Seven Years in Tibet, released in 1997, was directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud and starred Brad Pitt and David Thewlis. The film is seen by many as anti-Chinese. There is also a David Bowie song entitled "Seven Years In Tibet," from his album Earthling.

Seven Years in Tibet : Heinrich Harrer

2008-01-24T08:36:00.000Z

Athletics

Heinrich Harrer was born in Hüttenberg, Carinthia, to a postal worker. From 1933 to 1938 Harrer studied geography and sports at the Karl-Franzens University in Graz. Harrer became a member of the traditional student corporation ATV Graz.

He was designated to participate in the combined Alpine skiing competition at the 1936 Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. However, the Austrian Alpine skiing team decided to boycott the event due to a conflict regarding the skiing instructor's status as professionals. As a result, Harrer did not participate.

He won the downhill event at the following year's World Student Games.
Harrer was one of the four climbers who made the first ascent of the North Face of the Eiger, Switzerland, with Anderl Heckmair, Fritz Kasparek, and Ludwig Vörg on July 24, 1938. This climb is recounted in the book The White Spider.

Nazi involvement
With the rise of the Nazi Party (NDSP) in Austria, Harrer became a member of the Sturmabteilung (SA), or storm troopers as they came to be known in English, in October 1933. He held the rank of SA Oberscharführer (sergeant). He made no secret of his allegiance to National Socialism and was photographed with Adolf Hitler. Austria was annexed into Germany in March 1938. Harrer had joined the Schutzstaffel (SS) and the Nazi Party that same year and took part in a German expedition to Nanga Parbat in the Himalayas (in present-day Pakistan occupied Kashmir) in the summer of 1939.

After the 1997 release of film adaptation of Seven Years in Tibet, questions were raised about Harrer's Nazi past and Harrer acknowledged that his membership of the party had been a "stupid mistake." Since he was out of the country almost continuously during the Nazi period, he was not involved in illegal actions.

Nonetheless, after the start of World War II in 1939, Harrer was captured by British colonial authorities as an enemy alien and interned in Dehradun, along with 1,000 other "enemy aliens", mostly civilians. He escaped on May 10, 1944, with Peter Aufschnaiter and two Germans, Hans Kopp and Bruno Treipel. They promptly made their way into the Himalayan foothills, which began within sight of the camp. As they were in constant fear of being arrested again, they headed directly toward Tibet, their route being north-northeast throughout, in as straight a line as possible. They transited Mussoorie and Landour, forded the Aglar river at Thatyur, crossed the Nag Tibba range via Deolsari, descended to Uttarkashi and eventually passed Harsil, Bhaironghati and Nelang. On May 17, 1944, they crossed the Tsang Chok-la Pass (5,896 meters or 19,350 ft.) and entered Tibet. (They had considered heading for Goa, then a Portuguese colony and thereby a neutral port, but it was too far away.)

Post-war years
After traversing southwestern Tibet and stopping for extended periods in various towns, Harrer and Aufschnaiter entered Lhasa in February 1946. Kopp and Treipel had gone their separate ways, but Harrer and Aufschnaiter would remain in Tibet for a total of almost seven years. Harrer became a friend of the young Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso, who had summoned him to the Potala Palace after having seen him repeatedly in the streets below the palace through his telescope. Harrer taught the Dalai Lama (who was eleven years old when they met) much about the outside world and effectively served as his tutor. The Dalai Lama has often credited Harrer's later writings about Tibet as having helped focus international attention on the plight of the Tibetan people after Communist Chinese invasion.

After the Communist Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1950, Harrer returned to Austria where he documented his experiences in the books Seven Years in Tibet and Lost Lhasa. Seven Years in Tibet was translated into 53 languages, sold three million copies and was the basis of the 1997 film of the same title.[2] In 1952 he returned to Europe and later on took part in a number of ethnographic as well as mountaineering expeditions: Alaska, Andes, Ruwenzori (Mountains of the Moon) in Africa. Harrer recorded first ascents of Mount Deborah and Mount Hunter, Alaska, in 1954. In 1962 he was the leader of the team of four climbers who made the first ascent of the Carstensz Pyramid (Puncak Jayadikesuma) in western New Guinea, the highest peak in Oceania.
Harrer took up golf in 1958 and became Austrian amateur champion.[citation needed] He also remained an active skier well into his eighties.

Harrer died on January 7, 2006.

The Pursuit of Happyness : Chris Gardner

2008-01-21T02:48:00.000Z

Christopher Paul Gardner (born February 9, 1954 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) is a self-made millionaire, entrepreneur, motivational speaker and philanthropist who, during the early 1980s, struggled with homelessness while raising his toddler son, Christopher, Jr. Gardner's book of memoirs was published in May 2006 by Amistad, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

As of 2008, he is CEO of his own stockbrokerage firm, Gardner Rich, based in Chicago, Illinois where he resides when he is not living in New York City. Gardner credits his tenacity and success to his "spiritual genetics" handed down to him by his mother, Bettye Jean Triplett, née Gardner, and to the high expectations placed on him by his children, Chris Jr. (born 1981) and his daughter, Jacintha (born 1985). Gardner's personal struggle of establishing himself as a stockbroker while managing fatherhood and homelessness is portrayed in the 2006 motion picture The Pursuit of Happyness, starring actor Will Smith.

Early years
Chris Gardner was born on February 9, 1954 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He had few positive male role models, since his absentee father, Thomas Turner, was living in Louisiana and his stepfather, Freddie Triplett, was a violent man. Despite her unhappy marriage, Gardner's mother, Bettye Jean Triplett, was a source of inspiration and strength. She encouraged Gardner to believe in himself and sowed the seeds of self-reliance in him. Gardner quotes her as saying, "You can only depend on yourself. The cavalry ain't coming." Gardner was Bettye Jean's second child. He had three sisters: Ophelia (the eldest half-sister from a previous union), Sharon, and Kim (his younger half-sisters from Bettye Jean's marriage to Freddie Tripplett).

Freddie Triplett's violent outbursts often left Bettye Jean beaten and nearly fatally injured. Those rages left Gardner and his three sisters constantly afraid. Bettye Jean was imprisoned when Triplett reported her to the authorities for working while collecting welfare. As a result, her children were raised in foster care during her incarceration. They were put into foster homes once again when Gardner's mother re-entered incarceration for attempting to burn down the house with Triplett inside. From those experiences, Gardner determined that alcoholism, domestic abuse, child abuse, illiteracy, fear, and powerlessness were all things he wanted to avoid in the future.

Sense of direction
Marriage and fatherhood
On June 18, 1977, Chris Gardner married Sherry Dyson, an educational expert in mathematics, from Virginia. With his knowledge, experience and contacts within the medical field, it appeared Gardner had his medical career plans laid out before him. However, with ten years of medical training ahead of him and with the changes in health care (such as HMOs) just on the horizon, he realized that the medical profession would be vastly different by the time he could practice medicine. Gardner was advised to consider other more lucrative career options; just before Gardner's 26th birthday, he informed his wife, Sherry, of his plans to abandon his dreams of becoming a doctor.

His relationship with Sherry was strained, in part because of his decision to forgo a medical career and also due to differences in their attitudes. He met a dental student named Jackie Medina, who soon became pregnant with his child. After three years of marriage to Sherry, he left her to move in with Jackie and to prepare for fatherhood. Nine years elapsed before he and Sherry were legally divorced.

Gardner's son, Christopher Jarrett Medina Gardner was born on January 28, 1981. During the first year of his son's life, Gardner struggled to make ends meet by working at the VA hospital and supplementing his income with other jobs. He was hired as a sales representative for CMS, a medical equipment and supply company that offered him a yearly income of less than $30,000. Soon thereafter, Gardner left CMS to work at a more lucrative sales position at Van Waters and Rogers, a more established medical supply company.

Prompted by his child's inquiries about his own father, Gardner had previously been able to track down his biological father, Thomas Turner, over the telephone. With the higher income that he was earning at his new job, Gardner was able to save enough money to travel to Monroe, Louisiana. There, he and his son met Turner for the first time.

Gardner returned to San Francisco determined to succeed at business. A pivotal moment in his life occurred, after a sales call to a San Francisco General Hospital, when he encountered an impeccably-dressed man in a red Ferrari. Curious, Gardner asked the man what he did for a living. The man told him he was a stock broker and, from that moment on, Gardner's career path was decided.[6] Eventually, Gardner bought a Ferrari of his own from the famous basketball player, Michael Jordan. The Illinois license plate of Gardner's black Ferrari reads "NOT MJ."
The stockbroker in the red Ferrari was a man by the name of Bob Bridges. He met with Gardner and gave him an introduction to the world of finance. Bridges set up meetings between Gardner and branch managers at the major stock brokerage firms that offered training programs — such as Merrill Lynch, Paine Webber, E.F. Hutton, Dean Witter, and Smith Barney. For the next two months, Gardner cancelled or postponed his sales appointments and his car amassed parking tickets while he met with managers.

It appeared that Gardner got his "break" when he was accepted into a training program at E.F. Hutton. He subsequently quit his sales job so that he could dedicate his time exclusively to training as a stock broker. Then he appeared at the office ready to work, only to discover that his hiring manager had been fired the week before. To make matters worse, Gardner's relationship with Jackie was falling apart. She accused him of beating her — an accusation that Gardner denies to this day — and left him, taking their son with her to the east coast. He was taken to jail and a judge ordered that he stay there, for ten days, as punishment for being unable to pay $1,200 in parking tickets.

Gardner returned home from jail to find his apartment empty. His girlfriend and his son, along with all of his possessions (including his suits, shoes and business apparel), had disappeared. With no experience, no college education, virtually no connections, and with the same casual outfit he had been wearing on the day he was taken into custody, Gardner gained a position in Dean Witter Reynolds’ stock brokerage training program. However, with a monthly stipend of $1,000, he was unable to meet his living expenses.

Fatherhood amidst homelessness
Gardner worked to become a top trainee at Bear Stearns. He arrived at the office early and stayed late each day, persistently making calls to prospective clients. His perseverance paid off when, in 1982, Gardner passed his licensing exam on the first try and he became the sole trainee in his program to attain permanent employment at Bear Stearns.[citation needed] (This conflicts with other reports that all Dean Witter trainees who passed the exam were hired.)

About four months after Jackie disappeared with their son, she returned and left him with Gardner. By then, he was able to afford a small rent and was rooming in a flophouse. He willingly accepted sole custody of his child; however, the rooming house where he lived did not allow children. Although he was gainfully employed, Gardner and his son secretly struggled with homelessness while he saved money for a rental house in Berkeley, California.

Meanwhile, none of Gardner's coworkers knew that he and his son were homeless in the Tenderloin District of San Francisco for nearly a year. Gardner often scrambled to place his child in daycare, stood in soup lines and slept wherever he and his son could find safety — in his office after hours, at flophouses, at parks, and even in a locked bathroom at the Bay Area Rapid Transit station.

Concerned for Chris Jr.’s well-being, Gardner asked Reverend Cecil Williams to allow them to stay at the Glide Memorial United Methodist Church’s shelter for homeless women, now known as The Cecil Williams Glide Community House. The Reverend agreed without hesitation. Today, when asked what he remembers about being homeless, Christopher Gardner, Jr. recalls "I couldn't tell you that we were homeless, I just knew that we were always having to go. So, if anything, I remember us just moving, always moving."

Business ventures
In 1987, Chris Gardner established the brokerage firm, Gardner Rich & Co, in Chicago, Illinois, an "institutional brokerage firm specializing in the execution of debt, equity and derivative products transactions for some of the nation’s largest institutions, public pension plans and unions." His new company was started in his small Presidential Towers apartment, with start-up capital of US$10,000 and a single piece of furniture: a wooden desk that doubled as the family dinner table. Gardner reportedly owns 75 percent of his stock brokerage firm with the rest owned by a hedge fund. He chose the name "Gardner Rich" for the company because he considers Marc Rich, the commodities trader pardoned by President Bill Clinton in 2001, "one of the most successful futures traders in the world.

After Gardner sold his small stake in Gardner Rich in a multi-million dollar deal in 2006, he became CEO and founder of Christopher Gardner International Holdings, with offices in New York, Chicago, and San Francisco. During a visit to South Africa to observe elections around the time of 10th aniversary of the end of apartheid, Gardner met with Nelson Mandela to discuss possible investment in South African emerging markets as indicated in his 2006 autobiography. Gardner is reportedly developing an investment venture with South Africa that will create hundreds of jobs and introduce millions in foreign currency into the nation. Gardner has declined to disclose details of the project citing securities laws.

Philanthropic initiatives
Chris Gardner is a philanthropist who sponsors charitable organizations, primarily the Cara Program and the Glide Memorial United Methodist Church in San Francisco, where he and his son received desperately-needed shelter. He has helped fund a US$50 million project in San Francisco that creates low-income housing and opportunities for employment in the area of the city where he was once homeless. As well as offering monetary support, Gardner donates clothing and shoes. He makes himself available for permanent job placement assistance, career counseling and comprehensive job training for the homeless population and at-risk communities in Chicago.

Dedicated to the well-being of children through positive paternal involvement, Gardner serves on the board of the National Fatherhood Initiative (NFI). He is also a board member of the National Education Foundation and sponsors two annual education awards: the National Education Association's National Educational Support Personnel Award and the American Federation of Teachers' Paraprofessionals and School-Related Personnel Award.

In 2002, Gardner received the Father of the Year Award from the NFI. Since then, Gardner also had the honor of receiving the 25th Annual Humanitarian Award and the 2006 Friends of Africa Award, presented by the Los Angeles Commission on Assaults Against Women (LACAAW) and by the Continental Africa Chamber of Commerce, respectively.

The Pursuit of Happyness : Differences between the film and actual events

2008-01-21T02:39:00.000Z

Most significantly, Gardner's internship was a $1,000 monthly stipend, but the film claims "there was no salary."
Linda never existed. The mother of his child was "Jackie," his mistress whom he left his wife for when she became pregnant. Also, she initially took Chris Jr. away for many months before bringing him to Chris to raise. They were never married but eventually had another child together.
While the film shows Chris Jr. at the age of five, he was only two years old at the time of the events of this film.
Because of the age of Chris Jr., the interactions in the film did not occur. However, the scene where Chris tells him "You're a good poppa" did, in fact, occur.
The Rubik's Cube incident never happened. Smith came up with that idea, because he has always been fascinated with Rubik's cubes.
He actually spent ten days in jail for not paying his parking tickets.
He eventually started at Bear Stearns.
The actual events and his homelessness happened over the course of a few years rather than a short time as shown in this movie.
He sometimes spent the night underneath his desk when the shelters were full.
Gardner quit his job as salesman before entering the stock broker training program.
Gardner's medical equipment was never stolen from him.
In the movie Gardner states that he is from Louisiana, but Gardner is actually from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. However, Gardner's book indicates that his father resided in Louisiana at that time.
Gardner was not hit by a car.
The IRS did not seize money from Gardner's bank account.
He met with the "red Ferrari" man after the initial meeting to learn more about what the job involved. It was not simply a one-minute conversation.

The Pursuit of Happyness

2008-01-21T02:36:00.001Z

The Pursuit of Happyness is an Academy Award-nominated 2006 drama film produced by Overbrook Entertainment, Escape Artist, and Relativity Media, in association with and released by Columbia Pictures on December 15, 2006. Based on the true story of Chris Gardner, who secured an internship with a stock brokerage firm while homeless, the film stars Will Smith as Gardner and Smith's real-life son Jaden Smith as Gardner's son Christopher. Although the film differs from Gardner's real-life experiences in various respects, it recounts many of the unusual events faced by Gardner while pursuing the internship and caring for Christopher. The title of the movie is derived from the words of Thomas Jefferson in the United States Declaration of Independence; the misspelling of "happiness" refers to a theme in the movie where Gardner is upset that a mural decorating his son's daycare is incorrectly spelled. The film was directed by Gabriele Muccino, an Italian director making his English-language directorial debut.

Download The Pursuit of Happyness Trailer

Cinderella Man : James J. Braddock

2008-01-18T03:43:00.000Z

James Walter Braddock (June 7, 1905 – November 29, 1974) was an American heavyweight boxing champion.

Fighting under the name James J. Braddock (ostensibly to follow the pattern set by two prior champions, James J. Corbett and James J. Jeffries), his amazing comeback from a floundering career (that saw him lose several bouts before struggling to support his family by working on the docks during the Great Depression) earned him the nickname The Cinderella Man from Damon Runyon. His manager was Joe Gould.

Early life and boxing career
James Walter Braddock was born in Hell's Kitchen in New York City on West 48th Street within a couple of blocks of the Madison Square Garden venue that made him famous. His Irish Catholic family was poor and wasn't able to provide him with a formal education or with any luxuries of life. Like most Irish Catholic boys of his era, his desire was to play football for Knute Rockne's "Fighting Irish" of Notre Dame. However, poverty and a need to feed his family prevented Braddock from following his dream. After a successful amateur boxing career during which he simultaneously held the amateur championships of New Jersey in the light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions, James Braddock turned pro at the age of 21, fighting as a light heavyweight. After three years, Braddock's record was 34-5-7 with 21 knockouts.

In 1928, he pulled off a major upset by knocking out highly regarded Tuffy Griffiths. The following year he earned a chance to fight for the championship, but he narrowly lost to Tommy Loughran in a fifteen-round decision. Braddock was greatly depressed by the loss and badly fractured his right hand in several places in the process. His career suffered as a result, as did Braddock's disposition.

His record for the next thirty-three fights fell to 11-20-2, fighting with what close friends described as "generalized indifference."[citation needed] With his family in poverty during the Great Depression, Braddock had to give up boxing for a time and worked as a longshoreman. Due to frequent injuries to his right hand, Braddock compensated by using his left hand during his longshoreman work, and it gradually became stronger than his right. He always remembered the humiliation of having to accept government relief money, but was inspired by Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker Movement, a Christian social justice organization founded by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin in 1933 to help the homeless and hungry. After his boxing comeback, Braddock returned the welfare money he had received and made frequent donations to various Catholic Worker Houses, including feeding homeless guests with his family.

Baer VS. Braddock
In 1934, Braddock was given a fight with the highly touted John "Corn" Griffin. Although Braddock was intended simply as a stepping stone in Griffin's career, he knocked out the "Ozark Cyclone" in the third round. Braddock then fought John Henry Lewis, a future light heavyweight champion (and friend of future heavyweight champion Joe Louis) who had previously defeated Braddock. He won in one of the most important fights of his career. After defeating another highly regarded heavyweight contender, Art Lasky, whose nose he broke during the bout on March 22, 1935, Braddock was given a title fight against the World Heavyweight Champion, Max Baer.

Considered little more than a journeyman fighter, Braddock was hand-picked by Baer's handlers because he was seen as an easy payday for the champion. Instead, on June 13, 1935, at Madison Square Garden Bowl, Braddock won the heavyweight championship of the world as the 10-to-1 underdog in one of the most stunning upsets in boxing history. Baer admitted afterwards that he had underestimated Braddock as "a chump" and had received the worst pummeling of his professional career.

During the fight, a dogged Braddock took heavy hits from the powerful younger champion (30 years vs 26 years for Baer), but Braddock kept coming, wearing down Baer, who seemed perplexed by Braddock's ability to take a punch. In the end, the judges gave Braddock the title with a unanimous decision. James Braddock suffered from problems with his arthritic hands after injuries throughout his career, and in 1936 his title defense in Madison Square Garden against the German Max Schmeling was cancelled under suspicious circumstances. Braddock argued he would have received only a US$25,000 purse against Schmeling, compared to $250,000 against rising star Joe Louis. It was also likely that Braddock's manager, Joe Gould, did not want a potential German victory to be used as Nazi propaganda.

James Braddock VS. Joe Louis
When ready to fight, the thirty-two-year-old Braddock chose to defend his title against the 23-year-old star Joe Louis. Realizing that Louis would be a heavy favorite and being an astute businessman, Joe Gould negotiated an agreement with Mike Jacobs, head of 20th Century Sporting Club, a competitor to Madison Square Garden, whereby Braddock would receive 10% of the promoter's future gate receipts. At Comiskey Park, in front of fifty thousand fans, Braddock knocked Louis down in the first round of their June 22, 1937 bout, but Louis recovered and dominated the bout, winning by an eighth round stoppage. According to Braddock, Louis threw far more punches than Max Baer.

Although Braddock never complained, few knew that during the fight with Louis, Braddock actually received medication for arthritis. Braddock barely lifted his left during the fight because the medicine numbed him like a muscle relaxant. Braddock's only lucky punch happened in an uppercut, simply since he failed to raise his left over his head. His follow up punch missed Louis's chin, and slammed into Louis's chest. The punch cracked around the auditorium. A punch only an inch short of its target kept Braddock from retaining the title. Joe Louis worked Braddock over in the subsequent rounds, added twenty-three stitches, and moving a tooth right through his mouthpiece and into his lip. Joe Louis is on record as saying Braddock was "the most courageous fighter I ever fought." Braddock is purported to have aided Louis with some of his tax problems with the IRS later in life and the two developed an abiding friendship.

Retirement, World War II
Braddock always said he wanted his hand raised in his final fight. His last ring performance was in 1938, when he fought Welsh boxer Tommy Farr. Braddock came from behind to win a unanimous decision, breaking and bloodying Farr's nose, cracking two of his ribs, and knocking him down three times. The last two rounds were considered by many sportswriters to be the best of Braddock's life.

Following his retirement, Braddock and manager Joe Gould both enlisted into the U.S. Army in 1942, where they became first lieutenants. Before the war ended, Braddock served on the island of Saipan, where he trained enlisted men in hand-to-hand combat. In 1944, he received the James J. Walker Award in recognition of his long and meritorious service to the boxing industry.
Later in life, working as an Operating Engineer in Local 825, he helped to construct the Verrazano Narrows Bridge, and also worked as a marine equipment surplus supplier, running generators and welding equipment. Braddock and his wife Mae raised their three children, Jay, Howard and Rosemarie, in a house they bought in North Bergen, New Jersey.

On his passing in 1974 at the age of 69, James W. Braddock was interred in the Mount Carmel Cemetery in Tenafly, New Jersey. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2001. The James J. Braddock North Hudson County Park in North Bergen is named in his honor.

Cinderella Man

2008-01-18T03:24:00.000Z

Cinderella Man is a 2005 American Academy Award-nominated drama film by Ron Howard, titled after the nickname and inspired by the real life story of former Heavyweight boxing champion James J. Braddock. The film was produced by Howard, Penny Marshall, and Brian Grazer.

Plot
James J. Braddock, an Irish-American hard-nosed boxer, formerly a light heavyweight contender, is forced to give up on boxing after losing a number of fights. As the United States enters the Great Depression, Braddock worked at a variety of menial jobs to support his family, but still dreams of somehow returning to boxing and making it big. Thanks to a last minute cancellation by another boxer, Braddock gets a second chance to fight but is put up against the number two contender in the world by the promoters who see Braddock as nothing more than a punching bag. Braddock stuns the boxing experts and fans with a third round knockout of his formidable opponent. Fighting with permanent injuries to his hands, Braddock continues to win and before long he comes to represent the hopes and aspirations of the American public coping with the Depression. Dubbed the "Cinderella Man," in one of the biggest upsets in boxing history, he would eventually defeat the seemingly invincible Max Baer to become the heavyweight champion of the world.

Download Cinderella Man Trailer

Zodiac : Paul Avery

2008-01-17T02:57:00.000Z

Paul Avery (1934 - December 10, 2000) was an American journalist best known for his involvement in the Zodiac Killer and Patricia Hearst cases.

He was born in Honolulu, the son of U.S. Navy officer. He was raised and educated in Honolulu, Oakland, California, and Washington, D.C.. He started his career in journalism in 1955 working at a variety of newspapers before joining the San Francisco Chronicle in 1959.

In 1975, he wrote The Voices of Guns about the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) and Hearst kidnapping with Vin McLellan. He later worked for the Sacramento Bee and San Francisco Examiner before retiring in August 1994.

At the time of his death, he was married to Margo St. James, a feminist organizer who founded the prostitutes' rights group COYOTE. He had two children from an earlier marriage, Charlie Avery and Cristin Moak.

He died in Orcas Island, Washington of pulmonary emphysema.

Zodiac : Dave Toschi

2008-01-17T02:54:00.000Z

Dave Toschi (born 1931) is a former inspector in the San Francisco Police Department. He is best known for his role as a chief investigator in the Zodiac Killer case.
Toschi is currently vice president of North Star Security Services in Daly City. He was an advisor to the producers of the 2007 film Zodiac. The part of Toschi is portrayed in the film by actor Mark Ruffalo.

Zodiac : Robert Graysmith

2008-01-17T02:49:00.000Z

Robert Graysmith (born September 17, 1942) is a true-crime author of the books Zodiac; Zodiac Unmasked: the Identity of America's Most Elusive Serial Killer; Unabomber: a Desire to Kill; The Murder of Bob Crane: Who Killed the Star of Hogan's Heroes?; The Bell Tower:The Case of Jack the Ripper Finally Solved and Amerithrax: The Hunt for the Anthrax Killer.

Writing career
Graysmith is best-known for his writings on the Zodiac Killer case. He first became involved in that case when he was a cartoonist for the San Francisco Chronicle during the period in which the Zodiac Killer was active. Although his conclusions are controversial, he is considered one of the leading experts on the facts of the Zodiac case; for instance, the New York Post contacted him for his insights when a copycat shooter, Heriberto Seda, was active in New York in the early 1990s.

Two of his books have been made into films: Auto Focus and Zodiac. Graysmith is portrayed in the film Zodiac by Jake Gyllenhaal.

Personal life
Graysmith was born in Pensacola, Florida as "Robert Gray Smith." Before his divorce from his first wife, Margaret Ann, they had two sons together, David and Aaron. After the divorce, he changed his name to Graysmith in 1976. Graysmith met his second wife Melanie, an artist, at the Chronicle. They had a daughter together, named Margot Alexandra. They separated in 1980 and divorced in 1983.

Zodiac : Arthur Leigh Allen

2008-01-17T02:46:00.000Z

Though many people have been suspected of being Zodiac through the years, only one, Arthur Leigh Allen (December 18, 1933 - August 26, 1992), was seriously investigated. In July 1971, a friend of Allen's reported his suspicions about him to the Manhattan Beach Police Department, and the report was forwarded to the SFPD. When questioned later, Allen claimed without prompting that the bloody knives he had in his car the day of the Lake Berryessa attack had been used to kill chickens. When asked if he had read The Most Dangerous Game, Allen replied that he had and said it had made an impression on him. This interested the police, as the 408-character cipher appears to allude to that short story.

Allen was the only suspect in the case against whom police had enough evidence to execute not just one, but three search warrants: on September 14, 1972; February 14, 1991; and August 28, 1992, two days after he died. Allen denied his guilt in interviews, but there was much circumstantial evidence against him.

Police found no physical evidence to prove that Allen was the Zodiac Killer, and the Vallejo Police Department chose not to press charges against Allen, even though he was a convicted sex offender and weapons and explosive components were found in his home following the 1991 search. Ultimately, Allen's handwriting did not match the Zodiac's, his fingerprints did not match those suspected to be Zodiac's, no concrete evidence linking him to the Zodiac killings was ever found, and recent DNA testing on suspected Zodiac letters in 2002 did not provide a match. However, neither Vallejo nor SFPD ruled Allen out after the test results.

Zodiac : Code sheets and letters

2008-01-17T02:37:00.000Z

Some code sheets and letters from The Zodiac killer

Zodiac : Zodiac Killer

2008-01-17T01:55:00.000Z

The Zodiac Killer is a serial killer who operated in Northern California in the late 1960s. His identity remains unknown. The Zodiac coined his name in a series of taunting letters he sent to the press. His letters included four cryptograms (or ciphers), three of which have yet to be solved.

The Zodiac murdered five known victims in Benicia, Vallejo, Lake Berryessa, and San Francisco between December 1968 and October 1969. Four men and three women between the ages of 16 and 29 were targeted. Others have also been suspected to be Zodiac victims, but there has been thus far no conclusive evidence to link them to the killer.

In April 2004, the San Francisco Police Department marked the case "inactive", but reopened it some time before March 2007. The case remains open in other jurisdictions as well.

Victims
Confirmed
Although the Zodiac claimed in letters to newspapers that he murdered as many as 37 people, investigators agree on only seven confirmed victims, two of whom survived. They are:

David Arthur Faraday, 17, and Betty Lou Jensen, 16: Shot and killed on December 20, 1968, on Lake Herman Road just within the city limits of Benicia.
Michael Renault Mageau, 19, and Darlene Elizabeth Ferrin, 22: Shot on July 4, 1969, at the Blue Rock Springs Golf Course parking lot on the outskirts of Vallejo; Darlene was DOA at Kaiser Foundation Hospital, while Michael survived.
Bryan Calvin Hartnell, 20, and Cecelia Ann Shepard, 22: Stabbed on September 27, 1969, on what is today locally referred to as "Zodiac Island" at Lake Berryessa in Napa County; Hartnell survived six stab wounds to the back, but Shepard died of her injuries two days later.
Paul Lee Stine, 29: Shot and killed on October 11, 1969, in Presidio Heights in San Francisco.

Suspected
Many others have been identified as potential Zodiac victims, although evidence is inconclusive and none of the following have been confirmed:

Robert Domingos, 18, and Linda Edwards, 17: Shot and killed on June 4, 1963, at a beach near Lompoc. Edwards and Domingos were named as possible Zodiac victims because of specific similarities between their attack and the Zodiac's attack at Lake Berryessa.
Cheri Jo Bates, 18: Stabbed to death and nearly decapitated on October 30, 1966, at Riverside Community College in Riverside. Bates' possible connection to the Zodiac only came to light four years after her murder when San Francisco Chronicle reporter Paul Avery received a tip regarding similarities between the Zodiac killings and the circumstances surrounding Bates' death.
Kathleen Johns, 22: Abducted on March 22, 1970, on Highway 132 by I-580, west of Modesto. Johns escaped from the car of a man who drove her and her infant daughter around on the backroads between Stockton and Patterson for some three hours. After escaping to the police station in Patterson, she saw the Zodiac's wanted poster and identified him as her kidnapper.
Donna Lass, 25: Last seen September 26, 1970, in South Lake Tahoe. A postcard with an ad from Forest Pines condominiums (near Incline Village at Lake Tahoe) pasted on the back was received at the Chronicle on March 22, 1971, and has been interpreted by some as the Zodiac claiming Lass' disappearance as a victim. The postcard has not been conclusively linked to the Zodiac nor has Lass' body been found.

Timeline
Lake Herman Road
The first murders widely attributed to the Zodiac Killer were the shootings of high school students Betty Lou Jensen and David Faraday on December 20, 1968, just inside the Benicia city limits.

The couple were on their first date and planned to attend a Christmas concert at Hogan High a few blocks from Jensen's home. Instead they visited a friend and stopped at a local restaurant, then drove out Lake Herman Road. At about 10:15 pm Faraday parked his mother's Rambler in a gravel turnout, which was a well-known lover's lane.

Shortly after 11 pm, another car pulled into the turnout and parked beside them. The driver apparently got out with a pistol and ordered them out of the Rambler. Jensen exited first. When Faraday was halfway out, the man shot Faraday in the head. Jensen, fleeing was gunned down twenty-eight feet from the car by five shots through her back. The man then drove off.
Their bodies were found minutes later by Stella Borges, who lived nearby. She alerted Captain Daniel Pitta and Officer William T. Warner. Detective Sergeant Les Lundblad of the Solano County Sheriff's Department investigated the crime, but no solid leads developed.

Blue Rock Springs
Some time around midnight on July 4 - July 5, 1969, Darlene Ferrin and Michael Mageau drove to the Blue Rock Springs Golf Course in Vallejo, four miles from the Lake Herman Road murder site, and parked. While they sat in Ferrin's car, another car drove into the lot and parked beside them. It drove away almost immediately, then returned about 10 minutes later and parked behind them. The driver then got out and approached the passenger side door, carrying a flashlight and a 9 mm handgun. He first shone the light in their eyes to blind them, then shot both of them multiple times and began to return to his car. When Mageau moaned in pain, the driver returned and shot them both again. He then drove off.

At 12:40 am, a man phoned the Vallejo Police Department to report and claim responsibility for the attack. He also took credit for the murders of Jensen and Faraday six and a half months earlier. The police traced the call to a phone booth at a gas station at Springs Road and Tuolumne, about three tenths of a mile from Ferrin's home and only a few blocks from the Vallejo Sheriff's Department.

Ferrin was pronounced dead at the hospital. Mageau survived the attack despite being shot in the face, neck, and chest. Detectives John Lynch and Ed Rust of the Vallejo Police Department initially investigated the crime. Detective Jack Mulanax took over the case in the 1970s.

The Zodiac letters begin
On August 1, 1969, three letters prepared by Zodiac were received at the Vallejo Times-Herald, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the San Francisco Examiner. The nearly identical letters took credit for the shootings at Lake Herman Road and Blue Rock Springs. Each letter also included one-third of a 408-symbol cryptogram which the killer claimed contained his identity. Zodiac demanded they be printed on each paper's front page or he would "cruse [sic] around all weekend killing lone people in the night then move on to kill again, until I end up with a dozen people over the weekend." The Chronicle published its third of the cryptogram on page four of the next day's edition. An article printed alongside the code quoted Vallejo Police Chief Jack E. Stiltz as saying "We're not satisfied that the letter was written by the murderer" and requested the writer send a second letter with more facts to prove his identity. The threatened murders did not happen, and all three parts were eventually published.

On August 7, 1969, another letter was received at the San Francisco Examiner with the salutation, "Dear Editor This is the Zodiac speaking". It was the first time the killer had referred to himself with this name. The letter was in response to Chief Stiltz asking him to provide more details to prove he killed Faraday, Jensen and Ferrin. In it, the Zodiac included details about the murders which had not been released to the public as well as a message to the police that when they cracked his code "they will have me."

On August 8, 1969, Donald and Bettye Harden of Salinas, California, cracked the 408-symbol cryptogram, which did not contain Zodiac's name.

Lake Berryessa
On September 27, 1969, Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard were picnicking at Lake Berryessa on a small island connected by a sand spit to Twin Oak Ridge. A man approached them wearing a black executioner's-type hood with clip-on sunglasses over the eye-holes and a bib-like device on his chest that had a white 3"x3" cross-circle symbol on it. He approached them with a gun Hartnell believed to be a .45. The hooded man claimed to be an escaped convict from Deer Lodge, Montana, where he killed a guard and stole a car, and explained that he needed their car and money to go to Mexico. He had brought precut lengths of plastic clothesline and told Shepard to tie up Hartnell, before tying her up himself. The Zodiac checked and tightened Hartnell's bonds after discovering she bound him loosely. Hartnell initially believed it to be a weird robbery, but the man drew a knife and stabbed them both. He then hiked 500 yards back up to Knoxville Road, drew the cross-circle symbol on Hartnell's car door with a black felt-tip pen, and wrote beneath it: Vallejo/12-20-68/7-4-69/Sept 27-69-6:30/by knife.

At 7:40 p.m., the man called the Napa County Sheriff's office from a pay telephone to report his crime. The phone was found still off the hook minutes later at the Napa Car Wash on Main Street in Napa by KVON radio reporter Pat Stanley, only a few blocks from the sheriff's office and 27 miles from the crime scene. Detectives were able to lift a still-wet palm print from the telephone but were never able to match it to a suspect.

A man and his son who were fishing in a nearby cove had discovered the victims after hearing their screams for help and summoned help by contacting park rangers. Napa County Sheriff Deputies Dave Collins and Ray Land were the first law enforcement officers to arrive at the scene of the assault. Cecelia Shepard was conscious when Collins arrived and gave him a detailed description of the attacker. Hartnell and Shepard were taken to Queen of the Valley Hospital in Napa by ambulance. Shepard lapsed into a coma during transport to the hospital and never regained consciousness. She died two days later, but Hartnell survived to recount his tale to the press. Napa County Sheriff Detective Ken Narlow, who was assigned to the case from the outset, worked on solving the crime until his retirement from the department in 1987.

Presidio Heights
On October 11, 1969, a man entered Paul Stine's cab at the intersection of Mason and Geary Streets in San Francisco and requested to be taken to Washington and Maple Streets in Presidio Heights. For reasons unknown, Stine drove one block further to Cherry Street; the man shot him once in the head with a 9mm, then took his wallet and car keys and tore off his shirt tail. He was observed by three teenagers across the street at 9:55 pm, who called the police as the crime was in progress. They observed the man wiping the cab down, and then walking away towards the Presidio, one block to the north. The police arrived minutes later, and the teen witnesses explained that the killer was still nearby.

Two blocks from the crime scene, officer Don Fouke, also responding to the call, observed a white man walking along the sidewalk then stepping onto a stairway leading up to the front yard of one of the homes on the north side of the street; the encounter lasted only five to ten seconds. His partner, Eric Zelms, did not see the man. The radio dispatch had alerted them to look for a black and not a white suspect, so they had no reason to talk to the man and drove past him without stopping; the mix up in descriptions remains unexplained to this day. When they reached Cherry, Fouke was informed that they were in fact looking for a white suspect; Fouke realized they must have passed the killer. Fouke concluded that the Zodiac had resumed his original route and escaped into the Presidio, so they entered the base to look for him but the killer had vanished. A search ensued, but nothing was found. The three teen witnesses worked with a police artist to prepare a composite of Stine's killer, and a few days later returned to produce a second composite. The killer was estimated to be 35-45 years of age. Detectives Bill Armstrong and Dave Toschi were assigned to the case. The San Francisco Police Department eventually investigated an estimated 2,500 suspects over a period of years.

More letters and codes
On October 14, 1969, the Chronicle received yet another letter from the Zodiac, this time containing a swatch of Paul Stine's shirt tail as proof he was the killer; it also included a threat about shooting school children. It was only then that the police knew who they were looking for a few nights before in Presidio Heights.

At 2 a.m. on October 22, 1969, someone claiming to be the Zodiac called Oakland PD demanding that one of two prominent lawyers, F. Lee Bailey or Melvin Belli, appear on Jim Dunbar's television talk show in the morning. Bailey was not available, but Belli appeared on the show. Dunbar appealed to the viewers to keep the lines open, and eventually, someone claiming to be the Zodiac called several times and said his name was Sam. Belli agreed to meet with him in Daly City, but the suspect never showed up. Police officers who had heard the Zodiac listened to "Sam's" voice and agreed that he was not the Zodiac. Subsequent calls the suspect made to Belli were traced to the Napa State Hospital, where it was learned that "Sam" was a mental patient.
On November 8, 1969, the Zodiac mailed a card with another cryptogram consisting of 340 characters. On November 9, 1969, he mailed a seven-page letter in which he claimed that two policemen stopped and actually spoke with him three minutes after he shot Stine. Excerpts from the letter were published in the Chronicle on November 12, including the Zodiac's claim; that same day, Don Fouke wrote a memo explaining what had happened that night. The 340 character cipher has never been decoded. Many possible "solutions" have been suggested, but cannot be accepted since they do away with codemaking conventions.

On December 20, 1969, exactly one year after the murders of David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen, the Zodiac mailed a letter to Belli and included yet another swatch of Stine's shirt; the Zodiac claimed he wanted Belli to help him.

Modesto
On the night of March 22, 1970, Kathleen Johns was driving from San Bernardino to Petaluma to visit her mother. She was seven months pregnant and had her 10-month-old daughter beside her. While heading west on Highway 132 near Modesto, a car behind her began honking and flashing its lights. She pulled off the road and stopped. The man in the car parked behind her, stated her right rear tire was wobbling, and offered to tighten the lugs. After finishing his work, the man drove off, and when Johns pulled forward the wheel came off the car. The man stopped, backed up, and offered to drive her to the nearest gas station for help. She and her daughter climbed into his car. They drove past several service stations but the man did not stop. For some three hours he drove them up and down the backroads around Tracy, and when she asked why he was not stopping, he would change the subject.

When the driver stopped at an intersection, Johns jumped out with her daughter and hid in a field. He came out to look for her, but when a truck driver spotted the scene, Johns' abductor drove off. Johns hitched a ride to the police station in Patterson. As she gave her statement to the sergeant on duty, she noticed the police composite of Paul Stine's killer and recognized him as the man who abducted her and her child. Fearing the Zodiac might come back and kill them all, the sergeant had Johns wait in nearby Mil's Restaurant in the dark. When found, her car had been gutted and torched.

There are many conflicting accounts of the Johns abduction. Most claim he threatened to kill her and her daughter while driving them around, but at least one police report disputes that. Johns' account to Paul Avery of the Chronicle indicates her abductor left his car and searched for her in the dark with a flashlight; however, in the two reports she made to the police, she stated he did not leave the vehicle. Some accounts state Johns' vehicle was moved then torched, while others contend it was located where she'd left it. The various discrepancies among Johns' accounts over the years have led many researchers to question whether she was an actual Zodiac victim.

Further communications
The Zodiac continued to communicate with authorities for the remainder of 1970 via letters and greeting cards to the press. In a letter postmarked April 20, 1970, the Zodiac wrote, "My name is [blank]," followed by a 13-character cipher. The Zodiac went on to state that he was not responsible for the recent bombing of a police station in San Francisco (referring to the February 18, 1970, death of Sgt. Brian McDonnell two days after the bombing at Park Station in Golden Gate Park) but added "there is more glory to killing a cop than a cid [sic] because a cop can shoot back." The letter included a diagram of a bomb the Zodiac claimed he would use to blow up a school bus. At the bottom of the diagram, he had written: "Zodiac sign = 10, SFPD = 0".

Zodiac sent a greeting card postmarked April 28, 1970, to the Chronicle. Written on the card was, "I hope you enjoy yourselves when I have my BLAST," followed by the Zodiac's cross circle signature. On the back of the card, the Zodiac threatened to use his bus bomb soon unless the newspaper published the full details he wrote. He also wanted to start seeing people wearing "some nice Zodiac butons"

In a letter postmarked June 26, 1970, the Zodiac stated he was upset he did not see people wearing Zodiac buttons. He wrote, "I shot a man sitting in a parked car with a .38." It has been proposed the Zodiac was referring to the murder of Sgt Richard Radetich a week earlier, on June 19. At 5:25 AM, Radetich was writing a parking ticket in his squad car when an assailant shot him in the head with a .38-caliber pistol. Radetich died 15 hours later. SFPD denies the Zodiac was involved in this murder; it remains unsolved.

Included with the letter was a Phillips 66 map of the San Francisco Bay Area. On the image of Mount Diablo, the Zodiac had drawn a crossed-circle similar to that he had included in previous correspondence. At the top of the crossed circle, he placed a zero, and then a three, six, and a nine, so the annotation resembled a clock face. The accompanying instructions stated that the zero was “to be set to Mag. N." The letter also included a 32-letter cipher that the killer claimed would, in conjunction with the code, lead to the location of a bomb he had buried and set to go off in the autumn. The bomb was never located. The killer had signed the note with "Zodiac sign = 12, SFPD = 0".

In a letter to the Chronicle postmarked July 24, 1970, the Zodiac took credit for Kathleen Johns' abduction, four months after the incident.

In his July 26, 1970 letter, the Zodiac paraphrased a song from The Mikado, adding his own lyrics about making a "little list" of the ways he planned to torture his "slaves" in "paradice." The letter was signed with a large, exaggerated cross circle symbol and a new score: "Zodiac sign = 13, SFPD = 0". A final note at the bottom of the letter stated, "P.S. The Mt. Diablo code concerns Radians + # inches along the radians." In 1981, a close examination of the radian hint by Zodiac researcher Gareth Penn led to the discovery that a radian angle, when placed over the map per Zodiac's instructions, pointed to the locations of two Zodiac attacks.

On 7 October 1970, the Chronicle received a three-by-five inch card signed by the Zodiac with the Zodiac sign drawn with blood. The card's message was formed by pasting words and letters from an edition of the Chronicle and thirteen holes were punched across the card. Inspectors Armstrong and Toschi agreed it was "highly probable" the card came from the Zodiac.

Riverside
On October 27, 1970, Chronicle reporter Paul Avery (who had been covering the Zodiac case) received a Halloween card signed with a letter 'Z' and the Zodiac's cross circle symbol. Handwritten on the card was the note "Peek-a-boo, you are doomed." The threat was taken seriously and received a front page story on the Chronicle. Soon after, Avery received an anonymous letter alerting him to the similarities between the Zodiac's activities and the unsolved murder of Cheri Jo Bates, which had occurred four years earlier at the city college in Riverside in the Greater Los Angeles Area, more than 400 miles south of San Francisco. He reported his findings in the Chronicle on November 16, 1970.

On October 30, 1966, 18-year-old Bates spent the evening at the campus library annex until it closed at 9 p.m. Neighbors reported they heard a scream around 10:30 p.m. Bates was found dead the next morning a short distance from the library between two abandoned houses slated to be demolished for campus renovations. The wires in her Volkswagen's distributor cap had been pulled out. She was brutally beaten and stabbed to death. A man's Timex watch with a torn wristband was found nearby. The watch had stopped at 12:24, but police believe the attack occurred much earlier. Also discovered were the prints of a military-style shoe.

A month later, on November 29, 1966, nearly identical typewritten letters were mailed to the Riverside police and the Riverside Press-Enterprise. Titled "The Confession", the author claimed responsibility for the Bates murder, providing details of the crime not released to the public, and warned that Bates "is not the first and she will not be the last."

In December 1966, a poem was discovered carved into the bottom side of a desktop in the Riverside City College library. Titled "Sick of living/unwilling to die", the poem's language and handwriting resembled those of the Zodiac's letters. It was signed with what were assumed to be the initials "rh". Sherwood Morrill, California's top "Questioned Documents" examiner, expressed his opinion that the poem was written by the Zodiac.

On April 30, 1967 – the six-month anniversary of Bates' murder – Bates' father Joseph, the Press-Enterprise, and the Riverside police all received nearly identical letters. In handwritten scrawl, the Press-Enterprise and police copies read "Bates had to die there will be more," with a small scribble at the bottom that resembled the letter 'Z'. Joseph Bates' copy read "She had to die there will be more" without a 'Z' “signature”.

On March 13, 1971, nearly four months after Paul Avery's first article on Bates, the Zodiac mailed a letter to the Los Angeles Times. In it he credited the police instead of Avery for discovering his "Riverside activity, but they are only finding the easy ones, there are a hell of a lot more down there."

The connection between Cheri Jo Bates, Riverside, and the Zodiac remains uncertain. The Riverside Police Department maintains that the Bates homicide was not committed by the Zodiac, but did concede some of the Bates letters may have been his work to falsely claim credit.

Lake Tahoe
On March 22, 1971, a postcard to the Chronicle addressed to "Paul Averly" – intended for Paul Avery and believed to be from the Zodiac – appeared to take credit for the disappearance of Donna Lass from South Lake Tahoe on September 26, 1970. Made from a collage of advertisements and magazine lettering, it featured a scene from an ad for Forest Pines condominiums and the text "Sierra Club," "Sought Victim 12," "peek through the pines," "pass Lake Tahoe areas," and "around in the snow." Zodiac's cross circle symbol was in the place of the usual return address.

Lass was a nurse at the Sahara Tahoe hotel and casino. She worked until about 2 a.m. on September 26, treating her last patient at 1:40 a.m., and was not seen leaving her office. The next morning, her work uniform and shoes were found in a paper bag in her office inexplicably soiled with dirt. Her car was found at her apartment complex, and her apartment was spotless. Later that day both her employer and her landlord received phone calls from an unknown male who falsely claimed Lass had to leave town due to a family emergency. The police and sheriffs' office initially treated Lass' disappearance as a missing persons investigation, suspecting she simply left on her own. Lass was never found. What appeared to be a grave site was discovered near the Claire Tappan Lodge in Norden, California, on Sierra Club property, but excavation yielded only a pair of sunglasses.

Santa Barbara
In a Vallejo Times-Herald story that appeared on November 13, 1972, Santa Barbara Sheriff's Detective Bill Baker (ret.) theorized that the murders of a young couple in Santa Barbara County may have been the work of the Zodiac.

On June 4, 1963, five and a half years before the Zodiac's first known murders on Lake Herman Road, high-school senior Robert Domingos and fiancée Linda Edwards were shot to death on a beach near Lompoc, having skipped school that day for "Senior Ditch Day". Police believed that the assailant attempted to bind the victims, but when they freed themselves attempting to flee, he shot them repeatedly in the back and chest with a .22-caliber weapon. He then placed their bodies in a small nearby shack and tried, unsuccessfully, to burn it down.

The suggestion that Domingos and Edwards' murders are the work of the Zodiac is due to the similarities between their attack and the Zodiac's attack at Lake Berryessa.

The final letters
After the "Pines" card, the Zodiac remained silent for nearly three years, after which the Chronicle received a letter from the Zodiac, postmarked January 29, 1974, praising The Exorcist as "the best saterical comidy" that he had ever seen. The letter included a snippet of verse from The Mikado and an unusual symbol at the bottom that has gone unexplained by researchers. Zodiac concluded the letter with a new score, "Me = 37, SFPD = 0".

The Chronicle received another letter postmarked February 14, 1974, informing the editor that the initials for the Symbionese Liberation Army spelled out an Old Norse word meaning "kill." However, the handwriting was not authenticated as the Zodiac's.

Another letter received by the Chronicle, postmarked May 8, 1974, featured a complaint that the movie Badlands was "murder-glorification" and asked the paper to cut its advertisements. Signed only "A citizen", the handwriting, tone, and surface irony are all similar to prior Zodiac communications.

The Chronicle received an anonymous letter postmarked July 8, 1974, complaining about one of its columnists, Marco Spinelli. The letter was signed "the Red Phantom (red with rage)". The Zodiac's authorship of this letter is debated.

Another four years passed without communication — purported or verified — from the Zodiac. A letter of April 24, 1978, was initially deemed authentic, but was declared by three other experts to be a hoax less than three months later. In recent years, however, the letter has been deemed in some quarters as authentic. Toschi, the SFPD homicide detective who had been on the case since the Stine murder, was thought to have forged the letter, since author Armistead Maupin thought it similar to "fan mail" he received in 1976 that he believed was authored by Toschi. While he admitted writing the fan mail, Toschi denied forging the Zodiac letter and was eventually cleared of any charges. The authenticity of the letter remains in question.

On March 3, 2007, it was reported that an American Greetings Christmas card sent to the Chronicle postmarked 1990 in Eureka had been recently discovered in their photo files by editorial assistant Daniel King. Inside the envelope with the card was a photocopy of two U.S. Postal keys on a magnet keychain. The handwriting on the envelope resembles Zodiac's print, but was declared inauthentic by forensic document examiner Lloyd Cunningham. Not all Zodiac experts, however, agree with Cunningham's analysis. There is no return address on the envelope nor is his crossed-circle signature to be found. The card itself is unmarked. The Chronicle turned over all the material to the Vallejo Police Department for further analysis.

Current status
The last SFPD investigators of the case were Homicide Detail Inspectors Michael N. Maloney and Kelly Carroll. They were the first to submit DNA evidence from Zodiac's letters for analysis, which resulted in a partial genetic profile. DNA testing seems to have conclusively ruled out their lead suspect, Arthur Leigh Allen, and later Mike Rodelli's suspect, a prominent San Francisco businessman who lived near Paul Stine's murder scene.

The SFPD marked the case "inactive" in April 2004, citing caseload pressure and resource demands. They reopened the case some time before March 2007 and returned evidence to Vallejo police for additional DNA testing. The case also remains open in other jurisdictions.

Zodiac : Plot

2008-01-17T01:45:00.000Z

The film begins in July 1969 with the Zodiac killer’s second attack, the shooting of Darlene Ferrin and Mike Mageau at a lover’s lane in Vallejo. Mageau survives while Ferrin dies from her injuries. A letter written by the Zodiac arrives at the San Francisco Chronicle in August of the same year. Paul Avery (Robert Downey Jr.) is the top crime beat reporter covering the Zodiac murders for the San Francisco Chronicle. Robert Graysmith (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a political cartoonist for the same newspaper who receives encrypted letters that the killer sends to the police and several newspapers, taunting them. Because of Graysmith's inexperience and lowly status at the paper, he is not taken seriously by Avery and the editors and is excluded from the initial details about the killings despite his interest in the case. In particular, he is drawn to the encrypted code that is included with the letters and is given access to one. When he is able to crack one of the codes, Avery begins sharing information with him.

The Zodiac killer stabs Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard at Lake Berryessa in Napa County. Shepard dies as a result of the attack. Soon afterwards, cab driver Paul Stine is shot and killed by the killer in Presidio Heights. San Francisco police detectives Dave Toschi (Mark Ruffalo) and his partner Bill Armstrong (Anthony Edwards) are assigned to the case, liaising with other detectives such as Jack Mulanax (Elias Koteas) in Vallejo, Ken Narlow (Donal Logue) in Napa. The killer, or someone posing as him, continues to toy with authorities by speaking on the phone with celebrity lawyer Melvin Belli (Brian Cox) when he makes an appearance on a television talk show. Meanwhile, Avery and Graysmith become friends, delving deeper into the case.

In 1971, Toschi, Armstrong and Mulanax question Arthur Leigh Allen (John Carroll Lynch), a potential suspect in the case. However, a handwriting expert (Philip Baker Hall) says that Allen did not write the Zodiac letters. Avery receives a letter, possibly from the Zodiac killer, threatening his life. He becomes increasingly paranoid and takes drugs and alcohol to control these feelings. At one point, he shares information with a rival police force which angers Toschi and Armstrong. Avery leaves the Chronicle. Over the course of the decade, Armstrong quits the homicide division, Toschi is demoted for supposedly forging a Zodiac letter, and Graysmith continues his own in-depth investigation, interviewing witnesses and police detectives involved in the case. Due to his obsession for the case, he loses his job and his wife (Chloë Sevigny) leaves him, taking their children with her. Graysmith persistently contacts Toschi about the Zodiac murders and eventually impresses the veteran detective about his knowledge of the case and his theory of the identity of the killer. While Toschi cannot directly give Graysmith access to the information he discovered over the years, he provides contacts of other police departments in counties where the other murders occur and the cartoonist acquires more information that points to Allen as the Zodiac.

In 1983, Graysmith finds Allen at a Vallejo hardware store but does not confront him. In 1991, Mageau identifies Allen from a police mugshot. The film offers much circumstantial evidence which could support that conclusion, while offering possible reasons to doubt the evidence (fingerprints, handwriting, DNA) which legally exonerated Allen. An end title credit states that Allen died in 1992 without ever being charged.

Zodiac

2008-01-17T01:42:00.000Z

Zodiac is a 2007 American film directed by David Fincher and based on Robert Graysmith's non-fiction books Zodiac and Zodiac Unmasked. The Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. joint production stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, and Robert Downey Jr.. Zodiac tells the story of the people involved in the hunt for a notorious serial killer known as "Zodiac", who haunted the San Francisco Bay Area during the late 1960s, leaving several victims in his wake and taunting police with his letters and ciphers mailed to newspapers. The case remains one of San Francisco's most famous unsolved crimes.

Fincher, screenwriter James Vanderbilt and producer Brad Fischer spent 18 months conducting their own investigation and research into the Zodiac murders. During filming, Fincher employed the digital Thomson Viper Filmstream camera to shoot the film. This was the first time this camera was used to shoot an entire Hollywood feature film. Reviews for the film were highly positive. It did not perform strongly at the North American box office, grossing only USD $33 million. However, it performed better in other parts of the world, earning $51 million, to bring its box office total to $84 million, with a budget of $65 million spent on its production.

American Gangster : Richie Roberts

2008-01-16T02:01:00.000Z

Richie Roberts, (born Richard M. Roberts on June 23, 1941) is a Bronx native raised in Newark, New Jersey. A former Marine and New Jersey Police Detective for Essex County (and an Essex County Prosecutor's Detective), Roberts eventually became an Essex County Assistant Prosecutor, heading the Bureau of Narcotics after passing the New Jersey Bar Examination. He is portrayed by Russell Crowe in the film American Gangster (2007) as the detective who brings down Harlem drug lord Frank Lucas. After working as a prosecutor, Roberts became a criminal defense attorney, and still works as one today. Strangely, the first person he defended was Lucas, for the same crime for which he prosecuted him. To this day, Roberts and Lucas remain friends.

Roberts attended Weequahic High School in Newark.

Frank Lucas (R) and Richie Roberts (L)

American Gangster : Frank Lucas

2008-01-16T01:55:00.000Z

Frank Lucas (born September 9, 1930 in La Grange, North Carolina) was a heroin dealer and organized crime boss in Harlem during the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was particularly known for cutting out middlemen in the drug trade and buying heroin directly from his source in Southeast Asia. He organized the smuggling of heroin from Vietnam to the U.S. by using the coffins of dead American servicemen.

Career
He claims to have grossed US$1 million a day selling drugs on 116th Street. Federal judge Sterling Johnson, who was special narcotics prosecutor in New York at the time of Lucas' crimes, called Lucas' operation "one of the most outrageous international dope-smuggling gangs ever, an innovator who got his own connections outside the U.S. and then sold the narcotics himself in the street." He had connections with the Sicilian and Mexican mobs, holding an enormous monopoly on the heroin market in Manhattan. In an interview with Lucas (75 years old) he said, "I wanted to be rich. I wanted to be Donald Trump rich, and so help me God, I made it."

According to an interview dated August 14, 2000 with New York Magazine, Lucas relied on a tightly controlled crew called "The Country Boys". He preferred using relatives and men from his hometown in North Carolina because they were less likely to steal from him and were not used to city living. His heroin "Blue Magic" was 98% pure when shipped from Asia and sold at 2% purity on the street; In this direct quote from the article, Lucas was worth "something like $52 million," most of it in Cayman Islands banks. Added to this is "maybe 1,000 keys (kilograms), (2205 pounds), of dope on hand" with a potential profit of no less than $300,000 per kilo. Also in his portfolio were office buildings in Detroit, apartments in Los Angeles and Miami. There was also "Frank Lucas's Paradise Valley," a several-thousand-acre spread back in North Carolina on which ranged 300 head of Black Angus cows, including a breeding bull worth $125,000.

Lucas rubbed shoulders with the elite in entertainment, politics, and crime, even meeting Howard Hughes at one of Harlem's best clubs in his day. He wore mink and chinchilla and dressed his wife in the best. He fathered 7 children.

When he was arrested in the mid-70's, all of Lucas' assets were seized by the government.

Arrest and release
In 1975, Frank Lucas was arrested in New Jersey by detective Richie Roberts and was convicted of both federal and New Jersey state drug violations. In 1976, he was sentenced to 70 years in prison. Once convicted, Lucas provided evidence that led to more than 100 drug-related convictions of law enforcement officers. His sentence was reduced and changed to parole, so that he was released from prison in 1981. In 1984 he was arrested again and convicted for new drug violations and a parole violation. He received a sentence of seven years and was released from prison in 1991.

American Gangster : Plot

2008-01-16T01:44:00.000Z

Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson, a disciplined and intelligent black gangster, runs much of Harlem and imparts his wisdom onto his former driver turned right-hand man, Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington). When Johnson dies of a heart attack in 1968, at an electronics store. Frank dislikes the new, flashy gangsters and decides to take control. To gain money and power, he travels to Southeast Asia, and with the help of his cousin who is an Army Senior NCO, strikes a deal with a Thai general who supplies him with pure heroin. Frank then has the drugs transported back to America via military service planes, hidden in the coffins of seven dead U.S. soldiers from the Vietnam War.

Frank’s unique drug supply enables him to sell potent drugs (“Blue Magic” heroin) at low prices. He quickly makes a fortune and buys several nightclubs and apartments. He moves his family from North Carolina to New Jersey, where he purchases a large estate for his humble mother. His five brothers are enlisted as his lieutenants in the NYC drug trade – forming “The Country Boys,” who work together to traffic and sell dope on Harlem streets. During his rise, Frank meets and falls in love with Eva, a Puerto Rican beauty queen. Through his discipline, organization, and willingness to kill those in his way, Frank quickly rises to the top of the Harlem drug and crime scene.

Meanwhile, Newark, New Jersey detective Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe) is juggling a failing marriage, late-night law school classes, and his police career. When Richie and his partner, Javier Rivera, discover nearly $1 million in unmarked bills in a car, Richie resists temptation and turns the money in. His rare honest ways make him a hated member of his precinct, causing his partner to be exiled from the force, while Richie's rampant womanizing behavior leads his wife to seek a divorce and custody of their son. After his exiled partner dies from overdosing on Blue Magic, Richie's honesty catches him a break when his superior Captain Lou Toback (Ted Levine) puts him in charge of a newly created task force to stop drug trafficking in Essex County, New Jersey and New York City. Richie handpicks honest cops and gets to work on finding who is supplying Blue Magic.

As Frank's business prospers, he makes a point of operating quietly and dressing with a modest conservatism both as a sign of strength and to avoid attracting the attention of the law. However, Frank disregards this habit for his wife for one ostentatious night out, attending a Muhammad Ali boxing match with several known mobsters in a gaudy fur coat and hat, and with a ring-side seat. As it happens, Roberts is on duty observing the event and sees this unknown, but obviously wealthy, person associating with high-level criminals, as well as having better seats than the Italian mafia. Robert becomes suspicious, and he begins to investigate this unknown (to him) figure in New York organized crime.

Even as Frank realizes he has exposed himself to police scrutiny, he must make deals with the Italian mafia and fend off corrupt NYC detectives, such as Det. Trupo (Josh Brolin), who extort and threaten him. Trupo's dislike of Frank is capped when his prized 350 Shelby Mustang is bombed before his eyes. He must also contend with local crime figure Nicky Barnes (Cuba Gooding, Jr.), who is taking some of Frank's product, diluting it himself, and selling it under Frank's "brand" name. Unidentified assassins try to kill Frank’s wife, further destabilizing him and worsening his unsteady marriage. Things finally turn to the worst when Frank sees the U.S. Military vacating Vietnam, which in turn cuts off his primary heroin transportation.

Richie catches another break when his men witness the driver of one of Frank’s top soldiers shooting a woman. They use the driver’s bad predicament to get him to wear a wire. The wire allows Richie and his task force to discover when a plane carrying drugs is landing. Meanwhile, Trupo leads his band of police officers to Frank's mother's mansion where they take Frank's emergency cash supply. When the plane lands, Richie and his men follow the drugs into Newark's projects and obtain a warrant. A huge group of police and detectives attack the drug apartments en masse and a large shootout occurs. Frank is at church when the bust goes down, but he is arrested after the service ends. Frank and Richie finally meet, and Frank’s attempts to bully Richie are unsuccessful.

With no other options, Frank decides to provide names of numerous other criminals, including his and Richie’s common enemies: corrupt NYC detectives. Numerous corrupt cops are arrested; a distraught Trupo kills himself to avoid arrest. Richie, having passed the Bar Exam, prosecutes Frank, but he leaves the prosecutor's office after the Lucas trial. The first client he takes after becoming a defense attorney is Frank. Because of his cooperation, Frank receives a relatively light sentence of 15 years rather than the original 70. At the film’s end, he steps out of jail to the sounds and era of the 1990s, significantly older and out of place.

American Gangster

2008-01-16T01:41:00.000Z

American Gangster is a 2007 crime film written by Steve Zaillian and directed by Ridley Scott. The film stars Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe. Washington portrays Frank Lucas, a real-life heroin kingpin from Harlem who smuggled heroin into the US on American service planes returning from the Vietnam War. Crowe portrays Richie Roberts, a detective attempting to bring down Lucas' drug empire. Filming was done on location in New York City. American Gangster was released in the United States and Canada on November 2, 2007.

Breach : Eric O'Neil

2008-01-15T05:53:00.000Z

Eric M. O'Neill (born 1973) is a former American FBI operative. He worked as an Investigative Specialist, of the Special Surveillance Group (SSG), and played a role in the arrest and life imprisonment conviction of FBI agent Robert Hanssen for spying on behalf of the Soviet Union and Russia.

O'Neill graduated from Gonzaga College High School in Washington, D.C. in 1991, and earned dual degrees in political science and psychology from Auburn University in 1995. He was also a member of the Theta Xi Fraternity while at Auburn.

O'Neill was assigned to work as Hanssen's assistant: His true role, kept secret from Hanssen, was part of the effort to learn as much as possible about which secret information Hanssen had revealed, and to ensure his successful capture and prosecution. Ultimately, investigators made a dramatic move to obtain a "smoking gun". When others briefly disrupted Hanssen's routine and confidence maneuvering him into relaxing his rigid control of his portable electronic memo-book, O'Neill, under intense time pressure, secretly had its encrypted contents copied and returned it apparently undetected, despite forgetting which pocket of Hanssen's briefcase he had taken it from. O'Neill speculates that, had Hanssen detected the disturbance of his device, he would have realized that all his hope of continued freedom was lost and that Hanssen might have shot O'Neill dead on the spot.

Hanssen was arrested on February 18, 2001, at Foxstone Park near his home in Vienna, Virginia, charged with selling American secrets to Moscow for $1.4 million in cash and diamonds over a 22-year period. On July 6, 2001, he pleaded guilty to 15 counts of espionage. He was subsequently sentenced to life in prison. His treason has been described as "possibly the worst intelligence disaster in US history".

Following his FBI years, O'Neill earned a J.D. with Honors from The George Washington University Law School in 2003. He is admitted to the bars in Maryland and District of Columbia and is an associate at the law firm DLA Piper.

In the movie Breach, a movie based on the story of O'Neill and Hanssen, the part of O'Neill is played by Ryan Phillippe.

Breach

2008-01-15T05:45:00.000Z

The film is directed by Billy Ray and is based on the story of Eric O'Neill, an upstart FBI operative working under Robert Hanssen, an agent convicted of spying for the Soviet Union (and, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia) for 15 years. The film debuted in the USA on February 16, 2007. The film's DVD was released on June 12, 2007. Breach is rated PG-13 for violence, sexual content and language.

Plot
Eric O'Neill is a junior FBI employee hoping that his surveillance work on counterterrorism will earn him a promotion to agent when he is given a special assignment. While undercover as a clerk, he is to monitor Robert Hanssen, a senior agent whom he is told is suspected of being a sexual deviant. Hanssen had been recalled to FBI headquarters ostensibly to head up a new division specializing in Information Assurance.

At first, Hanssen insists on a strict formality between them with O'Neill calling Hanssen "sir" or "boss" and O'Neill referred to only as "clerk". Hanssen frequently rails against the hidebound bureaucracy of the FBI. He complains that only those who regularly "shoot guns" are considered for senior positions instead of those, like him, who are involved in vital national security matters. He calls the bureau's information technology systems antiquated and laments the lack of coordination and information exchange with other intelligence agencies.

Eventually, Hanssen becomes a mentor to O'Neill. He is impressed with a study of the FBI's computer systems completed by the junior employee. Hanssen also takes a personal interest in O'Neill and his young wife. A devout Catholic who is also a member of Opus Dei, Hanssen tries to lead O'Neill, an inactive Catholic, and his largely secular East German born wife to become active church goers.

O'Neill, while sometimes feeling Hanssen is becoming overly involved in his personal life, has a growing respect for him and has found no evidence of a secret double life. O'Neill confronts his handler, Agent Kate Burroughs, in the undercover assignment. She tells him that the sexual deviance allegations are only a secondary consideration. Hanssen is actually under investigation for having spied for the Soviet Union and Russia since around 1985.

While the FBI could arrest Hanssen now under lesser charges, they want to catch him in the act of espionage. If the FBI can threaten him with the possibility of the death penalty for treason, Hanssen may be more likely to divulge the information he stole. O'Neill is assigned to obtain data from Hanssen's Palm Pilot and keep him occupied while the FBI searches and bugs his car.
Hanssen believes he is being surveilled by Russians with a grudge. The tracking devices in his car cause interference with the radio. He also wonders why he was placed in an isolated position in the FBI only a few months before he's scheduled to retire. The FBI intercepts a message he sends to his Russian handlers saying he will not provide any more information. Hanssen tells O'Neill that he is being spied upon by Russian agents. O'Neill persuades Hanssen that he is not being trailed by the Russians or by him on behalf of the FBI. Hanssen becomes confident enough to make one last dead drop of stolen information. The FBI arrests him in the act.

At the end of the movie, due to the stress of the investigation on him and his marriage, O'Neill quits his job at the FBI, also observing that catching the greatest mole in American history would be the most important event to ever occur in his FBI career. After packing his things from Hanssen's office, he catches the elevator door, in which stands Hanssen himself, accompanied by two agents. Hanssen asks O'Neill to "pray for me," to which O'Neill agrees, and the movie ends with the elevator doors closing.

Critical reception
Reviews of the film have been very positive, with much praise going to Chris Cooper's performance. The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 84% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 164 reviews. Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 74 out of 100, based on 36 reviews.

On the February 17, 2007 broadcast of the television show Ebert & Roeper, Richard Roeper gave the film a "thumbs up" rating, calling it the best movie of the year so far. He also declared Cooper's performance worthy of an Oscar nomination.

Peter Rainer of The Christian Science Monitor named Breach the best film of 2007., Richard Schickel of TIME magazine named it the 6th best film of 2007., and Stephen Hunter of The Washington Post named it the 9th best film of 2007.

Accurency
The filmmakers fictionalized much of Eric O'Neill's story, as mentioned in the end credits. Among the major changes made for the film:

The real O'Neill knew going in that Hanssen was the subject of a counterintelligence investigation. There was no cover story about sexual perversions, and no dramatic meeting where O'Neill learned the truth.
There was no extensive contact outside the office between O'Neill and Hanssen as portrayed in the film (the O'Neills visiting the Hanssens, the Hanssens dropping by O'Neill's apartment). However, Hanssen did take O'Neill to church.
The scene where O'Neill deliberately steers himself and Hanssen into a traffic jam to delay a return to the office is not fictional, but the street featured in the film is different from the real street because of filming considerations.
The scene where Hanssen takes O'Neill out into the woods and drunkenly fires his pistol is fictional.
Unlike in the movie, O'Neill never saw Hanssen after the arrest.
While O'Neill did obtain Hanssen's PDA, he took it to FBI techs to download rather than downloading it himself.
In the film, O'Neill's Alma Mater is stated to be Gonzaga University. While he did attend Gonzaga College High School, his college degrees came from Auburn University. There are also a few anachronisms in the film:
Windows XP was shown on several computers but it was not released when the events of the film took place.
Hanssen ordered that the office get an OC-48 connection because of its "2.4 megabit" speed but really OC-48 has 2.4 gigabits per second bandwidth.

Young Gun : Billy the Kid

2008-01-15T05:05:00.000Z

William Henry McCarty (November 23, 1859 – July 14, 1881), better known as Billy the Kid, but also known by the aliases William Antrim and William Harrison Bonney, was a famous 19th century American frontier outlaw and gunman who was a participant in the Lincoln County War. According to legend he killed 21 men, one for each year of his life, but more likely he participated in the killing of less than half that number.

McCarty (or Bonney, the name he used at the height of his notoriety) was 5'8-5'9 with blue eyes, smooth cheeks, and prominent front teeth. He was said to be friendly and personable at times, but he could also be short-tempered and determined. This made him a very dangerous outlaw, when combined with his shooting skills and cunning. He was also famous for (apparently) always wearing a sugarloaf sombrero hat with a wide green decorative band. He was little known in his own lifetime but was catapulted into legend in the year after his death when his killer, Sheriff Patrick Garrett, published a wildly sensationalistic biography of him called The Authentic Life of Billy, the Kid. Beginning with Garrett's account, Billy the Kid grew into a symbolic figure of the American Old West.

Biography

Early life

Little is known about Bonney's background, but he is thought to have been born on Allen Street on the lower east side of Manhattan Island, New York. His parents were of Irish Catholic descent, but their names, and thus Bonney's surname, are not known for certain. Variations for his parents' names include Catherine McCarty or Katherine McCarty Bonney for his mother and William Bonney or Patrick Henry McCarty for his father (who probably died around the end of the American Civil War). Some genealogists say he was born William Henry Bonney and was son of William Harrison Bonney and wife Katherine Boujean, paternal grandson of Levi Bonney and wife Rhoda Pratt and great-grandson of Obadiah Pratt (Saybrook, Connecticut, September 14, 1742 – Canaan, New York, March 2, 1797) and wife Jemima Tolls (New Haven, Connecticut, August 11, 1754 – Washington, New York, November 24, 1812) (who in turn were the grandparents of Mormon leader Parley P. Pratt, making him and Bonney first cousins once removed.). In 1868, his mother met William Antrim, and after several years of moving around the country with Henry and his half-brother Joseph, the couple married and settled in Silver City, New Mexico, in 1873. Antrim found sporadic work as a bartender and carpenter but soon became more interested in prospecting and gambling for fortune than in his wife and stepsons. Despite this, young McCarty sometimes referred to himself by the surname "Antrim."
Faced with an indigent husband, McCarty's mother took in boarders in order to provide for her sons. She was afflicted with tuberculosis, even though she was seen by her boarders and neighbors as "a jolly Irish lady, full of life and mischief." The following year, on September 16, 1874, she died, and was buried in the Memory Lane Cemetery in Silver City. At age 14, McCarty was taken in by a neighboring family who operated a hotel where he worked to pay for his keep. The manager was impressed by the youth, boasting that he was the only young man who ever worked for him that did not steal anything. His school teachers said that the young orphan was "no more of a problem than any other boy, always quite willing to help with chores around the schoolhouse."

On September 23, 1875, McCarty was arrested for hiding a bundle of stolen clothes for a man playing a prank on a Chinese laundryman. Two days after McCarty was thrown in jail, the scrawny teen escaped by worming his way up the jailhouse chimney. From that point on, McCarty was more or less a fugitive. He eventually found work as an itinerant ranch hand and shepherd in southeastern Arizona. In 1877, he became a civilian teamster at Fort Grant Army Post in Arizona with the duty of hauling logs from a timber camp to a sawmill. The civilian blacksmith at the camp, Frank "Windy" Cahill, took pleasure in bullying young McCarty. On August 17, Cahill attacked McCarty after a verbal exchange and threw him to the ground. McCarty retaliated by drawing his gun and shooting Cahill, who died the next day. Once again McCarty was in custody, this time in the Camp's guardhouse awaiting the arrival of the local marshal. Before the marshal could arrive, however, McCarty escaped. It has sometimes been reported that the encounter with Frank Cahill took place in a saloon.

Again on the run, McCarty, who had begun to refer to himself as "Willam H. Bonney," next turned up in the house of Heiskell Jones in Pecos Valley, New Mexico. Apaches had stolen McCarty's horse, which forced him to walk many miles to the nearest settlement, which was Jones's home. She nursed the young man, who was near death, back to health. The Jones family developed a strong attachment to McCarty and gave him one of their horses.

Lincoln County Cattle War
In the autumn of 1877, Bonney (McCarty) moved to Lincoln County, New Mexico, and was hired as a cattle guard by John Tunstall, an English cattle rancher, banker and merchant, and his partner, Alexander McSween, a prominent lawyer. A conflict, known later as the Lincoln County Cattle War, had begun between the established town merchants and the ranchers. Events turned bloody on February 18, 1878, when Tunstall, unarmed, was caught on an open range while herding cattle and murdered. Tunstall's murder enraged Bonney and the other ranch hands.

They formed their own group called the Regulators, led by ranch hand Richard "Dick" Brewer, and proceeded to hunt down two of the members of the posse that had killed Tunstall. They captured Bill Morton and Frank Baker on March 6 and killed them on March 9 near Agua Negra. While returning to Lincoln they also killed one of their own members, a man named McCloskey, whom they suspected of being a traitor.

On April 1, Regulators Jim French, Frank McNab, John Middleton, Fred Waite, Henry Brown and Bonney ambushed Sheriff William J. Brady and his deputy, killing them both in the high street of Lincoln itself. Bonney was wounded while trying to retrieve a rifle belonging to him, which Brady had taken in an earlier arrest.

On April 4, they tracked down and killed an old buffalo hunter known as Buckshot Roberts, whom they suspected of involvement in the Tunstall murder, but not before Roberts shot and killed Dick Brewer, who had been the Regulators' leader up until that point. Two other Regulators were wounded during the gun battle, which took place at Blazer's Mill. Bonney took over as leader of the Regulators following Brewer's death. Under indictment for the Brady killing, Bonney and his gang spent the next several months in hiding and were trapped, along with McSween, in McSween's home in Lincoln on July 15, 1878, by members of "The House" and some of Brady's men. After a five-day siege, McSween's house was set on fire. Bonney and the other Regulators fled, Bonney killing a "House" member named Bob Beckwith in the process and maybe more. McSween was shot down while fleeing the blaze, and his death essentially marked the end of the Lincoln County Cattle War.

Lew Wallace and amnesty
In the autumn of 1878, former Union Army General Lew Wallace became Governor of the New Mexico Territory. In order to restore peace to Lincoln County, Wallace proclaimed an amnesty for any man involved in the Lincoln County War who was not already under indictment. Bonney, who had fled to Texas after escaping from McSween's house, was under indictment, but Wallace was intrigued by rumors that the young man was willing to surrender himself and testify against other combatants if amnesty could be extended to him. In March 1879 Wallace and Bonney met in Lincoln County to discuss the possibility of a deal. True to form, Bonney greeted the governor with a revolver in one hand and a Winchester rifle in the other. After taking several days to consider Wallace's offer, Bonney agreed to testify in return for amnesty.

The arrangement called for Bonney to submit to a token arrest and a short stay in jail until the conclusion of his courtroom testimony. Although Bonny's testimony helped to indict John Dolan, the district attorney, one of the powerful "House" faction leaders, disregarded Wallace's order to set Bonney free after testifying. He was returned to jail in June 1879, but slipped out of his handcuffs and fled.

For the next year and a half, Bonney survived by rustling, gambling and killing. In January 1880, during a well-documented altercation, he killed a man named Joe Grant in a Fort Sumner saloon. Grant was boasting that he would kill the "Kid" if he saw him, not realizing the man he was playing poker with was "Billy the Kid." In those days people only loaded their revolvers with five bullets, since there were no safeties and a lot of accidents. The "Kid" asked Grant if he could see his ivory handled revolver and, while looking at the weapon, cycled the cylinder so the hammer would fall on the empty chamber. He then let Grant know who he was. When Grant fired, nothing happened, and Bonney then shot him. When asked about the incident later, he remarked, "It was a game for two, and I got there first". Other stories tell the bullet issue differently. One version is that Billy emptied the gun. Another story tells that Grant just bought the six shot from another man, Chisum cowboy Jack Finan, who just some hours before had shot three rounds without reloading. Grant hadn't reloaded the weapon either, as he didn't know about that. The Kid only turned the empty cartridges up to the hammer.

In November 1880, a posse pursued and trapped Bonney's gang inside a ranch house (owned by friend James Greathouse at Anton Chico in the White Oaks area). A posse member named James Carlysle ventured into the house under white flag in an attempt to negotiate the group's surrender, with Greathouse being sent out as a hostage for the posse. At some point in the night it became apparent to Carlysle that the outlaws were stalling, when suddenly a shot was accidentally fired from outside. Carlysle, assuming the posse members had shot Greathouse, decided to run for his life, crashing through a window into the snow outside. As he did so, the posse, mistaking Carlysle for one of the gang, fired and killed him. Realizing what they had done and now demoralized, the posse scattered, allowing Bonney and his gang to slip away. Bonney later wrote to Governor Wallace claiming innocence in the killing of Carlysle and of involvement in cattle rustling in general.

Pat Garrett

During this time, the Kid also developed a friendship with an ambitious local bartender and former buffalo hunter named Pat Garrett. Running on a pledge to rid the area of rustlers, Garrett was elected as sheriff of Lincoln County in November 1880, and in early December he put together a posse and set out to arrest Bonney, now known almost exclusively as Billy the Kid, and carrying a $500 bounty on his head.

The posse led by Garrett fared much better, and his men closed in quickly. On December 19, Bonney barely escaped the posse's midnight ambush in Fort Sumner, during which one of the gang, Tom O'Folliard, was shot and killed. On December 23, he was tracked to an abandoned stone building located in a remote location called Stinking Springs. While Bonney and his gang were asleep inside, Garrett's posse surrounded the building and waited for sunrise. The next morning, a cattle rustler named Charlie Bowdre stepped outside to feed his horse. Mistaken for Bonney, he was killed by the posse. Soon afterward somebody from within the building reached for the horse's halter rope, but Garrett shot and killed the horse, the body of which then blocked the only exit. As the lawmen began to cook breakfast over an open fire, Garrett and Bonney engaged in a friendly exchange, with Garrett inviting Bonney outside to eat, and Bonney inviting Garrett to "go to hell." Realizing that they had no hope of escape, the besieged and hungry outlaws finally surrendered later that day and were allowed to join in the meal.

Escape from Lincoln

Bonney was jailed in the town of Mesilla while waiting for his April 1881 trial and spent his time giving newspaper interviews and also peppering Governor Wallace with letters seeking clemency. Wallace, however, refused to intervene. Bonney's trial took one day and resulted in his conviction for killing Sheriff Brady: the only conviction ever secured against any of the combatants in the Lincoln County Cattle War. On April 13, he was sentenced by Judge Warren Bristol to hang. The execution was scheduled for May 13, and he was sent to Lincoln to await this date, held under guard by two of Garrett's deputies, James Bell and Robert Ollinger, on the top floor of the town's courthouse. On April 28, while Garrett was out of town, Bonney stunned the territory by killing both of his guards and escaping.

The details of the escape are unclear. Some historians believe that a friend or Regulator sympathizer left a pistol in a nearby privy that Bonney was allowed to use, under escort, each day. Bonney then retrieved this gun and after Bell had led him back to the courthouse, turned it on his guard as the two of them reached the top of a flight of stairs inside. Another theory holds that Bonney slipped his manacles at the top of the stairs, struck Bell over the head with them and then grabbed Bell's own gun and shot him.

However it happened, Bell staggered out into the street and collapsed, mortally wounded. Meanwhile, Bonney scooped up Ollinger's ten-gauge double barrel shotgun and waited at the upstairs window for Ollinger, who had been across the street with some other prisoners, to come to Bell's aid. As Ollinger came running into view, Bonney leveled the shotgun at him, called out "Hello Bob!" and shot him dead. The townsfolk supposedly gave him an hour that he used to remove his leg iron. The hour was granted in thanks for his work as part of "The Regulators." After cutting his leg irons with an axe, the young outlaw borrowed (or stole) a horse and rode leisurely out of town, reportedly singing. The horse was returned two days later.

Death

Responding to rumours that Bonney was still lurking in the vicinity of Fort Sumner almost three months after his escape, Sheriff Garrett and two deputies set out on July 14, 1881, to question one of the town's residents, a friend of Bonney's named Pedro Maxwell. Near midnight, as Garrett and Maxwell sat talking in Maxwell's darkened bedroom, Bonney unexpectedly entered the room. There are at least two versions of what happened next.

One version says that as the Kid entered, he could not recognize Garrett in the poor light. Bonney drew his pistol and backed away, asking "¿Quién es? ¿Quién es?" (Spanish for "Who is it? Who is it?"). Recognizing Bonney's voice, Garrett drew his own pistol and fired twice, the first bullet hitting Bonney just above his heart and killing him instantly. In a second version, Bonney entered carrying a knife, evidently headed to a kitchen area. He noticed someone in the darkness, and uttered the words "¿Quién es? ¿Quién es?", at which point he was shot and killed in ambush style.

Although the popularity of the first story persists, and portrays Garrett in a better light, many historians contend that the second version is probably the accurate one. A markedly different theory, in which Garrett and his posse set a trap for Bonney, has also been suggested, most recently being investigated in the Discovery Channel documentary "Billy the Kid: Unmasked". The theory contends that Garrett went to the bedroom of Pedro Maxwell's sister, Paulita, and tied her up in her bed. Paulita was an acquaintance of Billy the Kid, and the two had possibly considered getting married. When Bonney arrived, Garrett was waiting behind Paulita's bed and shot the Kid.

Henry McCarty, alias Henry Antrim, alias William H. Bonney, alias Billy the Kid, was buried the next day in Fort Sumner's old military cemetery, between his fallen companions Tom O'Folliard and Charlie Bowdre. A single tombstone was later erected over the graves, giving the three outlaws' names and with the word "Pals" also carved into it. The tombstone has been stolen and recovered three times since being placed in the 1940s, and the entire gravesite is now enclosed by a steel cage.

Another version of Billy The Kid's death was not a death at all. According to legend, when the time came to kill The Kid, Garrett let him go. Some sources say Garrett arranged for Bonney to escape from Maxwell's farm on a horse and make it to Mexico. The body of Billy The Kid was actually that of a ranch hand.

Notoriety, fact vs reputation
As with many men of the old west dubbed gunfighters, Billy the Kid's reputation exaggerated the actual facts of gunfights in which he was involved. Despite being credited with the killing of 21 men in his lifetime, he is believed to have participated in the killing of only nine men. Five of them died during shootouts in which several of the "Regulators" took part (including the revenge killing of Sheriff Brady, who had murdered Billy's employer, Englishman John Tunstall); of the other four, two were in self-defense gunfights and the other two were the killings of Deputies Bell and Olinger during the Kid's jail escape. Still, Billy the Kid, with the Winchester rifle given him by John Tunstall (and taken from him by Sheriff Brady), was the best shot to emerge from the Lincoln County War. After killing Brady, Billy walked coolly over to the body and recovered his rifle.

Left-handed or right-handed?
Billy was right-handed. In the 20th century, it was widely assumed that Billy the Kid was left-handed. This belief came from the fact that the only known photograph of Bonney, an undated ferrotype, shows him with a Model 1873 Winchester rifle in his right hand and a gun belt with a holster on his left side, where a left handed person would typically wear a pistol. The belief became so entrenched that in 1958, a biographical film was made about Billy the Kid called The Left Handed Gun starring Paul Newman. Late in the 20th century, it was discovered that the familiar ferrotype was actually a reverse image. This version shows his Model 1873 Winchester with the loading port on the left side. All Model 1873s had the loading port on the right side, proving the image was reversed, and that he was, in fact, wearing his pistol on his right hip. Even though the image has been proven to be reversed, the idea of a left-handed Billy the Kid continues to widely circulate. Perhaps because many people heard both of these arguments and confused them, it is widely believed that Billy the Kid was ambidextrous. Many Billy the Kid sites describe him as such, and the fact is still widely disputed.

Imposters
Brushy BillIn 1950, a paralegal named William Morrison located a man in West Texas named Ollie P. Roberts, nicknamed Brushy Bill, who claimed to be the actual Billy the Kid, and that he indeed had not been shot and killed by Pat Garrett in 1881. Almost all historians reject the Brushy Bill claim. Among other problems, the real Billy the Kid was believed to have spoken Spanish fluently and could read and write (the Kid wrote several letters to New Mexico Governor Lew Wallace, seeking a pardon), whereas Brushy Bill apparently could not speak Spanish at all and was, in fact, illiterate. However, Morrison has claimed that Brushy Bill did speak fluent Spanish and was very literate. Despite this and discrepancies in birth dates and physical appearance, the town of Hico, Texas (Brushy Bill's residence) has capitalized on the Kid's infamy by opening the Billy The Kid Museum.

John Miller
Another claimant to the title of Billy the Kid was John Miller, whose family claimed him posthumously to be Billy the Kid in 1938. Miller was buried at the state-owned Pioneers' Home Cemetery in Prescott, Arizona. Tom Sullivan, former sheriff of Lincoln County, and Steve Sederwall, former mayor of Capitan, disinterred the bones of John Miller in May 2005. DNA samples from the remains were sent to a lab in Dallas, Texas, to be compared against traces of blood taken from a bench that was believed to be the one Bonney's body was placed on after he was shot to death. The pair had been searching for Bonney's physical remains since 2003, beginning in Fort Sumner, New Mexico, and eventually ending up in Arizona. To date, no results of the DNA tests have been made public, although Sederwall has obliquely stated that "What I know is not what's written in history. What I know about this case differs from history."

Young Gun 2

2008-01-15T05:03:00.001Z

Young Guns II is a 1990 film, and is the sequel to Young Guns. It stars Emilio Estevez, Kiefer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Phillips, Christian Slater, and features William Petersen as Pat Garrett. It was directed by Geoff Murphy.

It follows the life of William H. Bonney aka Billy the Kid (played by Emilio Estevez) in the years following the Lincoln County War in which Billy was part of "The Regulators" -- a group of around 6 highly skilled gunmen avenging the death of John Tunstall -- and the years before Billy's documented death. The film, however, is told by Brushy Bill Roberts, a man who in the 1940s appeared claiming to be the real Billy the Kid.

While the film is not entirely historically accurate, it does show some of the key events leading up to Billy's documented death, including his talks with Governor Lew Wallace, his capture by friend-turned-foe Pat Garrett, his trial and his subsequent escape in which he killed two deputies.

Young Gun 1

2008-01-15T04:59:00.000Z

Young Guns is a 1988 action/western film by Morgan Creek Productions and released by 20th Century Fox (in North America) and Vestron Pictures (outside North America). It was directed by Christopher Cain and written by John Fusco.
Its stars include Emilio Estevez, Kiefer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Phillips, Charlie Sheen, Dermot Mulroney, and Casey Siemaszko. It also features Terence Stamp, Terry O'Quinn, Brian Keith, and Jack Palance. Young Guns is a fictionalized retelling of the adventures of Billy the Kid (Estevez) during the Lincoln County War, which took place in New Mexico during 1877-1878. It was filmed in and around Los Cerrillos, New Mexico.

Miyamoto Musashi

2008-01-14T03:20:00.001Z

Miyamoto Musashi (宮本武蔵, Miyamoto Musashi?) (c. 1584–June 13 (Japanese calendar: May 19), 1645), also known as Shinmen Takezō, Miyamoto Bennosuke, or by his Buddhist name Niten Dōraku, was a Japanese swordsman famed for his duels and distinctive style. Musashi, as he is often simply known, became legendary through his outstanding swordsmanship in numerous duels, even from a very young age. He is the founder of the Hyōhō Niten Ichi-ryū or Niten-ryū style of swordsmanship and the author of The Book of Five Rings (五輪書, Go Rin No Sho?), a book on strategy, tactics, and philosophy that is still studied today.

Biography

Birth

The details of Miyamoto Musashi's early life are difficult to verify. Musashi himself simply states in Gorin no Sho that he was born in Harima Province. Niten Ki (an early biography of Musashi) supports the theory that Musashi was born in 1584: "[He] was born in Banshū, in Tenshō 12 [1584], the Year of the Monkey." The historian Kamiko Tadashi, commenting on Musashi's text, notes: "[...]Munisai was Musashi's father...he lived in Miyamoto village, in the Yoshino district [of Mimasaka Province]. Musashi was most probably born here." His childhood name was Bennosuke 弁之助.

Musashi gives his full name and title in Gorin no Sho as "Shinmen Musashi no Kami Fujiwara no Genshin." His father, Shinmen Munisai 新免無二斎, was an accomplished martial artist and master of the sword and jutte. Munisai, in turn, was the son of Hirata Shōgen 平田将監, a vassal of Shinmen Iga no Kami, the lord of Takeyama Castle, in the Yoshino district of Mimasaka Province. Hirata was relied upon by Lord Shinmen, and so was allowed to use the Shinmen name. As for "Musashi," Musashi no Kami was a court title, making him the nominal governor of Musashi province. "Fujiwara" was the lineage from which Musashi claimed nominal descent.

Munisai and Musashi's birth date
In his youth, Munisai won 2 out of 3 bouts against a master swordsman named Yoshioka in front of the then-shogun Ashikaga Yoshiaki; the shogun granted him the title "Best in Japan". Munisai also taught in a local dojo his family jitte techniques. Mysteriously, his tomb says he died in 1580, which obviously conflicts with the accepted birth date of 1584 for Musashi. Further muddying the waters, according to the family genealogy of the extant Miyamoto family, Musashi was born in 1583. Kenji Tokitsu has suggested that the accepted birth date of 1584 for Musashi is wrong, as it is primarily based on a literal reading of the introduction to the Go Rin No Sho where Musashi states that the years of his life "add up to 60" (yielding the twelfth year of the Tensho era, or 1584, when working backwards from the well-documented date of composition), when it should be taken in a more literary and imprecise sense, indicating not a specific age but merely that Musashi was in his sixties when he wrote it.

Because of the uncertainty centering around Munisai (when he died, whether he was truly Musashi's father, etc.), Musashi's mother is known with even less confidence. Here are a few possibilities:

Munisai's tomb was correct. He died in 1580, leaving two daughters; his wife adopted a recently born child, from the Akamatsu clan, intended to succeed Munisai at his jitte school. Omasa, Munisai's widow, was not truly Musashi's mother.

The tomb was wrong. Munisai lived a good deal longer, later than 1590 possibly. Musashi, then, was born to Munisai's first wife, Yoshiko (daughter to Bessho Shigeharu, who formerly controlled Hirafuku village until he lost a battle in 1578 to Yamanaka Shikanosuke). Munisai divorced her after Musashi's birth, whereupon she decamped for her father's house, leaving Musashi with Munisai. Musashi grew up treating Munisai's second wife, Omasa (daughter to Lord Shinmen) as his mother. This second scenario is laid out in an entry to the Tasumi family's genealogy:
"The daughter of Bessho Shigeharu first married Hirata Muni and was divorced from him a few years later. After that she married Tasumi Masahisa. The second wife of Tasumi Masahisa was the mother of Miyamoto Musashi. Musashi's childhood name was Hirata Den. He later became famous on account of his swordsmanship. During his childhood, he went to Hirafuku to find his real mother. He moved in with the Tasumi family."

A variant of this second theory is based on the fact that the tombstone states that Omasa gave birth to Musashi on 4 March 1584, and died of it. Munisai then remarried to Yoshiko. They divorced, as in the second theory, but Yoshiko took Musashi with her, and married Tasumi Masahisa.

Kenji Tokitsu prefers to assume a birth date of 1580, which avoids the necessity of assuming the tombstone to be erroneous (although this poses the problem of from whom then Musashi received the transmission of the family martial art).

Upbringing
Regardless of the truth about Musashi's ancestry, when Musashi was seven years old, the boy was raised by his uncle, Dorinbo (or Dorin), in Shoreian temple, three kilometers (~1.8 mi.) from Hirafuku. Both Dorin and Musashi's uncle by marriage - Tasumi - educated him in Buddhism and basic skills such as writing and reading. This education is possibly the basis for Yoshikawa Eiji's fictional education of Musashi by the historical Zen monk Takuan. He was apparently trained by Munisai in the sword, and in the family art of the jitte. This training did not last for a very long time, as in 1589, Munisai was ordered by Shinmen Sokan to kill Munisai's student, Honiden Gekinosuke. The Honiden family was displeased, and so Munisai was forced to move four kilometers (~2.5 mi.) away to the village of Kawakami.

It has been suggested that in 1592, Munisai died, although Tokitsu believes that the person who died at this time was really Hirata Takehito.

It is said that Musashi contracted eczema in his infancy, and this adversely affected his appearance. Another story claims that he never took a bath because he did not want to be surprised unarmed. While the former claim may or may not have some basis in reality, the latter seems improbable. An unwashed member of the warrior caste would not have been received as a guest by such famous houses as Honda, Ogasawara and Hosokawa. These and many other details are likely embellishments that were added to his legend, or misinterpretations of literature describing him.

The literature leaves one unsure of his father's fate, but he may have died at the hands of one of Musashi's later adversaries, who was punished or even killed for treating Musashi's father badly. This, however, is uncertain, as there are no exact details of Musashi's life, since Musashi's only writings are those related to strategy and technique.

Training in swordmanship
The name "Musashi" was thought to be taken from the name of a warrior monk named Musashibō Benkei who served under Minamoto no Yoshitsune, but this is unconfirmed. In any case, the name seems fitting, particularly when comparing the level of mastery of weaponry - both being able to masterfully use nine or more weapons.

It is said that he may have studied at the Yoshioka ryu school, which was also said to be a school Musashi defeated single-handedly during his later years, although this is uncertain. Ultimately the name was taken from his own original kanji, 武蔵, which can be read as Takezo or as Musashi, as stated in Eiji Yoshikawa's book Musashi.

First duel
"I have trained in the way of strategy since my youth, and at the age of thirteen I fought a duel for the first time. My opponent was called Arima Kihei, a sword adept of the Shinto ryu, and I defeated him. At the age of sixteen I defeated a powerful adept by the name of Akiyama, who came from the province of Tajima. At the age of twenty-one I went up to Kyoto and fought duels with several adepts of the sword from famous schools, but I never lost."

—Miyamoto Musashi, Go Rin No ShoAccording to the introduction of The Book of Five Rings, Musashi states that his first successful duel was at the age of thirteen, against a samurai named Arima Kihei who fought using the Kashima Shintō-ryū style, founded by Tsukahara Bokuden (b. 1489, d. 1571). The main source of the duel is the Hyoho senshi denki ("Anecdotes about the Deceased Master"). Summarized, its account goes as follows:

In 1596, Musashi was 13, and Arima Kihei, who was traveling to hone his art, posted a public challenge in Hirafuku-mura. Musashi wrote his name on the challenge. A messenger came to Dorin's temple, where Musashi was staying, to inform Musashi that his duel had been accepted by Kihei. Dorin, Musashi's uncle, was shocked by this, and tried to beg off the duel in Musashi's name, based on his nephew's age. Kihei was adamant that the only way his honor could be cleared was if Musashi apologized to him when the duel was scheduled. So when the time set for the duel arrived, Dorin began apologizing for Musashi, who merely charged at Kihei with a six-foot quarterstaff, shouting a challenge to Kihei. Kihei attacked with a wakizashi, but Musashi threw Kihei on the floor, and while Kihei tried to get up, Musashi struck him between the eyes and then beat him to death. Arima was said to have been arrogant, overly eager to fight, and not a terribly talented swordsman.

The duel is odd for a number of reasons, not least of which is why Musashi was permitted to duel Arima, whether the apology was a ruse, and why Arima was there in the first place.

Travels and duels
In 1599, three years later, Musashi left his village, apparently at the age of 15 (according to the Tosakushi, "The Registry of the Sakushu Region", although the Tanji Hokin Hikki says he was 16 years old in 1599).[8] His family possessions such as furniture, weapons, genealogy, and other records were left with his sister and her husband, one Hirao Yoemon.

He spent his time traveling and engaging in duels, such as with an adept called Akiyama from the Tajima province.

In 1600, a war began between the Toyotomi and Tokugawa clans. Musashi apparently fought on the side of the Toyotomi's "Army of the West", as the Shinmen clan (to whom his family owed allegiance) had allied with them. Specifically, he participated in the attempt to take Fushimi castle by assault in July 1600, in the defense of the besieged Gifu Castle in August of the same year, and finally in the famed Battle of Sekigahara. Some doubt has been cast on this final battle, as the Hyoho senshi denki has Musashi saying he is "no lord's vassal" and refusing to fight with his father (in Lord Ukita's battalion) in the battle. Omitting the Battle of Sekigahara from the list of Musashi's battles would seem to contradict the Go Rin No Sho's statement that Musashi fought in six battles, however.

Regardless, as Toyotomi's side lost, it has been suggested that Musashi fled as well, and spent some time training on Mount Hiko.

After the Battle of Sekigahara, Musashi disappears from the records; the next mention of him has him arriving in Kyoto at the age of 20 (or 21), where he famously began a series of duels against the Yoshioka School.

Musashi's father had fought against an adept of the Yoshioka School in his youth, receiving the title of "Best In Japan" as mentioned earlier. The Yoshioka School (descended from either the Tenshin Shōden Katori Shintō-ryū or the Kyo-hachi-ryū) was the foremost of the eight major schools of martial arts in Kyoto, the "Kyo-ryū" / "Schools of Kyoto". Legend has it that these eight schools were founded by eight monks taught by a legendary martial artist resident on the sacred mountain Kurama. At some point the Yoshioka family also began to make a name for itself not merely in the art of the sword but also in the textile business and for a dye peculiar to them. They gave up teaching swordsmanship in 1614 when they were in the Army of the West against Tokugawa Ieyasu, in the Battle of Osaka, which they lost. But in 1604, when Musashi began duelling them, they were still preeminent. There are various accounts of the duels—the Yoshioka family documents claim that there was only one, against Yoshioka Kenpō, which Musashi lost.

Musashi challenged Yoshioka Seijūrō, master of the Yoshioka School, to a duel. Seijūrō accepted, and they agreed to a duel outside Rendaiji in Rakuhoku, in the northern part of Kyoto on 8 March 1604. Musashi arrived late, greatly irritating Seijūrō. They faced off, and Musashi struck a single blow, per their agreement. This blow struck Seijūrō on the left shoulder, knocking him out, and crippling his left arm. He apparently passed on the headship of the school to his equally accomplished brother, Yoshioka Denshichirō, who promptly challenged Musashi for revenge. The duel variously took place in Kyoto outside a temple, Sanjūsangen-dō. Denshichirō wielded a staff reinforced with steel rings (or possibly with a ball-and-chain attached), while Musashi arrived late a second time. Musashi disarmed Denshichirō and defeated him. This second victory outraged the Yoshioka clan, whose head was now the 12-year old Yoshioka Matashichiro. They assembled a force of archers, musketeers and swordsmen, and challenged Musashi to a duel outside Kyoto, near Ichijoji Temple. Musashi broke his previous habit of arriving late, and came to the temple hours early. Hidden, Musashi assaulted the force, killing Matashichiro, and escaping while being attacked by dozens of their supporters. With the death of Matashichiro, the branch of the Yoshioka School was destroyed.

After Musashi left Kyoto, some sources recount that he travelled to Hozoin in Nara, to duel with and learn from the monks there, widely known as experts with lance weapons. There he settled down at Enkoji Temple in Banshu, where he taught the head monk's (one Tada Hanzaburo's) brother. Hanzaburo's grandson would found the Ensu-ryū based on the Enmei-ryū teachings and iaijutsu.

From 1605 to 1612 he travelled extensively all over Japan in Musha Shugyo, a warrior pilgrimage during which he honed his skills with duels. He was said to have used bokken or bokuto in actual duels. Most of the engagements from these times did not try to take the opponent's life unless both agreed, but in most duels it is known that Musashi did not care which weapon the other was using - such was his mastery of the way of strategy.
On 5 September 1607, a document purports to be a transmission by Miyamoto Munisai of his teachings, suggesting Munisai lived at least to this date. In this year, Musashi departed Nara for Edo, during which he fought (and killed) a kusarigama practitioner named Shishido Baiken. In Edo, Musashi defeated Muso Gonnosuke, who would found an influential staff-wielding school known as Shinto Muso Ryu.

Musashi is said to have fought over 60 duels and was never defeated, although this is a conservative estimate, most likely not accounting deaths by his hand in major battles. Japanese historians seem to believe that he could not have won all of them alone, without some assistance from his students.

In 1611, Musashi began practicing zazen at the Myoshinji Temple, where he met Nagaoka Sado, vassal to Lord Hosokawa Tadaoki; Tadaoki was a powerful lord who had received the fief of Higo in west-central Kyūshū after the Battle of Sekigahara. Munisai had moved to northern Kyūshū and became Tadaoki's teacher, leading to the possibility that Munisai introduced the two. Nagaoka proposed a duel with a certain adept named Sasaki Kojiro. Tokitsu believes that the duel was politically motivated, a matter of consolidating Tadaoki's control over his fief.

Duel with Sasaki Kojiro
In April 14, 1612, Musashi (aged approximately 28) had his most famous duel with Sasaki Kojiro who wielded a nodachi. Musashi came late and unkempt to the appointed place — the remote island of Funajima, north of Kokura. The duel was short and Musashi killed his opponent with a bokken that he had carved from an oar while traveling to the island. Musashi designed it to be longer than the nodachi, making it closer to a modern suburito.

Musashi's late arrival is controversial. Sasaki's outraged supporters thought it was dishonorable and disrespectful while many others thought it was a fair way to unnerve his opponent. Another theory is that Musashi timed the hour of his arrival to match the turning of the tide. The tide carried him to the island then it turned by the time the fight ended. After his victory, Musashi immediately jumped back in his boat and his flight from Sasaki's vengeful allies was thus helped by the turning tide. He briefly established a fencing school that same year.

Service
In 1614–1615 Musashi participated in the war between the Toyotomi and the Tokugawa. The war had broken out because Tokugawa Ieyasu saw the Toyotomi family as a threat to his rule of Japan; most scholars believe that as in the previous war, Musashi fought on the Toyotomi side. Osaka Castle was the central place of battle. The first battle (the Winter Battle of Osaka; Musashi's fourth battle) ended in a truce, and the second one (the Summer Battle of Osaka; Musashi's fifth battle) resulted in the total defeat of Toyotomi Hideyori's Army of the West by Ieyasu's Army of the East in May 1615. Some reports go so far as to say that Musashi entered a duel with Ieyasu, but was recruited after Ieyasu sensed his defeat was at hand. This seems unlikely, however, and it remains unknown how Musashi came into Ieyasu's good graces.

Other accounts claim he actually served on the Tokugawa side, but such a claim is unproven, although Musashi had a close relationship with some Tokugawa vassals through his duel with Sasaki Kojiro, and in the succeeding years, he did not drop out of sight as might be expected if he were being persecuted for being on the losing side. In his later years, Lords Ogasawara and Hosokawa supported Musashi greatly—an atypical course of action for these Tokugawa loyalists, if Musashi had indeed fought on behalf of the Toyotomis.

In 1615 he entered the service of Lord Ogasawara Tadanao (小笠原忠直) of Harima Province, at Ogasawara's invitation, as a foreman or "Construction Supervisor," after previously gaining skills in craft. He helped construct Akashi Castle and to lay out the organization of the town of Himeji (this last in 1621). He also taught martial arts during his stay, specializing in instruction in the art of shuriken-throwing. During this period of service, he adopted a son.

In 1621, Musashi defeated Miyake Gunbei and three other adepts of the Togun ryu in front of the lord of Himeji; it was after this victory that he helped plan Himeji. Around this time, Musashi developed a number of disciples for his Enmei-ryū although he had developed the school considerably earlier; at the age of 22, Musashi had already written a scroll of Enmei-ryū teachings called "Writings on the Sword Technique of the Enmei-ryū" (Enmei-ryū kenpo sho). 円/"En" meant "circle" or "perfection"; 明/"mei" meant "light"/"clarity", and 流/"ryū" meant "school"; the name seems to have been derived from the idea of holding the two swords up in the light so as to form a circle. The school's central idea is given as training to use the twin swords of the samurai as effectively as a pair of sword and jitte.

In 1622, Musashi's adoptive son, named Miyamoto Mikinosuke became a vassal to the fief of Himeji. Possibly this prompted Musashi to leave, embarking on a new series of travels, winding up in Edo in 1623, where he became friends with the Confucian scholar Hayashi Razan, who was one of the shogun's advisors. Musashi applied to become a swordmaster to the Shogun, but as he already had two swordmasters (Ono Jiroemon Tadaaki and Yagyu Munenori - the latter also a political advisor to the Shogun, in addition to his position as the head of the Shogunate's secret police), his application was denied. Musashi left Edo in the direction of Ōshū, ending up in Yamagata, where he adopted a second son, Miyamoto Iori. The two then travelled, eventually stopping in Osaka.

In 1626, Miyamoto Mikinosuke, following the custom of junshi, committed seppuku because of the death of his lord. In this year, Miyamoto Iori entered Lord Ogasawara's service. Musashi's attempt to become a vassal to the Lord of Owari, like other such attempts, failed.

In 1627, Musashi began to travel again. In 1634 he settled in Kokura with Iori, and later entered the service of daimyo Ogasawara Tadazane, taking a major role in the Shimabara Rebellion. Iori served with excellence in putting down the rebellion and gradually rose to the rank of karo—a position equal to a minister. Musashi, however was reputedly injured by a thrown rock while scouting in the front line, and was thus unable to accrue any form of merit.

Later life and death
Six years later, in 1633, Musashi began staying with Hosokawa Tadatoshi, daimyo of Kumamoto Castle, who had moved to the Kumamoto fief and Kokura, to train and paint. Ironically, it was at this time that the Hosokawa lords were also the patrons of Musashi's chief rival, Sasaki Kojiro. While there he engaged in very few duels; one would occur in 1634 at the arrangement of Lord Ogasawara, in which Musashi defeated a lance specialist by the name of Takada Matabei. Musashi would officially become the retainer of the Hosokowa lords of Kumamoto in 1640. The Niten Ki records "[he] received from Lord Tadatoshi: 17 retainers, a stipend of 300 koku, the rank of ōkumigashira 大組頭, and Chiba Castle in Kumamoto as his residence."

In the second month of 1641, Musashi wrote a work called the Hyoho Sanju Go ("Thirty-five Instructions on Strategy") for Hosokawa Tadatoshi; this work overlapped and formed the basis for the later Go Rin No Sho. This was the year that his third son, Hirao Yoemon, became Master of Arms for the Owari fief. In 1642, Musashi suffered attacks of neuralgia, foreshadowing his future ill-health. In 1643 he retired to a cave named Reigandō as a hermit to write The Book of Five Rings. He finished it in the second month of 1645. On the twelfth of the fifth month, sensing his impending death, Musashi bequeathed his worldly possessions, after giving his manuscript copy of the Go Rin No Sho to his closest disciple (Terao Magonojo)'s younger brother. He died in Reigandō cave around the nineteenth of the fifth month, or possibly June 13, 1645. The Hyoho senshi denki described his passing:

"At the moment of his death, he had himself raised up. He had his belt tightened and his wakizashi put in it. He seated himself with one knee vertically raised, holding the sword with his left hand and a cane in his right hand. He died in this posture, at the age of sixty-two. The principal vassals of Lord Hosokawa and the other officers gathered, and they painstakingly carried out the ceremony. Then they set up a tomb on Mount Iwato on the order of the lord."

It is notable that Musashi died of what is believed to be thoracic cancer, and was not killed in combat. He died peacefully after finishing the Dokkodo ("The Way of Walking Alone", or "The Way of Self-Reliance"), 21 precepts on self-discipline to guide future generations.
His body was interred in armor within the village of Yuge, near the main road near Mount Iwato, facing the direction the Hosokawas would travel to Edo; his hair was buried on Mount Iwato itself.

Nine years later, a major source about his life — a monument with a funereal eulogy to Musashi — was erected in Kokura by Miyamoto Iori; this monument was called the Kokura hibun. An account of Musashi's life, the Niten-ki 二天記, was published in Kumamoto in 1776, by Toyota Kagehide, based on the recollections of his grandfather Toyota Masataka, who was a second generation pupil of Musashi.

Teachings
Musashi created and perfected a two-sword kenjutsu technique called niten'ichi (二天一, "two heavens as one") or nitōichi (二刀一, "two swords as one") or "Ni-Ten Ichi Ryu" (A Kongen Buddhist Sutra refers to the two heavens as the two guardians of Buddha). In this technique, the swordsman uses both a large sword, and a "companion sword" at the same time, such as a katana and wakizashi.

It is said the two-handed movements of temple drummers inspired him, although it seems more likely that the technique was forged by a means of natural selection through Musashi's combat experience, or from jitte techniques which were taught to him by his father- the jitte was often used in battle paired with a sword; the jitte would parry and neutralize the weapon of the enemy whilst the sword struck or the practitioner grappled with the enemy. In his time a long sword in the left hand was referred to as gyaku nito. Today Musashi's style of swordsmanship is known as Hyōhō Niten Ichi-ryū.

Musashi was also an expert in throwing weapons. He frequently threw his short sword, and Kenji Tokitsu believes that shuriken methods for the wakizashi were the Niten Ichi Ryu's secret techniques.

Musashi was a loner. He spent many years studying Buddhism and swordsmanship. He was an accomplished artist, sculptor, and calligrapher. Records also show that he had architectural skills. Also, he had a rather straightforward approach to combat, with no additional frills or aesthetic considerations. This was probably due to his real-life combat experience.

Especially in his later life Musashi also followed the more artistic side of bushido. He made various Zen brush paintings and calligraphy and sculpted wood and metal. Even in The Book of Five Rings he emphasizes that samurai should understand other professions as well. It should be understood that Musashi's writings were very ambiguous. Translating them into English makes them even more so. That is why we find so many copies of Gorin no Sho. One needs to read this work, Dokkodo and Hyoho Shiji ni Kajo to get a better idea of what he was about and understand his transformation from Setsuninto (the sword that takes life) to Katsujinken (the sword that gives life).

Legends
After his death, various legends began to appear. Most talk about his feats in kenjutsu and other martial arts, some describing how he was able to hurl men over 5 feet backwards, other about his speed and technique. Other legends tell of how Musashi killed giant lizards in Echizen, as well as Nues in various other provinces. He gained the stature of Kensei, or "sword saint" for his mastery in swordsmanship. Some even believed he could run at super-human speed, walk on air, water and fly through the clouds.

Philosophy
Throughout Musashi's last book, The Book of Five Rings (五輪書, Go Rin no Sho?), Musashi seems to take a very philosophical approach to looking at the "Craft of War"; "There are four Ways in which men pass through life: as Gentlemen Warriors, Farmers, Artisans and Merchants." these falling into one of the few profession groups that could be observed in Musashi's time.

Throughout the book, Musashi implies that the way of the Warrior, as well as the meaning of a "True strategist" is that of somebody who has made mastery of many art forms away from that of the sword, such as tea drinking (sado), laboring, writing, and painting as Musashi practiced throughout his life. Musashi was hailed as an extraordinary sumi-e artist in the use of ink monochrome as depicted in two such famous paintings: "Shrike Perched in a Dead Tree" (Koboku Meigekizu, 枯木鳴鵙図) and "Wild Geese Among Reeds" (Rozanzu, 魯山図). Going back to the Book of Five Rings, Musashi talks deeply about the ways of Buddism.
He makes particular note of Artisans and Foremen. In the time in which he writes the book, the majority of houses in Japan were made of wood. In the use of building a house, foremen have to employ strategy based upon the skill and ability of their workers.

In comparison to warriors and soldiers, Musashi notes the ways in which the artisans thrive through events; the ruin of houses, the splendor of houses, the style of the house, the tradition and name or origins of a house. These too, are similar to the events which are seen to have warriors and soldiers thrive; the rise and fall of prefectures, countries and other such events are what make uses for Warriors, as well as the literal comparisons of the: "The carpenter uses a master plan of the building, and the Way of strategy is similar in that there is a plan of campaign".

Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island

2008-01-14T03:16:00.000Z

Duel At Ganryu Island (Miyamoto Musashi kanketsuhen: kettô Ganryûjima, 1956) is a film by Hiroshi Inagaki starring Toshirô Mifune. It is the third film of the Samurai Trilogy. The film is adapted from Eiji Yoshikawa's novel Musashi. Musashi is based on the famous Japanese swordsman, Miyamoto Musashi.

Samurai II: Duel at Ichijoji Temple

2008-01-14T03:14:00.000Z

Duel at Ichijoji Temple (Zoku Miyamoto Musashi: Ichijôji no kettô, 1955) is a film by Hiroshi Inagaki starring Toshirô Mifune. It is the second film of the Samurai Trilogy. The film is adapted from Eiji Yoshikawa's novel Musashi. Musashi is based on the famous Japanese swordsman, Miyamoto Musashi.

Samurai I "Musashi Miyamoto"

2008-01-14T03:12:00.001Z

Miyamoto Musashi (released in the English-speaking world as Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto) is a 1954 film by Hiroshi Inagaki starring Toshirô Mifune. It is the first film of Inagaki's Samurai Trilogy. The film is adapted from Eiji Yoshikawa's novel Musashi. The novel is in turn based on the life of the famous Japanese swordsman Miyamoto Musashi.

Plot
Following the Battle of Sekigahara, Takezo (Mifune) and his friend Matahachi (Rentaro Mikuni) find themselves on the losing side. Instead of the grand victory and glory Musashi had anticipated, he finds himself a hunted fugitive. The pair seek shelter with a widow and her daughter. Both women attempt to seduce Takezo but are rejected. The widow then tells Matahachi that Takezo tried to assault her and convinces him to escort her and her daughter to Kyoto. Matahachi agrees even though he loves (and is betrothed to) Otsu (Kaoru Yachigusa), a woman from his village.

Takezo returns to his village to tell Matahachi's family that he is still alive. Matahachi's mother doesn't believe him and he is arrested for treason. There is a village wide search for Takezo, organized by the lord. Even after using his relatives as bait, the villagers cannot catch Takezo.
Takezo is finally captured by the Buddhist priest Takuan Sōhō, who tells the lord that he must be allowed to use his methods to control him. The priest believes that he can straighten him out, but Takezo escapes with Otsu's help. Takezo is then captured again by the priest after finding out that Otsu has been taken to Himeji Castle. He is tricked and locked in a room in the castle for three years.

The end of the film shows Takezo being granted his samurai name 'Musashi Miyamoto.' He then leaves to search for enlightenment, leaving two messages for Otsu: "Soon I will be back" and "Forgive me."

Samurai Trilogy

2008-01-14T03:04:00.000Z

The Samurai Trilogy is a film trilogy directed by Hiroshi Inagaki and starring Toshiro Mifune as Miyamoto Musashi and Koji Tsuruta as Sasaki Kojirō. The films are based on the novel by Eiji Yoshikawa, about the famous duellist and author of The Book of Five Rings.
The three films are:

- Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto (1954)
- Samurai II: Duel at Ichijoji Temple (1955)
- Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island (1956)

Together, they are a trilogy of epic proportions following the character growth of Musashi from brash – yet strong – young soldier to thoughtful and introspective samurai, culminating in Musashi's duel with the greatest opponent he would ever face.

Reception and influence
Samurai I won the 1955 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

The trilogy also became an influence for future films. In Kill Bill, for example, The Bride kills O-Ren Ishii with the exact same swallow's tail move that Miyamoto Musashi uses to kill Sasaki Kojirō, and the filming for this scene is almost identical as well with the same parallel run, blood splash, and unknown victor until the faces are revealed. Bill himself references the ending to Samurai III when he suggests an "old school" duel on the beach at sunrise.

Schindler's List : Oskar Schindler

2008-01-14T02:49:00.000Z

Oskar Schindler (28 April 1908 – 9 October 1974) was a Sudeten German industrialist credited with saving almost 1,200 Jews during the Holocaust, by having them work in his enamelware and ammunitions factories located in what is now Poland and the Czech Republic. He was the subject of the book Schindler's Ark, and the film based on it, Schindler's List.

Early life
Schindler was born 28 April 1908 in Svitavy (German: Zwittau), Moravia, then part of Austria-Hungary, now Czech Republic. Oskar Schindler's parents, Hans Schindler and his wife Franziska Luser, were Roman Catholic, but divorced when Oskar was 27. Oskar was very close to his elder sister, Elfriede. After school he worked as a commercial salesman.
On 6 March 1928, Schindler married Emilie Pelzl (1907-2001) , daughter of Josef and Maria Pelzl. The marriage was childless.

In the 1930s he changed jobs several times. He also tried starting various businesses, but soon went bankrupt because of the Great Depression. He joined the separatist Sudeten German Party in 1935. Though a citizen of Czechoslovakia, Schindler started to work for German military intelligence (the Abwehr). He was exposed and jailed in July 1938, but after the Munich Agreement he was set free as a political prisoner. In 1939, Schindler joined the Nazi Party. One source (based on Nazi documents and postwar investigation) contends that he also continued with work for the Abwehr, paving the way for a German invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939.

World War II
An opportunistic businessman, he was one of many who sought to profit from the German invasion of Poland in 1939. Schindler gained ownership of a factory in Kraków from a Jewish industrialist named Nathan Wurzel, under Nazi Germany's Aryanization policies.

Schindler, on Wurzel's advice, renamed the factory Deutsche Emaillewaren-Fabrik, or DEF, to manufacture enamelware. He obtained around 1,000 Jewish slave labourers to work there with the help of his Jewish accountant Itzhak Stern. When Stern and Schindler were first introduced to each other, Schindler held out his hand. Stern declined to take it. When Schindler asked why, he explained that he was a Jew and it was forbidden for a Jew to shake a German's hand. Schindler replied with a German scatological term, "Scheiße". Initially Schindler may have been motivated by money — hiding wealthy Jewish investors, for instance — but later he began shielding his workers without regard for cost. He would, for instance, claim that unskilled workers were essential to the factory. Harming his workers would result in complaints and demands for compensation from the government.

While witnessing a 1942 raid on the Kraków Ghetto, where soldiers were used to round up the inhabitants for shipment to the concentration camp at Płaszów, Schindler was appalled by the murder of many of the Jews who had been working for him. He was a very persuasive individual, and after the raid, increasingly used all of his skills to protect his Schindlerjuden ("Schindler's Jews"), as they came to be called. Schindler went out of his way to take care of the Jews who worked at DEF, often calling on his legendary charm and ingratiating manner to help his workers get out of difficult situations. Once, says author Eric Silver in The Book of the Just, "Two Gestapo men came to his office and demanded that he hand over a family of five who had bought forged Polish identity papers. 'Three hours after they walked in,' Schindler said, 'two drunk Gestapo men reeled out of my office without their prisoners and without the incriminating documents they had demanded'". Schindler also reportedly began to smuggle children out of the ghetto, delivering them to Polish nuns, who either hid them from the Nazis or claimed they were Christian orphans. He arranged with Amon Göth, the commandant of Plaszow, for 700 Jews to be transferred to an adjacent factory compound, where they would be relatively safe from the depredations of the German guards.

Schindler was arrested twice on suspicion of black market activities and complicity in embezzlement; the commandant Amon Göth and other SS-guards used Jewish property (such as money, jewelery, and works of art) for themselves, although according to law, it belonged to the Reich. Schindler mediated such sales on black market and also preserved many stolen items. He managed to avoid being jailed after each arrest. Schindler would typically bribe government officials to avoid investigation.

As the Red Army drew nearer to Auschwitz and the other easternmost concentration camps, the SS began evacuating the remaining prisoners westward. Schindler persuaded the SS officials to allow him to move his 1,100 Jewish workers to Brněnec (German: Brünnlitz) in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia (then in the Sudetenland province), thus sparing the Jews from certain death in the extermination camps. In Brněnec, he gained another former Jewish factory, where he was supposed to produce missiles and hand grenades for the war effort. However, during the months that this factory was running, not a single weapon produced could actually be fired. Hence Schindler made no money; rather, his previously earned fortune was getting steadily smaller in bribing officers and caring for his workers.

After the war
By the end of the war, Schindler had spent his entire fortune on bribes and black-market purchases of supplies for his workers. Virtually destitute, he moved briefly to Regensburg, Germany and, later, Munich, but did not prosper in postwar Germany. In fact, he was reduced to receiving assistance from Jewish organizations. Eventually, Schindler emigrated to Argentina in 1948, where he went bankrupt. Returning to Germany in 1958, he had a series of unsuccessful business ventures. Schindler settled down in a little apartment at Am Hauptbahnhof Nr. 4 in Frankfurt am Main, West Germany and tried again – with help from a Jewish organization – to establish a cement factory. This, too, went bankrupt in 1961. His business partner cancelled their partnership. In 1971 Oskar Schindler moved to live with friends in Hildesheim, Germany. Due to a heart complaint he was taken to the Sankt Bernward Hospital in Hildesheim on 12 September 1974, where he died on 9 October 1974, at the age of 66. The costs for his stay in the hospital were paid from social welfare of the city of Hildesheim. He was buried at the Catholic cemetery at Mount Zion in Jerusalem.

No one really knows what Schindler's motives were. However, he was quoted as saying "I knew the people who worked for me... When you know people, you have to behave toward them like human beings."

The writer Herbert Steinhouse, who interviewed Schindler in 1948 at the behest of some of the surviving Schindlerjuden (Schindler's Jews), said

"Oskar Schindler's exceptional deeds stemmed from just that elementary sense of decency and humanity that our sophisticated age seldom sincerely believes in. A repentant opportunist saw the light and rebelled against the sadism and vile criminality all around him. The inference may be disappointingly simple, especially for all amateur psychoanalysts who would prefer the deeper and more mysterious motive that may, it is true, still lie unprobed and unappreciated. But an hour with Oskar Schindler encourages belief in the simple answer."

Legacy
In 1967, Schindler was honored at Israel's Yad Vashem memorial to the victims of the Holocaust as one of the Righteous Among the Nations, or "righteous Gentiles", an honor awarded by Israel to non-Jews who saved Jews during the Holocaust at great personal risk. Schindler was the only former member of the Nazi party to be so recognized by the planting of a tree in his name at the Yad Vashem Memorial.

Schindler's story, retold by Holocaust survivor Poldek Pfefferberg, was the basis for Thomas Keneally's book Schindler's Ark (the novel was later renamed Schindler's List), which was adapted into the 1993 movie Schindler's List by Steven Spielberg. In the film, he is played by Liam Neeson, who was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal. The film went on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. The prominence of Spielberg's film introduced Schindler into popular culture. As the film is the sole source of most people's knowledge of Schindler, he is generally perceived much as Spielberg's film depicts him: as a man who was instinctively driven by profit-driven amorality, but who at some point made a silent but conscious decision that preserving the lives of his Jewish employees was imperative, even if requiring massive payments to induce Nazis to turn a blind eye. While Spielberg's film takes some cinematic liberties, the depiction of Schindler appears to be a rare example of an unromanticized historical protagonist. Schindler did in fact spend the majority of his wealth, and forever alienated himself from any political standing in his own country, to save the lives of his Jewish workers.

In the Autumn of 1999 a suitcase belonging to Schindler was discovered, containing over 7,000 photographs and documents, including the list of Schindler's Jewish workers. The document, on his enamelware factory's letterhead, had been provided to the SS stating that the named workers were "essential" employees. Friends of Schindler found the suitcase in the attic of a house in Hildesheim, Germany, where he had been staying at the time of his death. The friends took the suitcase to Stuttgart, where its discovery was reported by a newspaper, the Stuttgarter Zeitung. The contents of the suitcase; including the list of the names of those he had saved and the text of his farewell speech before leaving "his Jews" in 1945, are now at the Holocaust Museum of Yad Vashem in Israel.

Schindler's List

2008-01-14T02:45:00.001Z

Schindler's List is a 1993 biographical film directed by Steven Spielberg, telling the story of Oskar Schindler, a German businessman who saved the lives of over one thousand Polish Jews during the Holocaust. It was based on the book Schindler's Ark by Thomas Keneally, and starred Liam Neeson as Schindler, Ralph Fiennes as the SS officer Amon Göth, and Ben Kingsley as Schindler's accountant Itzhak Stern. The film was a box office success, and won several Academy Awards, including Best Film, Best Director and Best Score.

Plot
The film begins with the relocation of Polish Jews from surrounding areas to Krakow in late 1939, shortly after the beginning of World War II. Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson), an unsuccessful businessman, arrives from Czechoslovakia in hopes of using the abundant slave labor force of Jews to manufacture goods for the German military. Schindler, an opportunistic member of the Nazi Party, lavishes bribes upon the army and SS officials in charge of procurement. Sponsored by the military, Schindler acquires a factory for the production of army mess kits. Not knowing much about how to properly run such an enterprise, he gains a contact in Itzhak Stern (Ben Kingsley), a functionary in the local Judenrat (Jewish Council) who has contacts with the now underground Jewish business community in the Ghetto. They loan him the money for the factory in return for a small share of products produced (for trade on the black market). Opening the factory, Schindler pleases the Nazis and enjoys his new-found wealth and status as "Herr Direktor," while Stern handles all administration. Stern even suggests that Schindler hire Jews instead of Poles because they cost less (the Jews themselves get nothing; the wages are paid to the Reich). Workers in Schindler's factory are allowed outside the ghetto though, and Stern falsifies documents to ensure that as many people as possible are deemed "essential" by the Nazi bureaucracy, which saves them from being transported to concentration camps, or even death.

Amon Göth (Ralph Fiennes) arrives in Krakow to initiate construction of a labor camp nearby, Płaszów. The SS soon clears the Krakow ghetto, sending in hundreds of troops to empty the cramped rooms and shoot anyone who protests, is uncooperative, or for no reason at all. Schindler watches the massacre from the hills overlooking the area, and is profoundly affected. He nevertheless is careful to befriend Göth and, through Stern's attention to bribery, he continues to enjoy the SS's support and protection. The camp is built outside the city at Płaszów. During this time, Schindler bribes Göth into allowing him to build a sub-camp for his workers, with the motive of keeping them safe from the depredations of the guards. Eventually, an order arrives from Berlin commanding Göth to exhume and destroy all bodies of those killed in the Krakow Ghetto, dismantle Płaszów, and to ship the remaining Jews to Auschwitz. Schindler prevails upon Göth to let him keep "his" workers, so that he can move them to a factory in his old home of Zwittau-Brinnlitz, in Moravia, away from the "final solution", now fully underway in occupied Poland. Göth acquiesces, charging a certain amount for each worker. Schindler and Stern assemble a list of workers that should keep them off the trains to Auschwitz.

"Schindler's List" comprises these "skilled" inmates, and for many of those in Płaszów camp, being included means the difference between life and death. Almost all of the people on Schindler's list arrive safely at the new site, with exception to the train carrying the women, which is accidentally redirected to Auschwitz. Schindler rushes immediately to Auschwitz and stops their gassing. He bribes the camp commander, Rudolf Höß, with a cache of diamonds to spare the women. As the women board the train to the site of the factory, several SS officers attempt to hold some children back and prevent them from leaving. However, Schindler, who is there to personally oversee the boarding, steps in and demands the officers release the children. Once the Schindler women arrive in Zwittau-Brinnlitz, Schindler institutes firm controls on the Nazi guards assigned to the factory, permits the Jews to observe the Sabbath, and spends much of his fortune bribing Nazi officials. In his home town, he surprises his wife while she's in church during mass, and tells her that she is the only woman in his life (despite having been shown previously to be a womanizer). She goes with him to the factory to assist him. He runs out of money just as the German army surrenders, ending the war in Europe.

As a German Nazi and self-described "profiteer of slave labor", Schindler must flee the oncoming Soviet Red Army. After dismissing the Nazi guards to return to their families, he packs a car in the night, and bids farewell to his workers. They give him a letter explaining he is not a criminal to them, together with a ring engraved with the Talmudic quotation, "He who saves the life of one man, saves the world entire." Schindler is touched but deeply distraught, feeling he could've done more to save many more lives. He leaves with his wife during the night. The Schindler Jews, having slept outside the factory gates through the night, are awakened by sunlight the next morning. A Soviet dragoon arrives and announces to the Jews that they have been liberated by the Red Army. The Jews walk to a nearby town in search of food. As they walk abreast, the frame changes to another of the Schindler Jews in the present day at the grave of Oskar Schindler in Israel. The film ends by showing a procession of now-aged Jews who worked in Schindler's factory, each of whom reverently sets a stone on his grave. The actors portraying the major characters walk hand-in-hand with the people they portrayed, also placing stones on Schindler's grave as they pass. We learn that the survivors and descendants of the approximately 1,100 Jews sheltered by Schindler now number over 6,000. The Jewish population of Poland, once numbering in the millions, was at the time of the film's release approximately 4,000. In the final scene, a man (the unseen face of Liam Neeson) places a rose on the grave, and stands contemplatively over it.

Gorillas in the Mist : Dian Fossey

2008-01-12T18:51:00.000Z

Dian Fossey (January 16, 1932 – December 27, 1985) was an American Zoologist who completed an extended study of eight gorilla groups. She observed them daily for years in the mountain forests of Rwanda, initially encouraged to work there by famous paleontologist Louis Leakey.

Her work is somewhat similar to Jane Goodall's work with chimpanzees.

Life and career
Education and early career
Dian enrolled in a pre-veterinary course at the University of California, Davis after attending Lowell High School in San Francisco, going against the advice of her stepfather who wanted her to pursue business instead. She supported herself by working as a clerk at the White House Department Store, doing other clerking and laboratory work, and working as a machinist in a factory. Dian later transferred to San José State College (now San José State University) to study occupational therapy after having difficulty with chemistry and physics. She received her bachelor's degree in 1954. At that time, Dian also established herself as an equestrian.

Interest in Africa
Fossey became interested in mountain gorillas after reading a book on the subject by zoologist George Schaller. In Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, Fossey met Dr. Louis Leakey and his wife Mary, who were examining the area for hominid fossils. She briefly worked with them before traveling to Zaire with a broken ankle to encounter mountain gorillas. Enchanted after meeting the animals, Fossey returned to Kentucky and continued her work with children.

By 1966 Fossey had persuaded Dr. Leakey to let her carry out research on the mountain gorillas, and gained support from the National Geographic Society. She began her field study at Kabara, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (then Zaire), but by 1967, political upheaval forced her to move to Rwanda, which raised $30,000 for her to use.

Start of her work
In 1967, she founded the Karisoke Research Center, a remote rain-forest camp nestled in the Virunga Mountains in Ruhengeri province, Rwanda. When her photograph, taken by Bob Campbell, appeared on the cover of National Geographic magazine in January 1970, Fossey became an international celebrity, bringing massive publicity to her cause of saving the mountain gorilla from extinction, as well as convincing the general public that gorillas are not as bad as they are sometimes depicted in movies and books. Photographs showing the gorilla "Peanuts" touching Fossey's hand depicted the first recorded peaceful contact between a human being and a wild gorilla. Her extraordinary rapport with animals and her background as an occupational therapist brushed away the Hollywood "King Kong" myth of an aggressive, savage beast.

Fossey strongly supported "active conservation"—i.e., anti-poaching patrols and preservation of natural habitat—as opposed to "theoretical conservation," which includes the promotion of tourism. She was also strongly opposed to zoos, as the capture of individual animals all too often involves the killing of their family members. Many animals don't survive the transport, and the breeding rate and survival rate in zoos are often lower than in the wild. For example, in 1978, Fossey attempted to prevent the export of two young gorillas, Coco and Pucker, from Rwanda to the Cologne zoo. She learned that, during their capture, 20 adult gorillas had been killed. The two captives were given to Fossey by their captors for treatment of injuries suffered during capture and captivity. With considerable effort, she restored them to some approximation of health. They were shipped to Cologne, where they lived nine years in captivity, both dying in the same month. She viewed the holding of snakes in "prison" (zoos) for the entertainment of people as unethical. Fossey is responsible for the revision of a European Community project that converted parkland into pyrethrum farms. Thanks to her efforts, the park boundary was lowered from the 3000-meter line to the 2500-meter line.

Fossey's book Gorillas in the Mist was praised by Nikolaas Tinbergen, the Dutch ethologist and ornithologist who won the 1973 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Her book remains the best-selling book about gorillas of all time.

Death
Fossey was brutally murdered in the bedroom of her cabin on December 26, 1985. Her skull had been split by a native panga, a tool widely used by poachers, which she had confiscated years earlier and hung as a decoration on the wall of her living room adjacent to her bedroom. Fossey was found dead beside her bed and 2 meters away from the hole in the cabin that was cut on the day of her murder. Despite the violent nature of the wound, there was relatively little blood in her bedroom, leading some to believe that she was killed before the head-wound was inflicted, as head wounds, even superficial ones, usually bleed profusely.

Farley Mowat's biography of Fossey, Virunga: The Passion of Dian Fossey proposes that it is unlikely that she was killed by poachers. Mowat suggests that she was killed by those who viewed her as an impediment to the touristic and financial exploitation of the gorillas. According to the book, which includes many of Fossey's own private letters, poachers would have been more likely to kill her in the forest, with little risk to themselves.

On the night of Fossey's murder, a metal sheathing from her bedroom was removed at the only place of the bedroom where it wouldn't have been obstructed by her furniture, which supports the case that the murder was committed by someone who was familiar with the cabin and her day-to-day activities. The sheathing of her cabin, which was normally securely locked at night, might also have been removed after the murder to make it appear as if the killing was the work of poachers. But according to Mowat it is unlikely that a stranger could have entered her cabin by cutting a hole, then going to her living-room to get the panga, while Fossey could have had enough time to escape. The cabin was in great disarray, with broken glass on the floor and tables and other furniture turned around. Fossey was found dead with her gun beside her, but the ammunition was of the wrong caliber and didn't fit the weapon. All of Fossey's valuables in the cabin, thousands of dollars in cash and travelers' checks, and photo equipment remained untouched—valuables a poor poacher would most likely have taken. At the same time, there are not clear explanations for the murder against Dian Fossey.

After Fossey's death, her entire staff, including Rwelekana, a tracker she had fired months before, was arrested. All but Rwelekana, who was later found dead in prison, supposedly having hanged himself, were released. Mowat proposes that Fossey was murdered by an African man she may have admitted inside her cabin but who was working for the very people who wanted her removed so the gorillas could be exploited as a tourist and entertainment attraction.

According to Linda Melvern in her book Conspiracy to Murder, Protais Zigiranyirazo, Rwanda's ex-president's brother-in-law, could also have been "implicated in the murder of Dian Fossey in 1985." Quoting Nick Gordon, author of a book about Fossey's death, "another reason why she might have been murdered is that she knew too much about the illegal trafficking by Rwanda's ruling clique." Protais Zigiranyirazo, who was the prefect of the Ruhengeri province (where Karisoke was located), also had strong financial interests in gorilla tourism.

Dian Fossey was portrayed by her detractors as eccentric and obsessed, and all kinds of stories were circulated about her. According to her letters, ORTPN, the World Wildlife Fund, African Wildlife Foundation, FPS, the Mountain Gorilla Project and some of her former students tried to wrest control of the Karisoke research center from her for the purpose of tourism, by portraying her as unstable. In her last two years Fossey claims not to have lost any gorillas to poachers; however the Mountain Gorilla Project, which was supposed to patrol the Mount Sabyinyo area, tried to cover up gorilla deaths caused by poaching and diseases transmitted through tourists. Nevertheless these organizations received most of the public donations[citation needed]. The public often believed their money would go to Fossey, who was struggling to finance her anti-poaching patrols, while organizations collecting in her name put it into costly tourism projects and as she put it "to pay the airfare of so called conservationists who will never go on anti-poaching patrols in their life".

Many of the organizations that opposed Fossey, including ORTPN (the Rwandan tourism office) and other wildlife organizations, used and continue to use her name for their own financial gain up to this day. Weeks before her death, ORTPN refused to renew her visa, and pressure on Fossey was mounting. However, Fossey managed to obtain a special two-year visa through Augustin Nduwayezu, a benevolent Secretary-General in charge of immigration. Mowat believes that the extension of her visa amounted to a de facto death warrant.

Months before her death, Fossey signed a one-million-dollar contract with Warner Bros. for a movie that was to be based on her book, Gorillas in the Mist. The prospect that her work would be funded far into the future may have contributed to her demise.
Fossey's will stated that all her money (including proceeds from the movie) should go to the Digit Fund to finance anti-poaching patrols. However, her mother, Kitty Price, challenged the will and won.

The director of ORTPN, Habirameye, who refused to renew Fossey's last visa request, insisted at the filming of Gorillas in the Mist that there should be as little about the death scene as possible.

Dian Fossey is interred at a site in Rwanda that she herself had constructed for her dead gorilla friends. She believed that all beings had the same rights and that they needed to be treated with the same respect as humans. She was buried in the gorilla graveyard next to Digit, who was killed and beheaded in 1978, and near many gorillas killed by poachers.

Legacy
After her death, Fossey's Digit Fund in the U.S. was renamed the "Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International". The Digit Fund in the UK, which Fossey lost to the Fauna Protection League (FPS), was also renamed after her as "The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund UK" (DFGF-UK). However she never received any funds collected in her name by the FPS; and although some conservationists associated with the FPS wanted her to be removed from Rwanda FPS and the DFGF-UK (which renamed itself "The Gorilla Organisation" in 2006) continue to use her name up to this day for their financial purposes (including promotion of tourism, which Dian opposed, and the financing of local bureaucrats).

One of Dian Fossey's friends Dr. Shirley McGreal continues to work for the protection of primates through the work of her International Primate Protection League (IPPL) one of the few wildlife organizations that according to Fossey effectively promote "active conservation."
For a year after Fossey's death, until the conviction of one of her students for her murder, poachers dared not enter the forest for fear of being captured and interrogated for her murder. Many believe that the student convicted of murdering Dian was just a scapegoat and that the evidence against him was contrived. Immediately after the conviction, in late 1986, poaching began to rise again. Elephants and leopards are now completely extinct in the Virungas.

After Fossey's death until the 1994 Rwanda genocide, Karisoke was directed by former students who had opposed her. During the genocide the camp was completely looted and destroyed.
Today only remnants remain of her cabin that was converted into a museum for tourists at the time. During the civil war the Virunga parks were filled with refugees and illegal logging destroyed vast areas.

Gorillas in the Mist

2008-01-12T18:45:00.000Z

Gorillas in the Mist is a 1988 movie which tells the true-life story of naturalist Dian Fossey and her work with gorillas. The film is based on a book writen by Fossey, describing her time in Africa studying gorillas. It is marketed with the tagline "At the far ends of the earth she found a reason to live, and a cause to fight for."

The screenplay was adapted by Anna Hamilton Phelan from an article by Harold T. P. Hayes and a story by Phelan and Tab Murphy. The original music score was composed by Maurice Jarre. The movie was directed by Michael Apted and the cinematography was by John Seale.

The movie stars Sigourney Weaver, Bryan Brown, Julie Harris and John Omirah Miluwi. It was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Sigourney Weaver), Best Film Editing, Best Music, Original Score and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium.

Plot

A Kentucky woman, Dian Fossey is inspired by famed anthropologist Louis Leakey to devote her life to the study of primates. Travelling into deepest Africa, Fossey becomes fascinated with the lives and habits of the rare mountain gorillas of the Rwandan wilderness. Studying them at close quarters, Fossey develops a means of communicating with the gorillas, and in doing so becomes obsessed with the apes' well-being. She becomes so preoccupied with her vocation that she loses the opportunity of a romance with the National Geographic photographer Bob Campbell.

Appalled by the poaching of the gorillas for their skins, Fossey complains to the Rwandan government, which dismisses her, claiming that poaching is the only means by which some of the Rwandan natives can themselves survive. She rejects this, and dedicates herself to saving the African Mountain gorilla from illegal poaching and likely extinction. To this end she forms and leads numerous anti-poaching patrols, and even burns down the poachers' villages and stages a mock execution of one of the offenders. Fossey is mysteriously murdered on December 26, 1985, in the bedroom of her cabin.

Bang Rajan : The Bang Rajan village

2008-01-12T17:12:00.000Z

The village of Bang Rachan was historically located north of Ayutthaya, the old capital of Siam and the predecessor state to modern Thailand. The village played a famous role in Thai history with regard to its resistance against the Burmese in the war that ultimately saw the destruction of the Ayutthaya Kingdom.

In 1767, Burmese armies entered Siam. While Burmese accounts credit the invasion as having a deliberate and predetermined ambition - credited to the King Mang Ra - other sources and analysts of the period, most notably Prince Damrong of Thailand, consider this to be historical revisionism and believe that the Burmese did not initially invade with the intention of permanent conquest or with any designs on Ayutthaya itself. Typically, Burmese forces raided nearby territory, fleeing when encountering a force of any size.

The Burmese forces encountered little competent resistance from the Siamese and advanced close to the capital, but refused to attack due to uncertainty regarding the strength of the forces they would have to face. There was much raiding of the surrounding country and, in addition to the general policy which required the submission of the Siamese, they began to demand the unmarried daughters of families as well, a policy which provoked the Siamese people into resistance.

The beginning of resistance and the first notable appearance of Bang Rachan occurred when a group of Siamese from various villages - notably Sibuathong, Krap and Pho Thale - led by Nai Thaen, Nai Choti, Nai In, Nai Muang, Nai Dok and Nai Thong Kaeo lured a group of Burmese raiders into a forest with the promise of young women and then turned upon them, killing the entire group of twenty. After this they retreated to Bang Rachan where, we are also told, most of the population of the villages of Mueang Wiset Chaichan, Mueang Sing and Mueang San had fled.

Bang Rachan is recorded as being ideally situated: "A place where foodstuffs were plentiful...a village on high ground and...it was difficult for the enemy to get at."

In addition to its ideal situation geographically and its position as a focus of those fleeing the Burmese, Bang Rachan had at this early point approximately 400 fighting men who elected five leaders amongst themselves and worked on the erection of fortifications. There was also a Buddhist priest, Thammachot, who had been invited into the village monastery where he was held in great veneration by the inhabitants, who believed him to have great knowledge and power with regard to spells, charms and other incantations.

The Burmese leaders camped at Mueang Wiset Chaichan, were aware of the slaughter of their men by the Siamese who had fled to Bang Rachan and sent a small force of about a 100 men to capture them. The Burmese were taken by surprise when they were attacked while resting and were almost entirely wiped out by the force led by Nai Thaen, who had been elected leader of Bang Rachan.

News of this victory spread quickly across the country and resulted in many more people coming out of hiding to join the resistance movement, swelling the ranks camped within Bang Rachan to 1,000 fighting men. This amateur force was well organized along the lines of a professional military unit but, were considerably disadvantaged by their lack of equipment, especially firearms, although this was countered to an extent by their great faith in the presence of the priest Thammachot and his various magic spells and talismans.

Well aware that he was facing heavy resistance, the Burmese leader at Wiset Chaichanw requested reinforcements before sending another force against the village. He had underestimated them, as they managed to rout a second army of about 500 as well as a third force, again greater in numbers and under a new leader.

A pivotal event occurred during the fourth attack on the village by a force of 1,000 Burmese under Surin Chokhong. This force was not immediately defeated by the Siamese villagers but their commander was killed and after much fighting the villagers retreated. At this point the carelessness of the Burmese appeared once again as they lowered their guard to begin preparing food and caring for the corpse of their commander. Seeing this, the villagers quickly returned to the field and the surprised Burmese force was truly routed and lost most of its manpower due to the determined pursuit by the Siamese villagers. While victorious again, the leader of Bang Rachan, Nai Thaen, was shot in the knee - an event which would have grave consequences for the resistance as it meant he was no longer capable of fighting or leading from the front.

The aftermath of this fourth battle saw both sides receive reinforcements, with Bang Rachan selecting a new leader to replace Nai Thaen - a fighter named Nai Chan who was famed for his ferocity and "bristling moustache". The fortunes of Bang Rachan remained good under Nai Chan, who saw their forces increase and achieve ever greater levels of organization, and their reputation grow to such extent that the Burmese came to fear them and the raiders had great trouble recruiting troops to send against the village.

After seven attacks and seven defeats, an eighth force, under a Mon commander who had lived in Siam, volunteered to take an army and promised to defeat Bang Rachan. What set this commander apart from the previous Burmese leaders was his knowledge of the land and the Siamese and his lack of arrogance - he did not underestimate the villagers and adjusted his tactics to disadvantage them. He progressed slowly towards the village by building a series of forts along the route and, when faced with the villagers, refused to fight except from within these fortifications.

The lack of artillery was now crippling for the villagers, as they could not destroy the forts built by the Burmese and suffered great casualties from infantry assaults upon the forts. One of the Siamese leaders - Nai Thong Men - became drunk and furious and, upon a water buffalo, took a force of men and attacked the Burmese in what remains one of the iconic tales and images from the legend of the village. He was killed and his men routed - the first time the Burmese had defeated the villagers.

Bang Rachan sent for help from Ayutthaya in the form of cannons they could use against the forts, but the capital displayed a diffidence typical of its strategy throughout the war and refused the request. However, one man, Phraya Rattanathibet, was sent to help them forge their own weapons. Unfortunately for the village, the guns they cast were cracked and useless. Soon after this, Nai Then died of the wound to his knee and the other great leaders, Nai Chan and Khun San died of wounds taken while trying to take the Burmese forts.

The village was by now dispirited and hopeless, and faced a siege by the Burmese in the form of cannon fire, siege towers and tunnelling under the village walls. Eventually the village was overrun despite resistance to the end - five months after the first act of resistance and the only notable act of successful opposition by a Siamese force in a war characterised by the failure of Ayutthuya, its professional armies and its Generals.

Bang Rajan

2008-01-12T12:15:00.000Z

Bang Rajan (Thai: บางระจัน) is a 2000 Thai historical drama film depicting the battles of the Siamese village of Bang Rajan against Burmese invaders in 1767. The film was directed and co-written by Thanit Jitnukul.

In 2004, the film was "presented" by Oliver Stone in a limited release in US cinemas.

Plot

The Burmese army is seeking to invade Ayutthaya, the capital of Siam. Seeking to block the invasion is a small band of villagers in Bang Rajan. The forces are at first led by Nai Taen, who is injured in an early battle. The villagers then turn to an outsider, Nai Chan Nuad Kheo, a moustachioed, veteran warrior. He brings along a handful of other men, who with the remaining men and women of Bang Rajan vow to put up a fight. They use all their resources to prepare the village for a siege, including melting down all available metal farming implements into a crudely constructed cannon. Lacking horses, the village drunkard, Nai Thongmen, mounts an old water buffalo and rides the draft animal into battle.

Tears of the Black Tiger : Present "Black Tiger"

2008-01-12T11:42:00.000Z

Tears of the Black Tiger

2008-01-12T11:17:00.000Z

Tears of the Black Tiger (Thai: ฟ้าทะลายโจร, or Fah talai jone, literally, "the heavens strike the thief") is a 2000 Thai western film written and directed by Wisit Sasanatieng. The story of a tragic romance between Dum, a fatalistic, working-class hero, who has become an outlaw, and Rumpoey, the upper-class daughter of a provincial governor, it is equal parts homage to and parody of Thai action films and romantic melodramas of the 1950s and 1960s.

The film was the first from Thailand to be selected for competition at the Cannes Film Festival, where it was critically hailed. It was screened at several other film festivals in 2001 and 2002, including the Vancouver International Film Festival, where it won the Dragons and Tigers Awards for Best New Director. It also won many awards in Thailand for production and costume design, special effects and soundtrack.

Critics have noted the film's stylized use of color and conspicuous violence, and have compared it to the revisionist westerns of Sergio Leone and Sam Peckinpah. It has also been compared to the works of such directors as Douglas Sirk, John Woo, Jean-Luc Goddard, Sam Raimi and Quentin Tarantino.

Miramax Films purchased the film for distribution in the United States, but changed the ending and then shelved it indefinitely. In 2006, the distribution rights were obtained by Magnolia Pictures, which screened the original version of the film in a limited release from January to April 2007 in several US cities.

Plot

A young woman waits in the rain under an ornate gazebo in a lotus pond. She carries with her a photo of the man she is waiting for.

The man, whose name is Dum, is with another gunman named Mahesuan. Dressed all in black and wearing a cowboy hat, Dum enters a house and fires his pistol. The bullet ricochets around before it burrows into a man's forehead. A red title card then flashes up and says: "Did you catch that? If not, we'll play it again!" And the shot is replayed in slow motion, showing the bullet bouncing off items in a Rube Goldberg fashion.

Dum then rushes off, galloping his horse across the plain. However, by the time he reaches the gazebo, the woman, whose name is Rumpoey, is gone. She has returned home, where she is to be engaged to Police Captain Kumjorn in a marriage arranged by her father, the provincial governor.

Mahesuan is bitter about his status as a sidekick to Dum. He was the best gunman in the outlaw gang headed by the brutal Fai, until Dum came along. Eager to settle the score, Mahesuan goes looking for Dum and finds him playing a harmonica. Mahesuan knocks it out of Dum's hand and baits him into a gunfight. The quick-drawing Dum fires first, but Mahesuan is not injured. However, a dead snake drops from an overhanging tree branch onto Mahesuan's cowboy hat. Dum killed the venomous snake, saving Mahesuan's life.
Dum then thinks back to his childhood 10 years ago during the Second World War, when Rumpoey and her father left the city to stay on Dum's father's small farm in rural Thailand.

Rumpoey is a demanding girl. She smashes a bamboo flute that Dum is playing and demands that he take her on a boat ride in the lotus pond. They visit the gazebo, or sala in Thai language, and it is called "Sala Awaiting the Maiden." Dum says a woodcutter built it to await a wealthy family's daughter whom he had fallen in love with. However, the maiden was prevented from meeting the woodcutter, so she hung herself. Rumpoey is touched by the story.

On the way home, they collide with a boat carrying three boys, who taunt Rumpoey. Dum defends Rumpoey, is struck with an oar and then their boat overturns. He rescues Rumpoey but is late in coming home. So he is punished by his father, who lashes the boy's back with a rattan cane. Rumpoey, feeling sorry for getting Dum into trouble, buys him a harmonica to replace the flute she broke.
Shifting back to present time, Dum and Mahesuan ride to an old Buddhist temple, where they swear a blood oath in front of the Buddha statue.

Meanwhile, Captain Kumjorn is eager to bring law and order to the wild west of Suphanburi Province. In an attack on Fai’s hide-out, the police forces seem to be gaining the upper hand. But then Dum and Mahesuan arrive on a cliff overlooking the battle and use grenade launchers to decimate the police. Kumjorn is captured, and Dum is ordered by Fai to execute him. Kumjorn pleads with Dum to tell his fiancée of his fate, and he pulls out a framed photo of his beloved. Dum is stunned to see a photo of Rumpoey. Mahesuan enters to find Kumjorn gone and Dum with a knife in his chest.

As Dum's wound is being treated, he thinks back to one year ago, when he was a university student in Bangkok, where he became re-acquainted with Rumpoey. Dum pleads with her to leave him alone, reasoning that they are from different social classes and are fated to never be together. Later, Rumpoey is attacked by a gang of male students, the same boys from her childhood boat accident. Dum comes to her rescue but ends up expelled. Rumpoey finds Dum walking, and offers to give him a ride in her car. She then instructs her driver to take them to a nearby beach. Dum and Rumpoey confide their love for each other, and they agree to meet a year later at Sala Awaiting the Maiden.

However, Dum arrives at home and finds his father murdered. He takes his father’s rifle, tracks the killers and shoots some of them. With one bullet left, he turns the gun on himself, but is stopped by Fai, who has ridden up with his horsemen. Fai recognizes the rifle, saying he had given it to Dum’s father years before. Fai then hands Dum a pistol and tells him to finish the job of killing the men who murdered his father. Dum is now an outlaw.

Shifting back to the present, where it is the night before Rumpoey's wedding to Kumjorn, she tries to hang herself, but is stopped by her maid. Fai, meanwhile, plans to attack the governor's mansion, and Mahesuan, suspecting that Dum intentionally let Kumjorn go free, betrays Dum. A gun battle ensues, but Dum escapes.
Dum, dressed in a white suit, appears at the wedding and warns Kumjorn of Fai's plans to attack. Kumjorn, however, wants to shoot the man he knows as the "Black Tiger" and is his rival for Rumpoey's affection. Fai's men attack and Mahesuan breaks into the mansion, where he discovers Rumpoey, and knocks her unconscious. Mahesuan is carrying Rumpoey away when he meets Dum and demands a rematch gunfight. As a raindrop drips through a hole in the brim of Mahesuan's hat, Dum fires and the bullet rips through Mahesuan's teeth.

Dum, next confronted by Kumjorn, reaches into his pocket. Kumjorn, believing that he is reaching for his gun, shoots Dum. But Dum was only reaching for the photograph of Rumpoey that Kumjorn had once carried. As Dum lays dying in the rain with Rumpoey sobbing over him, some of Dum's words from earlier are narrated again – that life is suffering, punctuated only by a never-ending search for happy moments.

Fearless : Huo Yuanjia

2008-01-11T04:21:00.000Z

Huo Yuanjia (Chinese: 霍元甲; pinyin: Huò Yuánjia) (c.1868-1910) was a Chinese martial artist and co-founder of the Chin Woo Athletic Association, a martial arts school in Shanghai. A practitioner of the martial art Mízōngyì, he is considered a hero in China for challenging foreign fighters in highly publicized matches at a time when Chinese sovereignty was being eroded by foreign concessions and spheres of influence. Due to his heroic status, legends and myths about events in his life are difficult to discern from the facts.

Early Life

Huo Yuanjia was born 1868 in Xiaonan Village in Jinghai County in Tianjin, the fourth of his father Huo En Di's ten children. Huo En Di made his living by guarding merchant caravans traveling to Manchuria and back, but the family's primary source of income was from farming. The Huo family had a long tradition of being practitioners of Wushu. Huo Yuanjia, however, was born weak and susceptible to illness (at an early age he contracted jaundice that would recur periodically for the rest of his life) so his father refused to teach him Wushu.

Because of his weakness, Huo En Di wanted his son to pursue scholarly interests instead of learning Wushu. This was perhaps a blessing, as he in later life became renowned for his humility and educated judgment. However at the time, pursuing scholarly interests was a great blow to his pride which was also fuelled by the fact that he was continuously being taken advantage of by being humiliatingly defeated by local eight and nine year old children when he was twelve. His father hired a teacher from Japan, Chen Seng Ho (Chiang Ho), who in exchange for being taught his family style of martial arts Mízōngyì, taught Yuanjia the values of humility and perseverance. Refusing to accept the vocation his father had chosen for him, Huo Yuanjia hid in bushes and even dug out a small hole in the wall of the training area and secretly observed his father teaching his family's style of martial arts. Each day he quietly sat and watched, and each night he went to a tree grove and practiced secretly with his tutor. This continued for about ten years.

In 1890, a martial artist by the name of Duo came from Henan Province to visit the Huo family. His manner provoked a trial of strength with the boxers of the family. After seeing a demonstration by Yuanjia's elder brother, he was goaded into a fight. Huo Yuanjia’s brother was beaten, but to the family's surprise Yuanjia himself got up and defeated his brother's opponent. His father then officially accepted him and taught his younger son all that he knew. His name started to spread and he soon began defeating neighboring practitioners in local contests. These bouts made Huo Yuanjia famous in his village and the neighboring areas.

Huo Yuanjia began working with his father as a guardian. While escorting a group of monks, they were confronted by a leader of bandits named Zhao who gave them a letter threatening the monks with an attack from his army. Unperturbed, Yuanjia met Zhao's challenge and defeated him, injuring both of the bandit’s arms in the process; his many troops dispersed. Word of this feat spread fast further adding to his growing fame.

On his return home he sold firewood to make a living, and in 1896 Huo Yuanjia worked as a porter in the Tianjin Huaiqing pharmacy, where he learned much about the world. The shop owner, who was also a doctor, had recently returned from Japan, and warned him about the growing threat Japan posed towards China. The Boxer Rebellion in 1898 helped accentuate his growing realization that China was being torn up and exploited by foreign powers, both Western and Asian.

National Decay

China was in a state of turmoil, weak and politically confused at the end of the Qing Dynasty. The country was suffering from one natural disaster after another on top of severe oppression by European colonists. Germany dominated Jiaozhou (Kiaochow) Bay, Shandong, and the Huang He (Hwang-Ho) valley; Russia dominated the Liaodong Peninsula and Manchuria; the United Kingdom dominated Weihaiwei and the Yangtze Valley; and France dominated the Guangzhou Bay and several other southern provinces. China was further weakened through drug addiction. Britain began importing opium into China in order to redress the balance of trade to favor itself.
In addition to European exploitation, during the early part of the 20th century Japan's military power increased. Like the West, Japan decided to exercise its sphere of influence over Asia as well. These intentions were felt by the Chinese people as their government became subservient to the Europeans and now to the Japanese.

China was under the belief that it was simply blessed by the Mandate of Heaven and could not be defeated by any other country in the world. It was psychologically devastating to the Chinese people that their country had become so weak that even Japan, which was traditionally and historically respectful to China, was able to influence its government.

Fame Achieved

Huo Yuanjia's real fame came when, in 1901, he responded to leaflets advertising a challenge by a wrestler from Russia in Xiyuan Park, Tianjin, where Huo Yuanjia had already won many victories. The wrestler had openly insulted the Chinese, calling them "Sick man of Asia" and the "Weak Men of the East" because no one would accept his challenge to a fight. When Yuanjia accepted his challenge, the Russian, who claimed to be the strongest man in the world, forfeited. He said through an interpreter that he was merely putting on a performance and that he had to make such challenges in order to make a living. Huo Yuanjia then asked the Russian if he would write an apology in the newspaper, which the Russian reportedly obliged.

Between 1909 and 1910, Huo Yuanjia, accompanied by his apprentices Liu Zheng Sheng and Zhang Wenda, traveled to Shanghai twice to accept an open challenge posed by a boxer from Britain named Hercules O'Brien (Ou-Pin). The match was preceded by disagreement over the rules by which it would be governed. O'Brien insisted on Western boxing rules limiting attacks to punches above the waist. Huo Yuanjia, on the other hand, was more accustomed to the rules of Chinese Leitai challenge matches, which lacked such restrictions. They finally agreed that the first person to knock down his opponent would be considered the winner. Huo defeated O'Brien and his fame spread.

The teacher of the bandit whom Huo Yuanjia had defeated on behalf of the monks, Zhang Wen Dat, held a month-long competition, inviting all contestants in the hope of luring Huo Yuanjia. He felt no need to prove himself, so he did not enter. Zhang Wen Dat, encouraged by an entourage in Shanghai, contacted Huo Yuanjia and openly challenged him. Huo Yuanjia, feeling ill, allowed his top student Liu Zheng Sheng to meet the challenge, and the two battled. The next day news spread that Liu Zheng Sheng did not win, but the fight was a draw. Huo Yuanjia approached Zhang Wen Dat to suggest to end all of this and to "shake hands", but Zhang Wen Dat refused.
Zhang Wen Dat continued to challenge him. Huo Yuanjia felt that he had no choice but to finally accept his challenge and fight. He defeated Zhang with just two moves. Huo said to Zhang Wen Dat that he had not learned how to behave humbly and one should not display conceit or boastfulness. Huo told him that the reason why he lost was not due to a lack of skill, but rather he fought for revenge and not for improving himself spiritually. His disappointment in people like Zhang Wen Dat, and his realization that there was growth in the use of new technology like firearms, led Huo Yuanjia to debate the practical uses of Wushu. Nevertheless, what Huo Yuanjia did give to the people of China was hope and a revised sense of pride with his numerous victories over the foreign fighters. He became known as the best martial arts fighter in history.

Wushu as Athleticism

While conversing with close friend Nong Jin Sun, Huo Yuanjia confessed his disappointment and his apprehension about the future of Wushu. He recalled his younger years and what his tutor said to him, that people should do their best, in practice, physically and mentally, therefore improving themselves spiritually. Nong Jin Sun agreed that this was and is a timeless and important aspect of Wushu, regardless of improving technology or unscrupulous people. Huo Yuanjia thought that the teaching of Wushu would be a good way of rebuilding the confidence and the spirit of the Chinese people.

During the Qing Dynasty, the Manchu Emperor was afraid that the Han people might try to restore the Ming Dynasty. During the fifth year of the Emperor's reign, he made an announcement that forbade the study of Martial Arts. He was scared of an uprising against him. All provincial governors were authorized to stop all practices of Wushu, whether it was with bare hands, sticks or weapons. Anyone calling themselves a Wushu Master was open to arrest.

Chen Qimei, a member of Tongmenghui (the Chinese Revolutionary League) whose goal was to overthrow the Manchu Empire and to rightfully restore China to the Han Chinese, raised his suggestion to train millions of youth to be both physically strong and militarily skillful within ten years so as to meet the demand of large-scale revolution and military renovation. So with the encouragement of Huo's friends, money from sponsors as far away as Tokyo, Japan from Sun Yat-sen and Song Jiaoren, and the support from much of the population of Shanghai, he set up the Chin Woo Physical Training Center (which eventually evolved to become the Chin Woo Athletic Association) with close friend Nong Jin Sun as president.

Huo Yuanjia needed to disguise the fact that his school was for the learning of self-defense, the building up of health and mind, and the instilling of pride and patriotism into its members and the community. He thus opened it as a "physical training center" instead of calling it a "wushu school" in order to shroud its main intentions by supporting all physical exercises and activities. The popularity of Huo Yuanjia and what he stood for was obvious from the number of members who joined the club at the outset. Chin Woo became very popular, and in its first summer its ranks swelled dramatically.

Huo Yuanjia, still suffering bouts of jaundice and now tuberculosis, started seeing a Japanese doctor for medication and treatment. With his strength and speed improving, Huo Yuanjia's impressive reputation was soon known throughout the Japanese martial arts schools. Huo's doctor, a member of the Japanese Judo Association, based in Shanghai, invited him to a competition.

Huo Yuanjia's top student, Liu Zheng Sheng, competed with a Judo practitioner. The Japanese claimed their student won the match, and the Chinese claimed their student had won. What was generally agreed by both sides is that the disagreement ended up in a brawl and ten members of the Judo team were injured, some with broken fingers and hands, including the head instructor. News that the entire Judo team was defeated single-handedly by Huo Yuanjia spread quickly throughout Shanghai. Embarrassed by such news, the Japanese government ordered the Judo team, as well Huo's doctor to return immediately to Japan.

Death

Huo Yuanjia became seriously ill and passed away on August 9th, 1910 at 42 years of age (some say he died the 14th of September 1910). When and how he died is still debated and is shrouded in mystery. It is rumored that he had been poisoned by the Japanese as revenge for their defeat during the Judo competition but this is speculation. Some people believe that Huo Yuanjia may have died due to incorrect changes made to his medicine and incorrect treatment by his new Chinese doctor. Others speculate that the European colonists were threatened by the rise of Chinese nationalism and had him poisoned.

Some of Huo Yuanjia students including the historian Chen Gong Zhe (陳公哲 1890-1961) believed and wrote that he was poisoned by the Japanese doctor Akino who was introduced by the Japanese Judo instructor,(精武50年武術發展史, '50 Years History of Wu Shu Development at Jing Wu', published in 1957). He was admitted to Shanghai Red Cross Hospital and died 2 weeks after. His students Zhang Wen Da (張文達) and Chen Gong Zhe (陳公哲) took the medicine to the Shanghai Public Concession Hospital for test and results confirmed that the medicine contained arsenic.

In 1989 the tomb of Huo Yuanjia and his wife was relocated, and his pelvis bones were discovered to contain black spots, in which Tianjin Minicipality Police laboratory confirmed that it contained arsenic. However, arsenic was frequently used in medicines at the time so the cause of Huo Yuanjia's death remains a matter of conjecture.

Huo Yuanjia died only months after helping to found the Chin Woo Athletic Association. Because Huo Yuanjia was widely admired as a Chinese national hero, a series of other masters agreed to teach at the school including Eagle Claw master Chen Zizheng, Seven Star Praying Mantis master Luo Guangyu, Xingyi master Geng Xiaguang, and Wu Jianquan, the founder of Wu style Taijiquan. Due to Huo Yuanjia's popularity, the masters had decided that he should be the "face" of Chin Woo, resulting in his strong association with it. In June 1910, the Eastern Times newspaper announced the establishment of this association in the name of Huo Yuanjia. It was the first civil Kung Fu organization in China.

Expansion of Chin Woo

During the Japanese sphere of influence the 21 Demands sent to the Chinese government resulted in two treaties with Japan on May 25, 1915, which separated the corrupt Manchurian ruling class from exercising control over the Han. The students of Huo were spurred on. They bought a new building and renamed it the "Chin Woo Athletic Association". Re-organization, publications of books and magazines, and new styles of martial arts other than what Huo taught, were accepted under the mantle of the new association, and in 1918 the Chin Woo opened an association in Nathan Road in Hong Kong.

In July 1919, the Chin Woo Association sent five representatives throughout Southeast Asia to perform a missionary program to expand activities overseas. They were Chen Gong Zhe, Li Hui Sheng, Luo Xiao Ao, Chen Shi Zhao, and Ye Shu Tian. They made their first stop in Saigon, Vietnam—here they opened the first Chin Woo school outside of China there and later in Malaysia and Singapore. To prove their skills, they were often required to give demonstrations or accept challenges. By 1923, these five masters had opened schools all over Southeast Asia and visited nine different countries.

In 1966, Shanghai Chin Woo was forced to discontinue their martial-arts activities due to oppression from the Communist Party of China's Cultural Revolution program whose goal was to destroy old ideas, culture, customs in order to modernize China. Those restrictions were later lifted in 1976, and martial-arts activities were again alive in the Shanghai Chin Woo.
Currently, Chin Woo is one of the largest Wushu organizations in the world with branches in Japan, Hong Kong, Macau, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Poland, Canada, UK, U.S., Australia, and Switzerland. It is so well known that famous actors such as Bruce Lee and Jet Li have made movies based on Huo's life and achievements.

Huo Yuanjia was survived by three sons and two daughters, and now has seven grandchildren and eleven great-grandchildren.

Fearless

2008-01-11T04:18:00.000Z

Fearless, known in Chinese as Huo Yuanjia (Chinese: 霍元甲; pinyin: Huò Yuánjiǎ) is a 2006 film directed by Ronny Yu and starring Jet Li. It is loosely based on the life of Huo Yuanjia, a legendary Chinese martial artist who challenged foreign fighters in highly publicised events, restoring pride and nationalism to China at a time when Western Imperialism and Japanese manipulation were eroding the country. Jet Li stated in an interview that this film is his last wushu martial arts epic, a point also made in the movie's television promotions and other publicity. Fearless was released on June 23, 2006 in the United Kingdom, and on September 22, 2006 in the United States.

Plot

Jet Li loosely portrays the life of martial arts master Huo Yuanjia. The plot differs greatly from the actual life of Huo Yuanjia.

The movie starts off with Huo Yuanjia fighting 3 Westerners: a boxer, a spearfighter and a fencer. Huo Yuanjia beats them all, and makes it his habit to bow to the opponent. Just as he is about to fight Anno Tanaka, the final contestant, Huo Yuanjia has a flashback.

The story flashes back to when Huo Yuanjia was a small boy. His father, Huo Endi, was a great fighter but did not want his asthmatic son to follow in his footsteps, and hence refused to teach Yuanjia martial arts. Huo secretly watched his father's training and taught himself how to fight.

The young Yuanjia then witnesses his father "losing" a Lei tai match; in actuality, his father struck the winning blow of the match, because he delivered a fatal technique which he mercifully pulled short so that his opponent would not be killed. However, his opponent dishonorably struck back after Huo Endi's winning blow, causing Huo Endi to "lose" the match when he is knocked off the stage. Yuanjia is taunted by the son of the man who defeated his father and he steps up to defend the Huo family name. Yuanjia gets beaten up by the boy and he swears never to lose again.

As the years pass, Yuanjia grows into a powerful fighter, winning fight after fight on the Lei tai until he becomes known as one of the greatest fighters in Tianjin, China. However, as his success grows, he becomes arrogant and increasingly ruthless, unlike his late father. When a rival martial arts master named Qin Lei (Master Chin in the US version) apparently injures one of Huo's followers, Huo forces Qin to fight him to the death during Qin's birthday celebration. Yuanjia's businessman friend, Nong Jinsun, urges him to settle the matter later, but Yuanjia refuses, insulting Nong. After much effort, during which the fighters demolish a restaurant, Huo—unlike his father who had previously held off during the Lei tai match—kills Qin with a fatal blow. However, when he returns home, he realizes that his mother and daughter (Jade in the US version) have been killed in revenge. Guided by fury, he goes to Qin's home and finds Qin's Godson, who admits to slaughtering Huo's family, and that he alone was responsible. Qin's Godson then commits suicide before Huo can kill him.As he leaves, his pupils approach, and force the pupil that was injured by Qin to tell Huo that the reason Qin attacked his pupil was because the pupil had slept with Qin's concubine (in the American version he insults Qin's mistress). Crazed with grief and shame, Huo flees Tianjin and wanders aimlessly for many miles, no longer caring about himself. A disheveled, greying wanderer, he nearly drowns in a river, but is saved by Granny Sun (Grandma in the US version) and her blind granddaughter, Yueci (Moon in the US version). They bring him back to their village and guided by their simple acts of kindness, Huo begins to learn the value of kindness and mercy.

In 1907, Huo Yuanjia returns to a very different Tianjin than the one he had left. No longer a comfortable rural village, it is now a bustling city, crowded with foreign troops and merchants. There, he makes peace with his past—visiting the graves of his family and apologizing for his faults, and paying his respects to the family of Master Qin.

He then reconciles with Nong Jinsun and challenges the American fighter, Hercules O'Brien, who was making headlines defeating Chinese fighters and dismissing them as the 'Weak men of the East'. To the astonishment of the foreigners, Huo not only wins the fight, but the admiration of O'Brien in the process by saving O'Brien's life. Huo Yuanjia's fame begins to spread with successive challenges with other foreign fighters, and with funding from Nong Jinsun, he sets up Jing Wu Men, a martial arts school in Shanghai.

The members of the foreign Chambers of Commerce fear that Huo Yuanjia's victory will fan anti-western sentiments in the Chinese people and lead to revolts, so they seek to humiliate him. They challenge him to a match in which he will take on four foreign champions in a single evening: a British boxer, a German lancer, a Spanish fencer, and a Japanese martial artist. Though Jinsun urges Huo to refuse such an unfair challenge, Huo decides to accept, adding that afterwards, he intends to take a break and visit Granny and Yueci. He also accepts an invitation to join the Japanese challenger, Anno Tanaka, for tea. While there, they have an important debate about the value of the martial arts. Tanaka believes the goal of a martial artist is to defeat his opponent, but Huo impresses Tanaka by successfully arguing that the goal of studying martial arts is self-improvement, and that challenge matches are important not because of who wins or loses but because they provide a way for a practitioner to gauge his progress and can act as a focal point in his training. The two fighters leave with a friendly respect for each other, looking almost as if the two were actually friends.

The match was now found to have taken place on September 14, 1910. The flashback is over. Huo Yuanjia faces Tanaka in a titanic battle. In the first round, they fight with their weapons of choice. Yuanjia uses a Three section staff and Tanaka uses a Katana.The fight is extraordinarily close and ends in a draw. At this point, both Huo and Tanaka have also formed a silent friendship based on mutual respect.

Before the second round, Huo drinks from a teacup that was switched unseen with his teacup, while he was fighting in the first round. In the second round, to be fought without weapons, Huo has difficulty breathing, loses his strength, and starts vomiting blood (the teacup he drank from was poisoned with arsenic). Tanaka and Huo's students immediately demand that the fight be stopped, but Huo replies that they might as well finish it since he will die regardless.
In his weakened state, Huo is no match for Tanaka but sees an opening to seize victory by delivering the same fatal technique that he had used to defeat and kill Master Qin. However, at the last second, he pulls the strike, letting it land without any power behind it, just like his father did in the start of the movie. As Huo collapses, Tanaka realizes both Huo's mastery and his mercy and helps Huo back to his feet, raises his arm and declares him the victor. The crowd from all sides cheer as they call out Huo's name.

When the furious Japanese diplomat confronts Tanaka and accuses him of throwing their victory away, Tanaka, perhaps knowing that he was the one who was behind the poisoning, angrily slams him against a pillar and calls the diplomat a disgrace to Japan.
The movie ends with a scene of Huo practising his Wushu on a hill, while Yueci observes him from a distance.

Black Hawk Down : Battle of Mogadishu (1993)

2008-01-11T02:19:00.000Z

The Battle of Mogadishu (also referred to as the "Battle of the Black Sea") or for Somalis Ma-alinti Rangers (“The Day of the Rangers”) was a battle that was part of Operation Gothic Serpent that was fought on October 3 and 4, 1993, in Mogadishu, Somalia, by forces of the United States supported by UNOSOM II against Somali militia fighters loyal to warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid. The battle is also referred to as the First Battle of Mogadishu to distinguish it from the later Second Battle of Mogadishu.
Task Force Ranger, which consisted of an assault force made up of Army Delta Force, Ranger teams, an air element provided by the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, and members of the Air Force Pararescue/Air Force Combat Controllers, executed an operation which involved traveling from their compound on the outskirts of the city to capture tier one personalities of the Habr Gidr clan, headed by Aidid. The assault force was composed of nineteen aircraft, twelve vehicles and 160 men. During the operation, two U.S. MH-60 Black Hawk helicopters were shot down by rocket-propelled grenades, and three others were damaged. Some of the soldiers were able to evacuate wounded back to the compound, but others were trapped at the crash sites and cut off. An urban battle ensued throughout the night. Early the next morning, a combined task force was sent to rescue the trapped soldiers. It contained soldiers from Pakistan, Malaysia, and U.S. soldiers of the 10th Mountain Division. They assembled some 100 vehicles, including Pakistani tanks (American-made M48s) and Malaysian Condor armored personnel carriers, and were supported by U.S. A/MH-6 Little Bird, and MH-60 helicopters. This task force reached the first crash site and led the trapped soldiers out. The second crash site was overrun and pilot Mike Durant, the lone surviving American, was taken prisoner but later released.
Somali casualty figures are unknown, but American estimates are that between 1,000 and 1,500 Somali militiamen and civilians lost their lives in the battle, with injuries to another 3,000-4,000. However, the International Committee of the Red Cross estimated 200 Somali civilian killed and several hundred wounded in the fighting. The book Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War estimates more than 700 Somali militiamen dead and more than 1,000 wounded, but the Somali National Alliance in a Frontline documentary on American television acknowledged only 133 killed in the whole battle. Eighteen American soldiers died and 73 were wounded (another American soldier, Delta operator SFC Matt Rierson, was killed in a mortar attack two days later). Among UN forces, 1 Malaysian soldier died and 7 were wounded, along with 2 Pakistanis.

Background to the battle

In January 1991, the dictator of Somalia, Mohammed Siad Barre, was overthrown by a coalition of opposing clans, called the United Somalia Congress. After this revolution, the coalition divided into two groups. One was led by Ali Mahdi Muhammad, who became president; and the other, by Mohammed Farah Aidid. In total, there were four opposing groups: the United Somali Congress (USC), Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF), Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM), and Somali Democratic Movement (SDM), which continued to fight over the domination of Somalia. In June 1991, a ceasefire was agreed to, but failed to hold. A fifth group, the Somali National Movement (SNM), had already seceded from the northwest portion of Somalia in June. The SNM renamed it the Somaliland Republic, with its leader Abdel-Rahman Ahmed Ali as president.
In September 1991, severe fighting broke out in Mogadishu, which continued in the following months and spread throughout the country, with over 20,000 people killed or injured by the end of the year. These wars led to the destruction of the agriculture of Somalia, which in turn led to starvation in large parts of the country. The international community began to send food supplies to halt the starvation, but vast amounts of food were hijacked and brought to local clan leaders, who routinely exchanged it with other countries for weapons. An estimated 80 percent of the food was stolen. These factors led to even more starvation, from which an estimated 300,000 people died, and another 1.5 million people suffered, between 1991 and 1992. In July 1992, after a ceasefire between the opposing clan factions, the United Nations (UN) sent 50 military observers to watch the distribution of the food.
Operation Provide Relief began in August 1992, when the U.S. President George H. W. Bush announced that U.S. military transports would support the multinational UN relief effort in Somalia. Ten C-130s and 400 people were deployed to Mombasa, Kenya during Operation Provide Relief, airlifting aid to remote areas in Somalia and reducing reliance on truck convoys. One member of the 86th Supply Squadron, USAFE's only contribution to the operation, was deployed with the ground support contingent. The Air Force C-130s delivered 48,000 tons of food and medical supplies in six months to international humanitarian organizations trying to help the over three million starving people in the country. When this proved inadequate to stop the massive death and displacement of the Somali people (500,000 dead and 1.5 million refugees or displaced), the U.S., in December 1992, launched a major coalition operation to assist and protect humanitarian activities, Operation Restore Hope, under which the United States would assume the unified command of the new operation, in accordance with Resolution 794 (1992). The US Marine Corps landed with the 15th MEU in Mogadishu and quickly secured the port and airport facilities to facilitate airlifted humanitarian supplies. Elements of the 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines quickly secured routes to Baidoa, Balidogle and Kismayo, then were reinforced by 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion and the US Army's 10th Mountain Division.

Mission shift to nation-building

A key moment in the operation was when the Clinton Administration shifted the mission from delivering food supplies to nation-building.
On March 3, 1993, the U.N. Secretary-General submitted to the U.N. Security Council his recommendations for effecting the transition from UNITAF to UNOSOM II. He indicated that since the adoption of Council resolution 794 (1992) in December 1992, the presence and operations of UNITAF had a positive impact on the security situation in Somalia and on the effective delivery of humanitarian assistance (UNITAF deployed some 37,000 personnel over forty percent of southern and central Somalia). However, there was still no effective government, police, or national army with the result of serious security threats to UN personnel. To that end, the U.N. Security Council authorized UNOSOM II to establish a secure environment throughout Somalia, to achieve national reconciliation so as to create a democratic state.
At the Conference on National Reconciliation in Somalia, held on March 15, 1993, in Addis Ababa, all fifteen Somali parties agreed to the terms set out to restore peace and democracy. Yet by May it became clear that, although signatory to the March Agreement, General Mohammed Farrah Aidid's faction would not cooperate in the Agreement's implementation.
UNOSOM II's attempts to implement disarmament led to violence. On June 5, 1993, twenty-four Pakistani troops in the UN force were killed in heavy fighting in an area of Mogadishu controlled by Aidid. It was widely reported that the bodies of the UN peacekeepers had been mutilated. Some were skinned. Any hope of a peaceful resolution of the conflict quickly vanished. The next day, the United Nations Security Council issued Resolution 837, calling for the arrest and trial of those responsible for the ambush.

Attack on safe house

On July 12, 1993, a United States-led operation was launched on what was believed to be a safe house in Mogadishu where members of Aidid's Habar Gidir clan were supposedly meeting to plan more violence against U.S. and U.N. forces. In reality, elders of the clan, not gunmen, were meeting in the house. According to U.N. officials, the agenda (which was advertised in the local newspaper) was to discuss ways to peacefully resolve the conflict between Aidid and the multinational task force in Somalia, and perhaps even to remove Aidid as leader of the clan.
During the 17 minute combat operation, U.S. Cobra attack helicopters fired 16 TOW missiles and thousands of 20-millimeter cannon rounds into the compound, killing 73 of the clan elders. Some in Mogadishu believe that this was a turning point in unifying Somalis against the U.S. and U.N. efforts in Somalia. It would also lead to the deaths of four journalists, Dan Eldon, Hos Maina, Hansi Kraus and Anthony Macharia, who were killed by angry Somali mobs when they arrived to cover the incident. A fifth journalist, Scott Peterson, was injured but was rescued by his driver. This attack turned many Somalis, including moderates and those opposed to the Habar Gidir, against the United States.

Operation Gothic Serpent

On October 3, 1993, Task Force Ranger, a U.S. Special Operations Forces composed mainly of Bravo Company 3d Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (1st SFOD-D; better known as “Delta Force”) operators, and aviation support from the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) (“The Night Stalkers”), attempted to capture Aidid's foreign minister, Omar Salad Elmi, and his top political advisor, Mohamed Hassan Awale.[4] The plan was to fast rope from hovering MH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, capture the targets, and load them onto a ground convoy for transport back to the U.S. compound. Four Ranger chalks commanded by Captain Steele, also inserted by helicopter, were to provide a secure square perimeter on the four corners of the operation's target building. Not expecting to see too much action, the Rangers left behind their night vision devices.
The ground extraction convoy was supposed to reach the captive targets a few minutes after the beginning of the operation. However, it ran into delays. Somali citizens and local militia formed barricades along the streets of Mogadishu with rocks and burning tires, blocking the convoy from reaching the Rangers and their captives. A five-ton truck, part of the convoy, was struck by an RPG-7 rocket.
Other complications arose. A Ranger was seriously injured during the insertion. PFC Todd Blackburn fell while fast roping from a helicopter hovering 70 feet (21 m) above the streets. Minutes later, a MH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, Super Six One piloted by CW3 Cliff Wolcott, was shot down by a rocket propelled grenade. There was confusion between the ground convoy and the assault team. The assault team and the ground convoy waited for twenty minutes just out of sight of each other, ready to move, but each under the impression that they were to be first contacted by the other. During the wait, a second Black Hawk helicopter, Super Six Four piloted by CW3 Michael Durant, was downed. Most of the assault team went to the first crash site for a rescue operation. Upon reaching the site, about 90 Rangers found themselves under siege from heavy militia fire. Despite air support, the Rangers were effectively trapped for the night. With a growing number of wounded needing shelter, the Rangers occupied several nearby houses taking the residents prisoner. Outside, a stiff breeze stirred up blinding brown clouds of dust. The local SNA commander, Colonel Sharif Hassan Giumale decided he would call for a mortar bombardment of the houses rather than lose men in house to house fighting. Giumale had requested 200 white phosphorus bombs and six mobile 60 mm mortars crews. The information that civilians were being held captive changed his plans.
At the second crash site, two Delta snipers, SFC Randy Shughart and MSG Gary Gordon, were inserted by helicopter (at their own request, permission was denied twice by Command but granted when they persisted and made a third request) to protect the injured crew from the approaching mob. Both snipers and three of the Black Hawk crewmen were later killed when the site was overrun by Somali militiamen. The Black Hawk's pilot, CW3 Michael Durant, who was seriously injured in the crash, was taken hostage. For their actions, Shughart and Gordon were posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
Repeated attempts by the Somalis to mass forces and overrun the American positions in a series of firefights near the crash sites, were neutralized by aggressive small arms fire and by strafing and rocket attacks from U.S. helicopter gunships. The Somali National Alliance militia casualties were reported as 700 killed and about 1000 wounded. However, an English-speaking eyewitness to the battle says the recovery parties for the SNA dead in the vicinity of the battle area would indicate fewer than 60.
A relief convoy from Task Force 2-14 Infantry, U.S. 10th Mountain Division, aided by Malaysian and Pakistani U.N. forces, arrived in the early morning. No contingency planning or coordination with U.N. forces had been arranged prior to the operation; consequently, the recovery of the surrounded U.S. soldiers was significantly complicated and delayed.
The battle was over by October 4, 1993, at 6:30 AM. American forces were finally evacuated to the U.N. Pakistani base by the armored convoy and the “Mogadishu Mile.” In all, 18 U.S. soldiers died of wounds from the battle and another 79 were injured. After the battle, one or more US casualties of the conflict were dragged through the streets of Mogadish by crowds of local civilians and SNA forces. The Malaysian forces lost one soldier and had seven injured, while the Pakistanis suffered two injured. Casualties on the Somali side were heavy, with estimates on fatalities ranging from 500 to over 2,000 people. The Somali casualties were a mixture of militiamen and local civilians. Somali civilians suffered heavy casualties due to the dense urban character of that portion of Mogadishu. Two days later, a mortar round fell on the U.S. compound, killing one U.S. soldier, SFC Matt Rierson , and injuring another twelve.

Consequences of the operation

In a national security policy review session held in the White House on October 6, 1993, U.S. President Bill Clinton directed the acting chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral David E. Jeremiah, to stop all actions by U.S. forces against Aidid except those required in self-defense. He also reappointed Ambassador Robert B. Oakley as special envoy to Somalia in an attempt to broker a peace settlement and then announced that all U.S. Forces would withdraw from Somalia no later than March 31, 1994. On December 15, 1993, Secretary of Defense Les Aspin stepped down, taking much of the blame for what was deemed a failed policy. A few hundred Marines remained offshore to assist with any noncombatant evacuation mission that might occur regarding the 1,000-plus U.S. civilians and military advisers remaining as part of the U.S. liaison mission. All U.S. personnel were finally withdrawn by March 1995.

Policy changes
The Battle of Mogadishu led to a profound shift in American foreign policy, as the Clinton administration became increasingly reluctant to use military intervention in Third World conflicts (such as the massacre of an estimated 800,000 to 1,071,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus by Hutu militia groups in Rwanda in 1994), though Clinton approached Senator Dole and Speaker Gingrich about the possible use of military intervention, both parties agreed such action imprudent. President Clinton also refused to mobilize U.S. ground troops in fighting the Bosnian Serb Army in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1995 and the Yugoslav Army in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (specifically, the province of Kosovo) in 1999, out of the concern of needlessly sacrificing losing American soldiers in combat, as well as repeating the mistakes of Mogadishu in 1993.

Links with al-Qaeda

There have been allegations that Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda movement was involved in training and funding of Aidid's men. In his 2001 book, Holy War, Inc., CNN reporter Peter Bergen interviewed Bin Laden who affirmed these allegations. According to Bergen, Bin Laden asserted that fighters affiliated with his group were involved in killing American troops in Somalia in 1993, a claim he had earlier made to the Arabic newspaper Al-Quds Al-Arabi. The Al-Qaeda fighters in Somalia are rumored to have included the organization's military chief, Mohammed Atef, later killed by U.S. forces in Afghanistan. This rumor was later challenged by Joseph Wilson. According to CNN, al-Qaeda claimed to have supplied a large number of Soviet-designed rocket-propelled grenade launchers (RPGs) to Aidid's fighters, and instructed them in ways to modify the RPGs to make them more effective against helicopters.[citation needed]
Four and one half years after the Battle of Mogadishu, in an interview in May 1998, bin Laden disparaged the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Somalia, after eighteen American soldiers were killed and two of them had their bodies dragged through the streets. Some interpret his statements[citation needed] to mean that these events inspired his later instigation of large-scale terrorist actions such as the the bombing of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, Khobar Towers, the USS Cole Bombing, and the 9/11 attacks.

BLACK HAWK DOWN

In 1999, writer Mark Bowden published the book Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War, which chronicles the events that surrounded the battle.
The book was adapted into the 2001 film Black Hawk Down, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Ridley Scott. The film describes the events surrounding the operation and some of the acts of bravery seen on that day. There are obvious differences between the book and the movie, which left out central sections and themes of the book, such as the involvement of civilians in the battle, and de-emphasized the key decision to stay in the area after the initial operation was completed, among others.
According to journalist Kevin Sites—one of the few Westerners to have reported from Mogadishu since the events of 1993—thousands went to see the film when it premiered in Somalia in 2002. Many people in Mogadishu were angered by it, calling it propaganda that focused on the 18 Americans killed and 73 wounded in the 18-hour battle, when an estimated 500 to 2,000 Somalis were also killed. When it was learned that the battle has been turned into a game for PC, Xbox, and PlayStation 2, Somalis said it made a mockery of a real-life tragedy.[6]
Mike Durant told his own story in his 2003 book In the Company of Heroes.
Later, in 2005, Matthew Eversmann, leader of Chalk 4 during the battle, compiled several different accounts into a book called The Battle of Mogadishu.

Black Hawk Down : Matt Eversmann

2008-01-11T02:15:00.000Z

Matthew Eversmann is a US Army Ranger and was the leader of Chalk 4 during the Battle of Mogadishu. The October 3, 1993 mission was his first time leading a group in combat. In the movie Black Hawk Down his role was a main character played by Josh Hartnett. Contrary to the movie though, Eversmann was picked up by and fought with the "Lost Convoy," not the ground assault to the downed helicopters (a role taken by U.S. Army Ranger Larry Perino).

Military career
Eversmann enlisted in the Army as an infantryman in December 1987 and was stationed at Fort Drum, New York with the 10th Mountain Division. In 1992 he reenlisted and arrived at Fort Benning, Georgia for his assignment in the 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment. He spent eight and a half years in the Regiment serving as a squad leader, a weapons squad leader, the Battalion Air Operations Sergeant, the Battalion Liaison Sergeant, and a Platoon Sergeant. Eversmann also was the Officer in Charge of the 75th Ranger Regiment's Pre Ranger Course that helped train soldiers to pass Ranger School.
While serving as a sergeant in the Ranger Regiment, Eversmann traveled the world. From Panama to England, Korea to Egypt, he met and trained with soldiers across the globe. In August of 1993 Eversmann and his company deployed to Mogadishu, Somalia in support of Operation Gothic Serpent.

Military schools and awards
Eversmann has attended the many military schools: Airborne, Ranger, SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape) School, Primary Leadership Development Course, Basic Noncommissioned Officers Course, as well as the Advanced Noncommissioned Officers Course. He was the Leadership Award winner at Ranger School, the Primary Course, and the Basic Course. He also graduated from the Master Fitness School, Jumpmaster School, Special Operations Tactics course, and the Equal Opportunity Course. Eversmann wears the following awards and decorations: the Army Service Ribbon, the National Defense Service Ribbon, 8 Army Achievement Medals, 4 Army Commendation Medals, a Meritorious Service Medal, the Ranger Tab, Master Parachute Wings, Royal Thai Jump Wings, British Jump Wings, Egyptian Jump Wings, and the Expert Infantryman's Badge. For his service in Somalia he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal with Valor device and the Combat Infantryman Badge.

Later military career
In August 2000, Eversmann, a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity was awarded an honorary bachelors degree from Hampden-Sydney College, in recognition for his service to his country.
Eversmann has lectured on his experience in Somalia all over the world. He has given presentations to soldiers at all levels, from Officer Candidates at Fort Benning to Colonels at the Army War College. He has represented the Army on Larry King Live and on Dateline with Stone Phillips, and has lectured the cadets and faculty at West Point, Annapolis and the Air Force Academy. Eversmann's list of presentations to the professional community includes companies like Ford, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Goldman Sachs, Merck, RAND, the Bakersfield Business Conference, USA Today and The Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce Voices 2004. Eversmann has been to many colleges across America too; from Penn State to Notre Dame, Virginia Tech to Ball State.
Eversmann was a Senior Instructor at the Johns Hopkins University ROTC Department and is co-author of the book The Battle of Mogadishu.
Recently 1SG Eversmann has been deployed to Iraq with 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment (10th Mountain Division) and is serving in Baghdad.

Black Hawk Down

2008-01-11T02:06:00.000Z

Black Hawk Down is a 2001 film by Ridley Scott, based on the book Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War by Mark Bowden. It depicts the Battle of Mogadishu, which was part of the U.S. military's 1993 campaign to capture Somali warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid. The movie stars an ensemble cast, including Josh Hartnett, Tom Sizemore, Ewen Bremner, William Fichtner and Kim Coates, who had all previously worked together with producer Jerry Bruckheimer in Pearl Harbor, as well as Eric Bana, Orlando Bloom, Ewan McGregor and Sam Shepherd. It won two Academy Awards, for Film Editing and Sound, in 2002.

Plot
The film follows a mixed assault force of Delta operators, Army Rangers and Special Operations Aviation Regiment as they attempt to capture two of Mohammed Farrah Aidid's senior lieutenants from deep in Mogadishu's notorious Bakaara Market. The mission was led by Maj Gen William Garrison, and was supposed to take no more than 30 minutes. The extraction by the Delta team is successful, but the Somali militia, armed with RPGs, shot down two Black Hawk helicopters, and the resulting rescue extends the mission to over 15 hours.

The film follows many characters through build-up, the assault and rescue. It shows how Staff Sergeant Matt Eversmann was placed in charge of Ranger Chalk 4, before portraying the raid and successful extraction of the wanted persons, and shows the first injury, as PFC Todd Blackburn falls from a helicopter as it maneuvers to avoid an RPG. This is the beginning of the indication that the troops are overwhelmed by the volume of enemy militia, and builds up to the two helicopter crashes: Super 6-1 piloted by Cliff “Elvis” Wolcott, and Super 6-4 piloted by Mike Durant. Durant is taken prisoner and the two Delta snipers who requested to be inserted near the crash site of Super 6-4 are killed.
The film also follows two Chalk 4 machine gunners who are supposed to return with the extraction team, but miss the humvees as they leave, and get lost. One of them is deafened by machine-gun fire, but they eventually make their way back to Eversmann. Cpl Jamie Smith attempts to rescue one of them, whose radio has been shot, but Smith gets shot too, and would eventually bleed to death.

The film begins to reach its conclusion as the U.S. forces regain control with strafing runs by Little Bird helicopters, and a convoy of Pakistani troops arrive to extract the wounded. Back at the base, Norman "Hoot" Hooten begins to restock on ammunition, preparing to go back out on the next mission, and Eversmann tells a dead Jamie Smith that he will fulfill his dying wish.
The film ends with text informing the viewer that 19 Americans and approximately 1000 Somalis died in the conflict, Mike Durant's release, and about the death of Mohammed Farrah Aidid in 1996.

Band of Brothers : Richard Winters

2008-01-10T02:28:00.000Z

Richard D. Winters (born January 21, 1918) is a former United States Army officer who commanded Company "E" ("Easy Company" was its respective designation in the military alphabet at the time) of the 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR), 101st Airborne Division during the Second World War. Winters was portrayed in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers by Damian Lewis.

Early life
Winters was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and grew up in nearby Ephrata. He graduated from Franklin and Marshall College in 1941 with a degree in business; while in college, Winters painted electrical towers for extra money. In his autobiography Beyond Band of Brothers: The War Memoirs of Major Dick Winters, he is shown on top of one of the towers.

During WWII
Winters enlisted in the Army in 1941 in order to shorten his time in service. Upon graduation from basic training, he was selected to attend Army Officer Candidate School (OCS) at Fort Benning, Georgia. It was there that he met his friend Lewis Nixon, with whom he would spend the duration of the war in the 101st Airborne Division, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant after graduation. Winters then volunteered for paratrooper training at Camp Toccoa in northeastern Georgia, and was an original member of Company "E" ("Easy Company") of the 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, initially serving as a platoon leader. During his training at Camp Toccoa, Winters was appointed Company Executive Officer (XO) and received a promotion to first lieutenant while under the company's original commander, Captain Herbert Sobel.
After the 101st Airborne Division was deployed to England in September 1943, simmering grievances of the Easy Company NCOs erupted into what Winters later called a "mutiny." Captain Sobel was replaced as the commanding officer (CO) of Easy Company by First Lieutenant Thomas Meehan III shortly before the Normandy invasion. However, at approximately 1:15 a.m. on June 6, 1944, the C-47 Skytrain transport carrying Meehan and the headquarters section of Easy Company was shot down by German anti-aircraft fire, killing everyone on board.
Winters also jumped that night and landed near Sainte-Mère-Église. Having lost his weapon during the drop, he was able to orient himself to his surroundings, collect several paratroopers including members of the 82nd Airborne, and proceed toward the unit's assigned objective near Sainte-Marie-du-Mont. Without knowing the fate of Lieutenant Meehan, Winters became the de facto CO of Easy Company, and remained in that position for the duration of the Normandy campaign.
Later that day, Winters led an attack that destroyed a battery of German 105 mm howitzers which were firing onto the causeways that served as the principal exits from Utah Beach. The guns were defended by approximately one platoon of German troops while Winters had only thirteen men. The attack took place south of the village of Le Grand-Chemin, and is often referred to as the Brécourt Manor Assault. In addition to destroying the battery Winters also obtained a map detailing all German defenses in the Utah Beach area. This attack is still taught at the military academy at West Point.
Winters was recommended for the Medal of Honor for his actions at Brécourt Manor, but the recommendation was downgraded to the Distinguished Service Cross, the U.S. Army's second highest award for combat valor, due to the policy of only one Medal of Honor awarded per division (Lieutenant Colonel Robert G. Cole was the 101st Airborne Division soldier to receive the Medal of Honor for the Normandy Campaign). After the release of the Band of Brothers television miniseries, a letter-writing campaign to have Winters awarded the Medal of Honor retroactively was started, but legislation to enact this has yet to emerge from the U.S. House Armed Services Committee.
During Operation Market Garden in the Netherlands in September 1944, Winters became the XO of the 2nd Battalion, 506th PIR. Although this position was normally a major's billet, Winters filled it whilst still a captain. During the campaign in Holland, Captain Winters led a successful attack with 20 members of Easy Company against a force of 200 German soldiers.
On December 16, 1944, the Germans launched a counter-offensive against the Allies in Belgium. After the 101st Airborne was moved by truck to the Bastogne area on December 18, Captain Winters (as 2nd Battalion XO) and Easy Company held the line northeast of Bastogne near the town of Foy during what became known as the Battle of the Bulge. The entire 101st Airborne and elements of the 10th Armored Division held off several elite German divisions for nearly a week before elements of the U.S. Third Army broke through the German lines surrounding Bastogne. After being relieved, Easy Company then led an attack on the town of Foy during which Winters ordered Ronald Speirs to relieve Easy Company's inept commander, Norman Dike. After the assault on Foy, 2nd battalion's CO, Lt. Colonel Strayer was elevated to the Regimental staff, and Winters was made acting CO of 2nd battalion. He was promoted to major following the Battle of the Bulge, holding this rank through the end of the war. He remained in Europe until October/November 1945.

After WWII
Following the war, Winters worked briefly for his close wartime friend Lewis Nixon at Nixon's family business, Nixon Nitration Works, before being reactivated during the Korean War to train infantrymen and Rangers with the U.S. Army.
After his second period of military service, Winters went into business for himself, selling animal feed products to farmers throughout Pennsylvania. He and his wife Ethel bought a small farm where Winters built their farmhouse stone-by-stone and raised two children.
Retiring to Hershey, Pennsylvania, near Harrisburg, Winters would become an icon of "The Greatest Generation" through exposure from Stephen Ambrose's 1992 book Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest and the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers, based on the book.
Winters was the subject of the book Biggest Brother: The Life of Major Dick Winters, The Man Who Led the Band of Brothers, written by Larry Alexander and published in 2005. Winters's own memoir, Beyond Band of Brothers: The War Memoirs of Major Dick Winters, co-written by military historian and retired U.S. Army Colonel Cole C. Kingseed, was published in early 2006.
One of the most popular quotes from Winters came from the end of "Band of Brothers". When interviewed, he made the statement: "I cherish the memory of something my grandson said to me the other day. He asked me, 'Grandpa, were you a hero in the war?' Grandpa said no. 'But I served in a company of heroes.'

Band of Brothers : Historical inaccuracies

2008-01-10T02:21:00.000Z

Both Ambrose's book and the resulting series are marked with numerous minor and some major inaccuracies, many noted by 101st veterans on Web sites such as "Trigger Time," which features an episode-by-episode critique of strengths and weaknesses. Among the errors in the television series:

- The end of episode three states that Albert Blithe never recovered from the wounds he received in Normandy, and that he died in 1948. Fellow Easy Company Currahee veterans interviewed while writing the mini-series Band of Brothers had thought that Blithe did not recover from his wounds, which they mistakenly recalled as a neck wound (in actuality he was shot in the right shoulder), and had died in Philadelphia in 1948. Albert Blithe remained on active duty, was awarded the Silver Star for gallantry in combat, served in the Korean War and achieved the rank of Master Sergeant, married with two children. He died in December 1967 of complications of surgery for a perforated ulcer after attending a memorial ceremony in Bastogne and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors.

- Easy company is said to have been returned to England later than D+25 (1 July), but at the end of the episode, this is said to have happened on June 29. The last date is correct, since Albert Blithe got hit on D+25 (in the series), but got his Purple Heart (earned by being shot while investigating a farmhouse on D+25) on June 25.

- According to Parachute Infantry: An American Paratrooper's Memoir of D-Day and the Fall of the Third Reich, Richard Winters was promoted to Major before David Webster returned to Easy Company from the hospital after getting injured in Holland. However, in "The Last Patrol", Winters was still Captain until he received his promotion at the end of the episode.

- At the beginning of the ninth episode, "Why We Fight", the date says April 11, 1945 as the episode opens with the paratroopers overlooking German civilians cleaning up their streets. At the end of the episode, the show returns to this scene, at which point Captain Nixon tells the others that Hitler had killed himself. However Hitler did not kill himself until April 30, 1945.

- At the end of the final episode, "Points," it is stated that Technician Fifth Class Joseph Liebgott became a San Francisco taxi driver after the war, but most accounts, including that of his son, state that Joseph Liebgott in fact became a barber after returning home from the war.

- The series states that Easy Company was the first unit into Berchtesgaden and the Eagle's Nest, capturing the town and surrounding area without incident. Historians usually identify the first Allied troops to arrive as the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division who secured Berchtesgaden and the Berghof, followed four days later by the French 2nd Armored Division who secured the Eagle's Nest, then 1st Battalion of the 506th, led by Company "C." This, however, may be incorrect. The 2nd Battalion of the 506th came into Berchtesgaden by a different route and lost men in a skirmish with the crews of two German 88 mm guns. Controversy has come up in recent years as to precisely which unit captured Berchtesgaden, but in the book Beyond Band of Brothers, Major Dick Winters states "Major General John W. 'Iron Mike' O'Daniel's 3rd Infantry Division certainly seized neighboring Salzburg without opposition and may have had their lead elements enter Berchtesgaden before we (2nd Battalion, 506 PIR) arrived in force, but let the facts speak for themselves. If the 3rd Division was first into Berchtesgaden, where did they go? Berchtesgaden is a relatively small community. When I walked into the Berchtesgaden Hof with Lieutenant Welsh, neither of us saw anyone except the hotel staff. Goering's officers' club and wine cellar certainly would have drawn the attention of a Frenchman from LeClerc's 2nd Armored Division or a rifleman from the 3rd Division. I find it inconceivable to imagine that if the 3rd Division were there first, they left those beautiful Mercedes staff cars untouched for our men."

- In the final episode, "Points," Major Winters accepts the surrender of a German Colonel, who offers him an ornate Luger pistol. In the scene, Winters tells him to keep his sidearm, but in the Bonus Features DVD, the real Winters recalls the incident and shows the pistol (a Walther PP) he accepted. In Ambrose's book of the same title, he describes how when Winters examined the firearm, he found it had never been fired, and he hasn't fired it since. He shows this firearm in the HBO documentary We Stand Alone Together. Also in book Beyond Band of Brothers : The war memoirs of Major Dick Winters written by Cole. C. Kingseed with Major Dick Winters it is said that the pistol was accepted but the rank of the German soldier was a Major not Colonel.

- In episode "Carentan" at the counter-attack, we can clearly see a Jagdpanther with the counter-attacking German forces, however the only Jagdpanthers in the area were in the German 654th Heavy Antitank Battalion and only saw combat in the late Battle of Normandy against British units.

Band of Brothers

2008-01-10T02:17:00.000Z

Band of Brothers is an acclaimed 10-part television World War II miniseries based on the book of the same title written by historian and biographer Stephen Ambrose. It was co-produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks after their successful collaboration on the Academy Award winning WWII film, Saving Private Ryan. The miniseries first aired in 2001 on HBO and still runs frequently on different TV networks around the world.

The miniseries centers on the experiences of Company E ("Easy Company") of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, U.S. 101st Airborne Division and one of its officers, Richard Winters (played by Damian Lewis), from Easy's basic training at Toccoa, Georgia, through the American airborne landings in Normandy, Operation Market Garden, the Battle of Bastogne and on to the end of the war.

The events portrayed in the miniseries are based on Ambrose's research and recorded interviews with Easy Company veterans. Some literary license has been taken with the episodes, and other reference books will highlight the differences between recorded history and the film version. All of the characters portrayed in the miniseries are based on actual members of Easy Company; some of them can be seen in prerecorded interviews as a prelude to each episode (their identities, however, are not revealed until the close of the finale).
A new 10-part miniseries from the creators of Band of Brothers (Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, Gary Goetzman), called The Pacific, is in development. The new miniseries will focus on the Pacific Theater. The project is due out in 2009, although this is subject to change.

From Hell : Jack the Ripper

2008-01-08T03:37:00.000Z

Jack the Ripper is an alias given to an unidentified serial killer (or killers) active in the largely impoverished Whitechapel area and adjacent districts of London, England in the latter half of 1888. The name is taken from a letter to the Central News Agency by someone claiming to be the murderer, published at the time of the killings.

The legends surrounding the Ripper murders have become a combination of genuine historical research, conspiracy theory, and folklore. The lack of a confirmed identity for the killer has allowed Ripperologists — the term used within the field for the authors, historians and amateur detectives who study the case — to accuse a wide variety of individuals of being the Ripper. Newspapers, whose circulation had been growing during this era, bestowed widespread and enduring notoriety on the killer owing to the savagery of the attacks and the failure of the police in their attempts to capture the Ripper, sometimes missing the murderer at his crime scenes by mere minutes.

The victims were women earning income as casual prostitutes. The Ripper murders were perpetrated in public or semi-public places; the victim's throat was cut, after which the body was mutilated. Some believe that the victims were first strangled in order to silence them and to explain the lack of reported blood at the crime scenes. The removal of internal organs from some victims led some officials at the time of the murders to propose that the killer possessed anatomical or surgical knowledge

From Hell

2008-01-08T03:33:00.000Z

From Hell is a 2001 film based on the graphic novel of the same name by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell. It was directed by the Hughes Brothers, and first released on October 19, 2001.

Although this film, like the graphic novel, speculates upon the identity and motives of Jack the Ripper, it has been criticised for altering many details of the source (such as changing Frederick Abberline from a hardworking, conflicted police officer into a psychic who induces visions via opium) and remaking the complex story into a whodunit, with Eddie Campbell stating, "Anything that meant anything was ditched. Like, the first thing we decided was that we don't want this to be a whodunit."[1] It received mixed reviews and performed rather poorly at the box office, earning only $31.6 million in domestic receipts for a budget of $35 million.
As has become his practice with film adaptations of his works, Alan Moore declined 20th Century Fox's offer to collaborate with the screenwriters on the script.

Another difference between the comic and movie involved a dispute between Moore and Campbell. In the appendix to the comics, Moore reveals that he and his co-author had strong disagreements about the personality of Queen Victoria - namely, Moore believed she was quite capable of ordering cold-blooded murders, while Campbell insisted she must have worked through an intermediary. Although Moore had his viewpoint presented in the comic, in the movie, Victoria uses an intermediary, Lord Salisbury. In this and other respects the film is closer to being a remake of the 1978 Jack the Ripper thriller Murder by Decree than an adaptation of the graphic novel.

Nang Nak : Mae Nak

2008-01-08T03:24:00.000Z

The story of Mae Nak Phra Khanong (or simply Mae Nak) is a well known and popular Thai ghost story. The period of the original legend is uncertain, with some commentators placing it in the 18th century Ayutthaya period, and others placing it later, in the 19th century. But the story seems consistent, and concerns the beautiful Mae Nak (or "Mother Nak"), a native of Phra Khanong district in Bangkok, and her husband Mak.

With Nak pregnant, Mak is called off to war (in some versions of the story the war is against the Burmese, while others are not specific), and is severely injured. While he is recovering, Nak and the child she is carrying die in childbirth and are buried by neighbors. But when Mak eventually returns home he finds his loving wife and his new child waiting for him. Neighbors who try to tell Mak of the death of his wife and to warn him that he is living with her ghost meet with grisly ends. Eventually, Mak learns the truth, and flees to the temple of Wat Mahabut, where Nak follows, and the story only ends when Nak's ghost is exorcised and she is convinced to leave for the next life.

Though there is no evidence that the legend has any basis in truth, there is a shrine dedicated to Mae Nak at Wat Mahabut (which was situated in the Phra Khanong district until a 1997 boundary change placed it in neighboring Suan Luang district - much to the consternation of the people of Phra Khanong).

The Shrine of Mae Nak

The shrine of Mae Nak can be found at Wat Mahabut, which is down a small soi (side road) off Sukhumvit soi 77, also known as Onnut Road (sometimes spelled "Onnuj" or "On Nut"). Probably the easiest way to get there is to take the Sukhumvit line of the BTS Sky Train all the way to its terminal station at Onnut, then backtrack a short way until you reach Onnut Road (Sukhumvit 77) on the north side of the road. About 1km down Onnut road, on the left, you will find a small lane signposted as soi 7. Wat Mahabut and the Mae Nak shrine are to be found at the end of the lane, with the shrine at the far side of the compound near the canal known as Klong Phra Khanong.
In addition to adorning the statue of Mae Nak and her baby, which forms the centerpiece of the shrine, with gold leaf, the faithful also donate gifts of clothing to her ghost (she has a collection of fine dresses hung behind her statue) and toys for her child. There are stalls at the shrine selling toys if you should wish to make an offering.

Nang Nak

2008-01-08T03:17:00.000Z

Nang Nak (Thai: นางนาก) is a romantic tragedy and horror film directed by Nonzee Nimibutr in 1999 through Buddy Film and Video Production Co. in Thailand. It features the life of a devoted ghost wife and the unsuspecting husband. Particularly poignant in the film is the devotion of the wife to her husband. A particularly impressive and eerie scene is where the husband (Mak) sees his wife extend her arm all the way to the ground from the elevated hut.

Plot

In rural village in Thailand, Mak (Winai Kraibutr) is sent to fight in a war and leaves his pregnant wife, Nak (Intira Jaroenpura). Mak is injured, and barely survives. He returns home to his doting wife and child, or so he thinks. Mysterious events occur around the village.

A friend visits and sees Mak living together with Nak. The villagers, knowing that Nak died in childbirth several months previously, realize what is happening, that Mak is spellbound by Nak's ghost. People who attempt to tell Mak, or who know too much, are killed by Nak's ghost, who becomes more active in her aggression due to her inability to accept her early death and her frantic desire to stay with her husband.
Toward the end, Mak discovers what is happening, and shocked, flees to the local temple. The villagers attempt several solutions, including burning down the house and in the end summon a ghost banisher to destroy her forehead (this would destroy her soul as well as the ghost).

The country's most respected Buddhist monk (in the film Somdej To) arrives in the final moments, takes charge and in a tearful farewell Nak repents, leaving her husband to live his life. Somdejto has the centre of her forehead cut out and made a girdle brooch. He wore it till his last day. The epilogue states that it later became in possession of His Royal Highness Prince Chumbhorn Ketudomsak. Then, handed down to many others, nondetected. Until now nobody knows where the item is.

Dragon : Bruce Lee

2008-01-08T02:57:00.000Z

Bruce Lee (traditional Chinese: 李小龍; simplified Chinese: 李小龙; Pinyin: Lǐ Xiǎolóng; Cantonese Yale: Léih Síulùhng; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was an American-born martial artist, philosopher, instructor, martial arts actor and the founder of the Jeet Kune Do martial arts system, widely regarded as the most influential martial artist of the 20th century and a cultural icon. He was the father of actor Brandon Lee and of actress Shannon Lee.
Lee was born in San Francisco, California and raised in Hong Kong. His Hong Kong and Hollywood-produced films elevated the traditional Hong Kong martial arts film to a new level of popularity and acclaim, and sparked the first major surge of interest in Chinese martial arts in the West. The direction and tone of his films changed and influenced martial arts and martial arts films in Hong Kong and the rest of the world as well. Lee became an iconic figure particularly to the Chinese, as he portrayed Chinese national pride and Chinese nationalism in his movies. Many see Lee as a model blueprint for acquiring a strong and efficient body and the highest possible level of physical fitness, as well as developing a mastery of martial arts and hand to hand combat skills.

Dragon The Bruce Lee Story

2008-01-08T02:51:00.000Z

Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, released in 1993, is a semi-fictionalized biographical film about Bruce Lee, starring Jason Scott Lee (no relation) as Lee. The movie was directed by Rob Cohen and written by Cohen, Edward Khmara, and John Raffo.

Plot

The film shows Bruce's relationship with his father, his coming to America, his movie career, his relationship with his wife, and various disappointments and happinesses in life, and apparently, his family is shown to be cursed in the film, with a mysterious evil spirit that attacks his son at the end of the film, before Bruce Lee kills it. The movie ends with his wife telling of his death at a very young age, despite being of mysteriously good health.

Last Hero in China : Wong Fei Hung

2008-01-08T02:43:00.000Z

Wong Fei Hung (traditional Chinese: 黃飛鴻; simplified Chinese: 黄飞鸿; Pinyin: Huáng Fēihóng; Cantonese Yale: Wòhng Fēihùhng) (July 9, 1847–March 25, 1924) was a martial artist, Chinese medicine practitioner, and revolutionary who became a Chinese folk hero and the subject of numerous television series and films.

As a healer and medical doctor, Wong practiced and taught acupuncture and other forms of traditional Chinese medicine at 'Po Chi Lam' (寶芝林), his clinic in Foshan, Guangdong Province, China, where he was known for his compassion and policy of treating any patient. A museum dedicated to him was built in Foshan.

Amongst Wong's most famous disciples were Lam Sai Wing, Leung Foon, and Ling Wan Gai. He was also associated with Chi Su Hua, aka the Beggar So.

Life Early years
Legend has it that Wong Fei Hung was born in Foshan on the ninth day of the seventh month of the twenty-seventh year of the reign of Emperor Daoguang (1847). When Wong was five, he began his study of martial arts under his father Wong Kei Ying. To supplement his poor family's income, he followed his father to Foshan, Guangzhou and throughout the rest of Guangdong Province to do martial arts performances and to sell medicines.
Well within his youth, Wong began showing great potential as a martial artist. At the age of thirteen, while giving a martial arts demonstration at Douzhixiang, Foshan, Wong Fei Hung met Lam Fuk Sing, the first apprentice of Tit Kiu Saam, who taught him the "tour de force" of Iron Wire Fist and Sling, which helped him become a master of Hung Gar. When he was sixteen, Wong set up martial arts schools at Shuijiao, Diqipu, Xiguan, Guangdong Province, and then opened his clinic 'Po Chi Lam' (寶芝林) on Renan Street in Foshan. By his early 20s, he was fast making his mark as a highly-respected physician and martial artist.

Later years
As a famous martial arts master, he had many apprentices. He was successfully engaged by Jiming Provincial Commander-in-Chief Wu Quanmei and Liu Yongfu as the military medical officer, martial art general drillmaster, and Guangdong local military general drillmaster. He later followed Liu Youngfu to fight against the Japanese army in Taiwan. His life was full of frustration, and in his later years he experienced the loss of his son and the burning of Po Chi Lam. On lunar year, the twenty-fifth day of the third month in 1924, Wong Fei Hung died of illness in Guangdong Chengxi Fangbian Hospital. His wife and two of his prominent students, Lam Sai-Wing and Tang Sai-King, moved to Hong Kong, where they continued teaching Wong's martial art. Wong became a legendary hero whose real-life story was mixed freely with fictional exploits on the printed page and onscreen.

As a martial artist
Wong was a master of the Chinese martial art Hung Gar. He systematized the predominant style of Hung Gar and choreographed its version of the famous Tiger Crane Paired Form Fist, which incorporates his "Ten Special Fist" techniques. Wong was famous for his skill with the technique known as the "No Shadow Kick". He was known to state the names of the techniques he used while fighting.

Wong Fei Hung also became adept at using weapons such as the wooden long staff and the southern tiger fork. Soon after, stories began circulating about his mastery of these weapons. One story recounts how he defeated a 30-man gang on the docks of Canton using the staff.
Wong is sometimes included in the Ten Tigers of Canton (ten of the top martial arts masters in Guangdong towards the end of the Qing Dynasty (1644–1912), a group to which his father Wong Kei Ying belonged).

Last Hero in China

2008-01-08T02:38:00.000Z

Last Hero in China (黃飛鴻之鐵雞斗蜈蚣) is a 1993 Hong Kong film written and directed by Wong Jing. It was released after the original Once Upon a Time in China trilogy. It is derivative of the original Once Upon a Time in China series, and unlike other imitation films, it can be considered a spinoff or spoof to some extent. The film's action director was Yuen Woo-ping and like the first three Once Upon a Time in China films, it starred Jet Li as legendary Chinese folk hero, Wong Fei Hung. However, it differs greatly in tone from the Once Upon a Time in China series, containing stronger elements of violence and broader, more slapstick, comedy.
The film was also known by the following alternative titles:
- Claws of Steel
- Deadly China Hero
- Iron Rooster vs. Centipede

Plot
Due to economic pressures, Wong is forced to move his kung fu school and Po Chi Lam clinic. Unknowingly he re-opens next to a brothel. Wong comes into conflict with a corrupt police chief (an exponent of the Boxer Rebellion) who is aiding local monks as they kidnap young women and sell them into slavery in Southern Asia. Whilst investigating the monks' temple, Wong gets involved in a fight and is subsequently accused of an unprovoked attack on the monks. He is also poisoned, leading to temporary deafness, although the first time is on purpose by Wong to learn how the poison can be cured. In a later battle, Wong intervenes in the police chief's attempts to assassinate a foreign official.

In one infamous scene, parodying traditional lion dances, Wong is dressed as a chicken or rooster, complete with an iron beak and claws. He clucks as he battles against his enemies who are shrouded in a giant metallic centipede. This scene has its roots in the 1956 film Huang Fei-hong tie ji dou wu gong (Huang Fei-hong: The Iron Rooster Versus the Centipede), which starred Kwan Tak Hing in the title role.

Greatest Game Ever Played : Francis Ouimet

2008-01-08T01:57:00.000Z

Francis DeSales Ouimet (May 8, 1893 – September 3, 1967) was an American golfer. He is widely known for winning the 1913 U.S. Open, and was the first American elected Captain of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews. His father, Louis, was a French-Canadian immigrant and his mother was an Irish immigrant. He married Stella M. Sullivan on September 11, 1918, with whom he had two daughters; Jane Salvi and Barbara McLean.

Career

Ouimet won the 1913 U.S. Open as a 20-year-old amateur playing at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts, where he used to caddie, playing against Britons Harry Vardon and Ted Ray. Ouimet's victory after an 18-hole playoff against Vardon and Ray was widely hailed as a stunning upset over the strongly-favored Britons. He was the first amateur to win the U.S. Open.

He also won the U.S. Amateur Championship twice, in 1914 and 1931. He played on the first eight Walker Cup Teams and was Captain of the next four for a team record of 11-1. In 1951 he became the first American elected Captain of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews and in 1955 was the first-ever winner of the Bob Jones Award, the highest honor given by the United States Golf Association in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf.

Ouimet has been named to every Golf Hall of Fame, and has a room named after him in the USGA Museum. He remained an amateur for his entire golf career.

Tournament Wins

- 1913 U.S. Open, Massachusetts State Amateur

- 1914 U.S. Amateur, Massachusetts State Amateur, French Open Amateur
- 1915 Massachusetts State Amateur
- 1916 French Open
- 1917 Western Amateur
- 1919 Massachusetts State Amateur
- 1920 North and South Amateur
- 1922 Massachusetts State Amateur
- 1925 Massachusetts State Amateur
- 1931 U.S. Amateur
- 1932 Massachusetts Open
- 1934 Boston Open

Major championships

Performance in Majors

Ouimet participated in the U.S. Open 6 times and The Masters once.
U.S. Open
- 1913 - Won
- 1914 - T5
- 1915 - T35
- 1919 - T18
- 1923 - T29
- 1925 - T3
- T = tied

Masters
1941 - Withdrew

Effect on U.S. golf

Ouimet's U.S. Open success is credited for bringing golf into the American sporting mainstream. Before his surprising win over Harry Vardon and Ted Ray, golf was dominated by British players. In America, the sport was restricted to players with access to private facilities—there were very few public courses (the first, Van Cortlandt Golf Course in The Bronx borough of New York City, had opened in 1895). Ten years after his 1913 victory the number of American players had tripled and many new courses had been built, including numerous public ones.

Depictions

In 1988, a portrait of Ouimet appeared on a commemorative 25 cent United States Postal Service stamp. In 2002, Mark Frost wrote a biographical account of Ouimet's U.S. Open victory titled The Greatest Game Ever Played: Harry Vardon, Francis Ouimet, and the Birth of Modern Golf. Shortly afterward, Frost was tapped by Walt Disney Studios to write a motion picture adaptation. The Greatest Game Ever Played was released in theaters in 2005. The film starred Shia LaBeouf as Ouimet, was directed by Bill Paxton, and produced by Larry Brezner.

Appearing on the cover of The Greatest Game is a photograph of Ouimet at the U.S. Open with his ten-year-old caddy, Eddie Lowery. This iconic image is one of the best known in American golf, and was used as the logo for the United States Golf Association's Centennial celebrations. A statue of Ouimet and Lowery based on the photograph stands in Brookline, Massachusetts.

Greatest Game Ever Played

2008-01-08T01:49:00.001Z

The Greatest Game Ever Played is a 2005 biographical sports film, directed by Bill Paxton. The star Francis Ouimet is played by Shia LaBeouf. It is distributed by Walt Disney Studios, and is similar to their other fact-based sports dramas such as Remember the Titans (2000), The Rookie (2002), and Miracle (2004). The film's screenplay was adapted by Mark Frost from his book, The Greatest Game Ever Played: Harry Vardon, Francis Ouimet, and the Birth of Modern Golf.

Plot
Set in 1913, the film is about golfer Francis Ouimet, an amateur who was expected to fare poorly at the 1913 U.S. Open, and who was supposedly incapable of competing against professionals. Additionally, to discontinue an ongoing feud with his father, Francis agrees to get a real job and never play golf again. However, after getting a once-in-a-lifetime offer, Francis goes back on his word and competes for the U. S. Open crown. Against all odds, he managed to beat the British champions Harry Vardon and Ted Ray, who were considered the world's best golfers.

Director interview
Mike Shiels interviews, Bill Paxton, the director of "The Greatest Game Ever Played". This is one of the great golf movies of all time and Bill Paxton shares his vision about the film.

ALIVE : Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571

2008-01-07T09:04:00.000Z

Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, also known less formally as the Andes flight disaster, was an airline flight carrying 45 people that crashed in the Andes on October 13, 1972. The event was concluded by December 23, 1972 when the last of 16 survivors were rescued.

The crash and rescue
On Friday the 13th of October, 1972, a Uruguayan Air Force twin turboprop Fairchild FH-227D was flying over the Andes carrying Stella Maris College's "Old Christians" rugby union team from Montevideo, Uruguay to play a match in Santiago, Chile.

The trip had started the day before, October 12, when the Fairchild departed from Carrasco International Airport, but inclement mountain weather forced an overnight stop in Mendoza. After resuming the flight on the afternoon of October 13, the plane was soon flying through a pass in the mountains. The pilot then notified air controllers in Santiago that he was over Curicó, Chile and was cleared to descend. This would prove to be a fatal error. At Fairchild's ceiling of 29,500 feet, the plane could not fly directly from Mendoza, over the Andes, to Santiago. The pilots had to fly south from Mendoza along the Andes, then turn west towards the mountains, fly through the pass, cross the mountains and emerge on the Chilean side of the Andes south of Curico before finally turning north and initiating descent to Santiago after reporting passing Curico. Since the pass was covered by the clouds, the pilots had to rely on the usual time required to cross the pass. However, failing to take into account strong headwinds that ultimately slowed the plane and increased the time required to complete the crossing, the turn and descent was initiated too soon, right into the middle of the mountains. (CFIT)

Dipping into the cloud cover while still over the mountains, the Fairchild soon crashed on an unnamed peak (later called Cerro Seler, also known as Glaciar de las Lágrimas or Glacier of Tears), located between Cerro Sosneado and Volcán Tinguiririca, straddling the remote mountainous border between Chile and Argentina. The plane clipped the peak at 4200 m, neatly severing the right wing, which was thrown back with such a force that it cut off the vertical stabilizer, leaving a gaping hole in the rear of the fuselage. The plane then clipped a second peak which severed the left wing and left the plane as just a fuselage flying through the air. The fuselage hit the ground and slid down a steep mountain slope before finally coming to rest in a snow bank.

Early days
Of the 45 people on the plane, twelve died in the crash or shortly thereafter; another five had died by the next morning, and one more succumbed to injuries on the eighth day. The remaining 26 faced hard survival issues high in the freezing mountains. Many had suffered injuries from the crash including broken legs from the aircraft's seats piling together. The survivors lacked equipment such as cold-weather clothing and footwear suitable for the area, mountaineering goggles to prevent snow blindness (although one of the eventual survivors, 24-year-old Adolfo "Fito" Strauch, devised a couple of sunglasses by using the sun visors in the pilot's cabin which did help protect their eyes from the sun). Most gravely, they lacked any kind of medical supplies, leaving the two freshman medical students on board who had survived the crash to improvise splints and braces with salvaged parts of what remained of the aircraft.

The search
Search parties from three countries looked for the missing plane. However, since the plane was white, it blended in with the snow making it virtually impossible to see from the sky. The search was cancelled after 8 days. The boys had found a small transistor radio on the plane and Roy Harley first heard the news that the search was cancelled on their eleventh day on the mountain. Piers Paul Read in Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors (a text based upon interviews with the survivors) described the moments after this discovery:

"The others who had clustered around Roy, upon hearing the news, began to sob and pray, all except Parrado, who looked calmly up the mountains which rose to the west. Gustavo [Coco] Nicolich came out of the plane and, seeing their faces, knew what they had heard...[Nicolich] climbed through the hole in the wall of suitcases and rugby shirts, crouched at the mouth of the dim tunnel, and looked at the mournful faces which were turned towards him. 'Hey boys,' he shouted, 'there's some good news! We just heard on the radio. They've called off the search.' Inside the crowded plane there was silence. As the hopelessness of their predicament enveloped them, they wept. 'Why the hell is that good news?' Paez shouted angrily at Nicholich. 'Because it means,' [Nicholich] said, 'that we're going to get out of here on our own.' The courage of this one boy prevented a flood of total despair."

Foot and water
The survivors had a small amount of food: a few chocolate bars, other assorted snacks, and several bottles of wine. During the days following the crash they divided out this food in very small amounts so as not to exhaust their meager supply. Fito also devised a way to melt snow into water by using metal from the seats and placing snow on it. The snow then melted in the sun and dripped into empty wine bottles.

Even with this strict rationing, their food stock dwindled quickly. Furthermore, there was no natural vegetation or animals on the snow-covered mountain. The group thus survived by collectively making a decision to eat flesh from the bodies of their dead comrades. This decision was not taken lightly, as most were classmates or close friends. In his 2006 book, Miracle in the Andes: 72 Days on the Mountain and My Long Trek Home, Nando Parrado comments on this decision:

"At high altitude, the body's caloric needs are astronomical ... we were starving in earnest, with no hope of finding food, but our hunger soon grew so voracious that we searched anyway ... again and again we scoured the fuselage in search of crumbs and morsels. We tried to eat strips of leather torn from pieces of luggage, though we knew that the chemicals they'd been treated with would do us more harm than good. We ripped open seat cushions hoping to find straw, but found only inedible upholstery foam ... Again and again I came to the same conclusion: unless we wanted to eat the clothes we were wearing, there was nothing here but aluminium, plastic, ice, and rock."

All of the passengers were Roman Catholic, a point which was emphasized by Piers Paul Read in Alive. According to Read, some equated the act to the ritual of Holy Communion. Others initially had reservations, though after realizing that it was their only means of staying alive, changed their minds a few days later.

Avalanche
Eight of the initial survivors subsequently died on the afternoon of October 29 when an avalanche cascaded down on them as they slept in the fuselage. For three days they survived in an appallingly confined space since the plane was buried under several feet of snow.

Hard decisions
After the avalanche, a few of the boys became insistent that their only means of survival would be to climb over the mountains themselves and search for help. Due to the co-pilot's assertion that the plane had passed Curico, the group assumed that the Chilean countryside was just a few miles away to the west. Several of the healthiest and strongest survivors made excursions in many directions in an attempt to find the plane's tail section and their friends who had fallen from the plane at the point of impact (the bodies of six were found higher up the mountain on one such expedition). Many potential expeditionaries were deterred by the difficulty of hiking at such a high altitude as well as surviving the bitterly cold nights.

After a few trial runs, a final group was formed which included Nando Parrado, Roberto Canessa and Antonio "Tintin" Vizíntin. On Roberto Canessa's insistence, Parrado, and Canessa himself first attempted to travel east, down into the cordillera to find the tail. On this run, they did find the tail of the plane which contained several suitcases. They found scraps of food, a comic book, clothing and cigarettes. Tintin also discovered insulating material wrapped around pipes (which would prove later to be the key to their escape).

Radio
Initially after the crash, an attempt was made to use the cockpit radio to call for help. It was found, however, that the radio had no power running to it. The plane's mechanic had survived the crash (but later died in the avalanche) and mentioned that the Fairchild's batteries were stowed in the missing tail section.

Having finally found the tail, the batteries were also located. However, they were too heavy to transport back to the fuselage. They instead decided to bring the radio to the tail. The boys hiked back up and enlisted the reluctant help of Roy Harley, one of the younger survivors and the closest thing they had to an electronics expert. After several days of tinkering, Harley and Canessa realized that the radio could not be made to work and the team returned to the plane. Unbeknownst to the survivors at the time, the radio did not operate on battery power, but on power generated by the plane's engines.

The sleeping bag
It was now apparent that the only way out was to climb over the mountains to the west. However, they also realized that unless they found a way to survive the freezing temperature of the nights, a trek was impossible. It was at this point that the idea for a sleeping bag was raised.
In his book, Miracle in the Andes: 72 Days on the Mountain and My Long Trek Home, Nando Parrado would comment upon the making of the sleeping bag thirty-four years later:

"The second challenge would be to protect ourselves from exposure, especially after sundown. At this time of year we could expect daytime temperatures well above freezing, but the nights were still cold enough to kill us, and we knew now that we couldn't expect to find shelter on the open slopes. We needed a way to survive the long nights without freezing, and the quilted batts of insulation we'd taken from the tail section gave us our solution....as we brainstormed about the trip, we realized we could sew the patches together to create a large warm quilt. Then we realized that by folding the quilt in half and stitching the seams together, we could create an insulated sleeping bag large enough for all three expeditionaries to sleep in. With the warmth of three bodies trapped by the insulating cloth, we might be able to weather the coldest nights. Carlitos took on the challenge. His mother had taught him to sew when he was a boy, and with the needles and thread from the sewing kit found in his mother's cosmetic case, he began to work...to speed the progress, Carlitos taught others to sew, and we all took our turns...C, Coche, Gustavo [Zerbino], and Fito turned out to be our best and fastest tailors."

After the sleeping bag was completed and another survivor, Numa Turcatti, died of his injuries, the hesitant Canessa was finally persuaded to set out, and the three expeditionaries took to the mountain on December 12th.

December 12
On December 12, 1972, some two months after the crash, Parrado, Canessa and Vizintín began their trek up the mountain. Parrado took the lead, and often had to be called to slow down, although the trek up the hill against gravity and in low-oxygen was difficult for all of them. Although it was still bitterly cold, the sleeping bag allowed them to live through the nights.

On the third day of the trek, Parrado reached the top of the mountain before the other two expeditionaries. What he saw literally took his breath away. Stretched before him as far as the eye could see were more mountains. Spying a small "Y" in the distance, he gauged that a way out of the mountains must lay beyond, and refused to give up hope. Knowing that the hike would take more energy than they'd originally planned for, Parrado and Canessa sent Vizintín back to the crash site, as they were rapidly running out of rations. Since the return was entirely downhill, it only took him one hour to get back to the fuselage on a sled made from broken parts of the plane.

Rescue and return
Parrado and Canessa hiked for several more days, reaching the end of the snowline. On the ninth evening Parrado and Canessa set down to rest. As Parrado was gathering wood to build a fire, Canessa noticed what looked like a man on a horse at the other side of the river, and yelled at the near-sighted Parrado to run down to the banks. At first it seemed that Canessa had been imagining the man on the horse, but eventually they saw three men on horseback. Divided by a river, Nando and Canessa tried to convey their situation to which one of them, a Chilean Huaso named Sergio Catalan, shouted "tomorrow." They knew at this point they would be saved and settled to sleep by the river. The next day the men returned and tied paper to a rock and pencil which they threw to the boys. Parrado wrote a note telling them about the plane crash and threw it back to them. Catalan rode on horseback for many hours to bring help and eventually a rescue team with helicopters appeared. Nando was recruited to fly back to the mountain in order to guide the helicopters to the remaining survivors. The news that people had survived the October 13 crash of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 had also leaked to the international press and a flood of reporters also began to appear.

The mountain rescue
The following day, those remaining at the crash site heard on their radio that Parrado and Canessa had been successful in finding help and that afternoon, December 22, 1972, a helicopter carrying Parrado and two search and rescue climbers arrived, taking half of the survivors. It departed, leaving the Andinists and remaining survivors at the crash site until the second helicopter could arrive. Leaving was again delayed until the following morning due to the hazards of flying into the Andes at night, leaving those left behind to once again sleep in the fuselage. The second helicopter arrived at daybreak on December 23, and with that, all sixteen survivors were rescued. All of the survivors were taken to hospitals in Santiago and treated for altitude sickness, dehydration, frostbite, broken bones, scurvy and malnutrition.

Aftermatch
When first rescued, the survivors initially explained that they had eaten some cheese they had carried with them, planning to discuss the details in private with their families. However, they were pushed into the public eye when photos were leaked to the press and sensational, unauthorized articles were published.

The survivors held a press conference on December 28 at Stella Maris College, where they recounted the events of the past 72 days (over the years, they would also participate in the publication of two books, two films, and an official website about the event).
The rescuers later returned to the crash site and buried the bodies of the deceased under a pile of stones a half mile from the site. The grave was commemorated by an iron cross erected from the center of the stone pile. What remained of the fuselage was incinerated to thwart curiosity seekers.

ALIVE

2008-01-07T08:58:00.000Z

Alive is a 1993 film by the husband and wife team, director Frank Marshall and producer Kathleen Kennedy. It is based upon Piers Paul Read's acclaimed 1974 book, Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors (which itself was based upon interviews with survivors of the crash of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 on October 13, 1972).

One of the survivors, Nando Parrado, (portrayed by Ethan Hawke in the film) served as the technical advisor to the film. Alive is narrated by John Malkovich.

The Survivors
16 out of the 45 passengers survived. The film includes some additional fictional incidents to add action to the story. Actual survivor Nando Parrado was on hand during much of the filming as technical advisor. Nando's mother died instantly from the crash and his sister died in his arms after being on the mountain for nine days.

Story
The film tells the story of a Uruguayan Rugby team (who were alumni of Stella Maris College (Montevideo)) and their friends and family who were involved in the airplane crash of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 which crashed into the Andes mountains on October 13, 1972.

Kingdom of Heaven : Historical accurancy

2008-01-07T08:45:00.000Z

King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem, who reigned from 1174 to 1185, was a leper, and his sister Sibylla did marry Guy of Lusignan. Also, Baldwin IV had a falling out with Guy before his death, and so Guy did not succeed Baldwin IV immediately. Baldwin crowned Sibylla's son from her previous marriage to William of Montferrat, five-year-old Baldwin V co-king in his own lifetime, in 1183[11]. The little boy reigned as sole king for one year, dying in 1186 at nine years of age. After her son's death, Sibylla and Guy (to whom she was devoted) garrisoned the city, and she claimed the throne. The coronation scene in the movie was, in real life, more of a shock: Sibylla had been forced to promise to divorce Guy before becoming queen, with the assurance that she would be permitted to pick her own consort. After being crowned by Patriarch Heraclius of Jerusalem (who is unnamed in the movie), she chose to crown Guy as her consort. Raymond III of Tripoli, the film's Tiberias, was not present, but was in Nablus attempting a coup, with Balian of Ibelin, to raise her half-sister (Balian's stepdaughter), princess Isabella of Jerusalem, to the throne; however, Isabella's husband, Humphrey IV of Toron, betrayed them by swearing allegiance to Guy.
Raymond of Tripoli was a cousin of Amalric I of Jerusalem, and one of the Kingdom's most powerful nobles, as well as sometime regent. He had a claim to the throne himself, but, being childless, instead tried to advance his allies the Ibelin family. He was often in conflict with Guy and Raynald, who had risen to their positions by marrying wealthy heiresses and through the king's favour. Guy and Raynald did harass Saladin's caravans, and the claim that Raynald captured Saladin's sister is based on the account given in the Old French Continuation of William of Tyre. This claim is not supported by any other accounts, and is generally believed to be false. In actuality, after Raynald's attack on one caravan, Saladin made sure that the next one, in which his sister was traveling, was properly guarded: the lady came to no harm.
The discord between the rival factions in the kingdom gave Saladin the opportunity to pursue his long-term goal of conquering it. The kingdom's army was defeated at the Battle of Hattin, partly due to the conflict between Guy and Raymond. As already stated, the battle itself is not shown in the movie, but its aftermath is depicted. The Muslims captured Guy and Raynald, and according to al-Safadi in al-Wafi bi'l-wafayat, executed Raynald after he drank from the goblet offered to Guy, as the sultan had once made a promise never to give anything to Raynald. Guy was imprisoned, but later freed. He attempted to retain the kingship even after the deaths of Sibylla and their daughters during his siege of Acre in 1190, but lost in an election to Conrad of Montferrat in 1192. Richard I of England, his only supporter, sold him the lordship of Cyprus, where he died c. 1194.
There was a Haute Cour, a "high court", a sort of medieval parliament, in which Jeremy Irons's character Tiberias is seen arguing with Guy for or against war, in front of Baldwin IV as the final judge.
The movie alludes to the Battle of Montgisard in 1177, in which 16-year-old Baldwin IV defeated Saladin, with Saladin narrowly escaping.
The Knights Hospitaller and Knights Templar were the most enthusiastic about fighting Saladin and the Muslims. They were monastic military orders, committed to celibacy. Neither Guy nor Raynald was a Templar, as the movie implies by costuming them both in Templar surcoats: they were secular nobles with wives and families.
During one scene in the movie, shortly before Hattin, three soldiers referred to as "Templars" attack Balian; however, they clearly wear the white surcoats with black crosses of Teutonic Knights, rather than the white and red of the Knights Templar. The Teutonic Knights were not founded until 1190, three years after Hattin.
The historical origin of Orlando Bloom's character, Balian of Ibelin, was a close ally of Raymond; however, he was a mature gentleman, just a year or two younger than Raymond, and one of the most important nobles in the kingdom, not a French blacksmith. His father Barisan (which was originally his own name, modified into French as 'Balian') founded the Ibelin family in the east, and probably came from Italy. Balian and Sibylla were indeed united in the defence of Jerusalem; however, no romantic relationship existed between the two. Balian married Sibylla's step-mother Maria Comnena, Dowager Queen of Jerusalem and Lady of Nablus. The Old French Continuation of William of Tyre (the so-called Chronicle of Ernoul) claimed that Sibylla had been infatuated with Balian's older brother Baldwin of Ibelin, a widower over twice her age, but this is doubtful; instead, it seems that Raymond of Tripoli attempted a coup to marry her off to him to strengthen the position of his faction; however, this legend seems to have been behind the film's creation of a love-relationship between Sibylla and a member of the Ibelin family.
The events of the siege of Jerusalem are based on the Old French Continuation of William of Tyre, a favourable account partly written by Ernoul, one of Balian's officers, and other contemporary documents. Saladin did besiege Jerusalem for almost a month, and was able to knock down a portion of the wall. In the film Balian knighted everyone who could carry a sword, but historical accounts say he only knighted some burgesses. The exact number varies in different accounts, but it is probably less than one hundred in a city which had tens of thousands of male inhabitants and refugees. Balian personally negotiated the surrender of the city with Saladin, after threatening to destroy every building and kill the 3000-5000 Muslim inhabitants of the city. The film, however, downgrades the roles of Sibylla and of Patriarch Heraclius of Jerusalem in the siege, transforming Heraclius into a coward. Saladin allowed Balian and his family to leave in peace, along with everyone else who could arrange to pay a ransom, but sold thousands of poorer inhabitants who could not pay into slavery.
The "uneasy truce" referred to in the closing scene actually refers to the Treaty of Ramla, negotiated, with Balian's help, at the end of the Third Crusade. The Third Crusade is alluded to at the end of the movie, when Richard I of England visits Balian in France. Balian, of course, was not from France and did not return there with Sibylla; she and her two daughters died of fever in camp during the siege of Acre. Conrad of Montferrat had denied her and Guy entry to the remaining stronghold of Tyre, and thus Guy was attempting to take another city for himself.
Balian's relations with Richard were far from amicable, because he supported Conrad against Richard's vassal Guy. He and his wife Maria arranged her daughter Isabella's forcible divorce from Humphrey of Toron so she could marry Conrad. Ambroise, who wrote a poetic account of the crusade, called Balian "more false than a goblin" and said he "should be hunted with dogs". The anonymous author of the Itinerarium Peregrinorum et Gesta Regis Ricardi wrote that Balian was a member of a "council of consummate iniquity", and described him as cruel, fickle, and faithless, and accused him of taking bribes from Conrad.
The young Balian of the movie thus did not exist in reality. The historical Balian had descendants by Maria Comnena. Thanks to their close relationship to Sibylla's half-sister and successor, Maria's daughter Queen Isabella (not shown in the movie), the Ibelins became the most powerful noble family in the rump Kingdom of Jerusalem as well as in Cyprus in the thirteenth century. Most notably, Maria and Balian's son John, the Lord of Beirut, was a dominant force in the politics of Outremer for the first third of the thirteenth century.
An episode of The History Channel's series History vs. Hollywood analysed the historical accuracy of the film. This program and a Movie Real (a series by A&E Network) episode about Kingdom of Heaven, were both included on the DVD version of the movie.

Kingdom of Heaven Plot

2008-01-07T08:43:00.000Z

Kingdom of Heaven begins in a remote village in France, with a blacksmith, Balian (Orlando Bloom), haunted by his wife's recent suicide as the result of the death of their child. A group of Crusaders arrives at the small village and Balian discovers the existence of his out-of-wedlock father, Baron Godfrey of Ibelin (Liam Neeson), amongst the crusaders, and that the town priest (who is his brother) is wearing a pendant taken from his wife's body. In addition, the priest reveals that his wife's body was beheaded before burial, which was customary practice in those times for people who committed suicide. Enraged, he viciously murders the priest. Afterwards he decides to follow his father and his men to Jerusalem in the hope of gaining redemption and forgiveness for both his wife and himself.
As they leave the village, the local ruler's men confront the Crusaders under the premise of arresting Balian. The Crusaders refuse to surrender him and a brief but bloody skirmish erupts in which Godfrey's knights are victorious, but several of them are killed and Godfrey is gravely wounded by an arrow.
In Messina, Godfrey, on the brink of death, knights Balian, orders him to serve the King of Jerusalem and protect the helpless, and ultimately shares with him his vision of a 'kingdom of conscience', morality, and righteousness in the Holy Land. On the journey to Jerusalem, the convoy is hit by a storm, and Balian is the sole survivor of the shipwreck. Balian soon finds himself confronting a Muslim cavalier and his servant over possession of a horse. Balian slays the horseman in single combat, but spares the servant, asking him to take him to Jerusalem. Upon their arrival in Jerusalem, Balian releases his prisoner, and asks him for the name of his master whom he has slain, so that he can pray for his soul. His prisoner tells him, and departing says that, 'Your qualities will be known among your enemies before ever you meet them'. Balian soon becomes acquainted with the main players in Jerusalem's political arena: King Baldwin IV (Edward Norton), stricken by leprosy yet nevertheless one of the film's wisest and most sensible rulers; Princess Sibylla (Eva Green), King Baldwin IV's sister and Balian's love interest; Guy de Lusignan, Sibylla's scheming, bloodthirsty, and intolerant husband.
Guy and Raynald of Châtillon massacre a Muslim trade caravan. Enraged, Saladin, leader of the muslim forces, attacks Kerak, Raynald's castle. Balian decides to defend Kerak castle from Saladin's cavalry. Though outnumbered, he and his knights charge Saladin's cavalry to give the Kerak villagers time to flee to the castle; the quick battle ends with Balian's capture. In captivity, he encounters the "servant" he freed, learning he is actually one of Saladin's generals, who returns the favour, freeing him to Kerak. Then, King Baldwin IV arrives with his main army, and successfully negotiates a Muslim retreat with Saladin, averting a bloodbath. At Saladin's camp, several of his generals are angry that he made a truce, but Saladin dismisses these complaints as a foolhardy rush to war; he will only launch an attack against Jerusalem after ample preparation, when he feels he is strategically strong enough.

King Baldwin dies and Sibylla succeeds him. She names her husband Guy the King Consort of Jerusalem, after the King's failed pairing of Balian to Sibylla. Balian refused it, as Guy's murder was a kingly condition; such political intriguing is counter to Balian's morality. Elsewhere, Guy, helped by Raynald, provokes Saladin's attack by murdering Saladin's sister, and marches to the desert, without adequate food and water, to fight Saladin. The Muslim army ambushes them in a great battle; the crusaders are annihilated. King Guy and Raynald are captured; Saladin slits Raynald's throat, and then marches on Jerusalem, defended only by Balian. Saladin's siege of Jerusalem is three days of battle wherein Balian demonstrates tactical skill in knocking down siege towers and holding the line when a section of city wall is opened. The next day, Balian surrenders Jerusalem to Saladin on condition of the inhabitants' safe passage to Christian Lands. Balian points out that when the Crusaders took Jerusalem a hundred years previously, they massacred the Muslim inhabitants, but Saladin assured him that he is a man of honor, and keeping his word allows Balian and his people to leave.
At story's end, Balian is back in his French village. A column of crusader knights rides through, led by King Richard I of England, who tells Balian they are enroute to new Crusade to re-take Jerusalem from Saladin. King Richard asks Balian, the defender of Jerusalem, to join him, but Balian answers that he is only a blacksmith, and declines.
After visiting the grave of Balian's first wife, he and Sibylla ride into the sunset. A title card concludes the story, explaining that Richard the Lionheart failed to conquer Jerusalem from the Muslims after years of war, that fighting over Jerusalem continues, and that "even today, peace in the Kingdom of Heaven remains elusive".

Kingdom of Heaven

2008-01-07T08:38:00.000Z

Kingdom of Heaven is a 2005 epic film, directed and produced by Ridley Scott, and written by William Monahan. It stars Orlando Bloom, Eva Green, Jeremy Irons, David Thewlis, Marton Csokas, Brendan Gleeson, Alexander Siddig, Ghassan Massoud, Edward Norton, Jon Finch, Michael Sheen and Liam Neeson.
The story deals with the Crusades of the 12th century, and involves an artificer (a military mechanic; French: artificier) and engineer (in this case, someone who makes siege engines), serving as a village blacksmith who goes on to aid the city of Jerusalem in its defense against the Muslim leader Saladin, who battles to reclaim the city from the Christians. The script is a heavily fictionalised portrayal of Balian of Ibelin. Hamid Dabashi, a professor who mainly specialises in Iranian studies at Columbia University, was the film's chief academic consultant regarding the Crusades.
Most filming took place in Ouarzazate in Morocco, where Scott had filmed Gladiator and Black Hawk Down. A replica of the ancient city of Jerusalem was constructed in the desert. Filming also took place in Spain, at the Loarre castle, Segovia, Valsaín, Ávila, Palma del Río and Casa de Pilatos in Seville.
It was reported that the Moroccan government sent hundreds of soldiers to protect the set and crew from Muslim extremists who threatened attacks; however, the Moroccan cavalry were actually on hand as extras in the epic battle scenes.

Patch Adams : Hunter Campbel "Patch" Adams

2008-01-07T02:46:00.000Z

Hunter Campbell "Patch" Adams (born May 28, 1945 in Washington, District of Columbia) is a social activist, citizen diplomat, professional clown, performer, and author. He founded the Gesundheit! Institute in 1972. Each year he organizes a group of volunteers from around the world to travel to Russia as clowns, to bring hope and joy to orphans, patients, and the people. In 1998 he also visited Bosnia, one of the Balkan Peninsula countries torn apart by the war that started after the break-up of Yugoslavia.
His life was the template for the plot of the film Patch Adams, starring Robin Williams. Adams is currently based in Arlington, Virginia, where he promotes alternative health care in collaboration with the institute.

Early career
After attending Wakefield High School in 1963, Patch Adams completed pre-med coursework at the George Washington University. He began medical school without an undergraduate degree, and earned his Doctor of Medicine degree at the Medical College of Virginia, Health Sciences Division of Virginia Commonwealth University in 1973. In the late 60s, one of his closest friends (not his girlfriend as seen in the movie) was murdered. Convinced of the powerful connection between environment and wellness, he believes the health of an individual cannot be separated from the health of the family, community, and the world. While working in an adolescent clinic at MCV, in his final year of med school, he met Linda Edquist, a volunteer in the clinic and student at VCU. Soon after graduation, Patch, Linda, and friends founded the Gesundheit! Institute (originally known to many as the Zanies), which ran as a free community hospital for 12 years. He and Linda later would have two children and separated in 1997. The eldest, Atomic Zagnut Adams, was given a name indicative of Patch and his close friend Leo's personal laugh with life. His younger son's name is Lars Zig Edquist Adams.

Gesundheit! Institute
A revamped Gesundheit! Institute, envisioned as a free, full-scale hospital and health care eco-community, is planned on 316 acres in Pocahontas County in West Virginia. Its goal is to integrate a traditional hospital with alternative medicine--acupuncture, homeopathy, etc. Care will combine integrative medicine with performing arts, crafts, nature, agriculture, and recreation. The West Virginia location accepts seasonal volunteers through the website. The new hospital has not been built as Patch continues to seek funding. The current caretaker staff at the West Virginia land is actively developing educational programs in sustainable systems design targeted to medical students, university alternative break groups, and the general public. Several videos and books have also been produced including Patch Adams.

Since the 1990s Adams has supported the Ithaca Health Alliance (IHA), founded as the Ithaca Health Fund (IHF) by Paul Glover. In January 2006 IHA launched the Ithaca Free Clinic, bringing to life key aspects of Adams' vision. Patch Adams has also given strong praise to Health Democracy, a book written and published the same year.

In October of 2007, Patch Adams and the Gesundheit Board unveiled its campaign to raise $1 million towards building a Teaching Center and Clinic on its land in West Virginia. The Center and Clinic will enable Gesundheit to see patients and teach health care design.

Patch Adams Plot

2008-01-07T02:42:00.000Z

The film tells the story of Hunter "Patch" Adams (portrayed by Robin Williams), a medical doctor who became famous for his unconventional approach to medicine. After a suicide attempt, Adams seeks psychiatric help and is institutionalized. During this time he is inspired to become a medical doctor, and discovers that he is able to forget his own problems by helping others. Two years later, he enrolls at Virginia Medical University (a fictitious school shot at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill campus) and is the oldest first year student. He questions the school's approach to medical care, and clashes with the school's Dean Walcott (played by Bob Gunton) because of his belief in the necessity of personal interaction with patients. Because of this and other incidents, including a prank during a medical conference, he is dismissed from the school, although he is later reinstated.

Adams develops a relationship with a fellow student, Corinne Fisher (played by Monica Potter), and develops his idea for a medical clinic built around his philosophy of doctor-patient interaction. With the help of Arthur Mendelson (Harold Gould), whom Patch met while in the mental home, he purchases 105 acres (425,000 m²) in West Virginia to construct the future Gesundheit Institute. Together with Corinne, Truman Schiff (another medical student, played by Daniel London), and some old friends, he renovates an old cottage. When they get the clinic running they treat walk-in patients without medical insurance, Patch commonly doing minor comedy sketches such as wearing thick glasses and pretending to be short-sighted. Corinne is fascinated by Patch's talent and their friendship turns into deep love. More encouraged than ever by Patch and his spirit, Corinne wants to help a psychologically disturbed patient named Larry by visiting him at home. Larry turns out to be far more disturbed than anybody had expected, and he murders her, turning the rifle on himself soon after.

Patch is devastated by Corinne's death, and reconsiders his outlook and questions the goodness of humanity. However, he is able to recover and carry on his work.

Dismissed from the school for a second time because he ran a clinic and practiced medicine without a license, he must attend a hearing where it is decided whether he can graduate. Patch is able to convince the jury in a final speech that he did his best to help the people that came to him, stating that treating a disease of the body is a win-or-lose situation, but treating a person's spirit guarantees a win regardless of the outcome, even when it is death. In the end the jury accepts Patch's medical methods and does not prevent him from graduating.

Even at graduation, Patch cannot help but be a non-conformist. After handed his diploma, the man responsible for his expulsion states, "Well, I see you've finally decided to conform." Patch responds "more than you know," and bows to the audience, revealing he is nude under his gown. He then turns to the professors and bows to them, much to their dismay.

Patch Adams

2008-01-07T02:40:00.000Z

Patch Adams is a 1998 film directed by Tom Shadyac and based on the true life story of Hunter "Patch" Adams and the book Gesundheit: Good Health is a Laughing Matter by Adams and Maureen Mylander. The film was generally considered a box-office success, grossing over twice its budget in the United States alone.

Wyatt Earp : John Henry "Doc" Holiday

2008-01-07T02:03:00.000Z

John Henry "Doc" Holliday (August 14, 1851 – November 8, 1887) was an American dentist, gambler, and gunfighter of the American Old West frontier who is usually remembered for his associations with Wyatt Earp and the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.

Biography
At birth he had a cleft palate and partly cleft lip. At two months of age, this defect was repaired surgically by Holliday's uncle, J.S. Holliday, M.D., and a family cousin, the famous physician Crawford Long. The repair left no speech impediment though speech therapy was needed, which was conducted by his mother. However, the repair is visible in Holliday's upper lip-line in the one authentic adult portrait-photograph which survives, taken on the occasion of his graduation from dental school. This graduation portrait, taken at the age of 20, supports accounts that Holliday had ash-blond hair. In early adulthood he stood about 5 feet 10 inches (178 cm) tall and weighed about 160 pounds (70 kg).

Shortly after beginning his dental practice, Holliday was diagnosed with tuberculosis (generally called "consumption" in that era). It is possible Holliday contracted the disease from his mother, though no one would have thought this at the time as tuberculosis was not known to be contagious until many years later. He was given only a few months to live, but thought moving to the drier and warmer southwestern United States might reduce the deterioration of his health.

Early travels
In September 1873, he went to Dallas, Texas, where he opened a dental office at 56 Elm Street, about four blocks east of the site of today's Dealey Plaza. He soon began gambling and realized this was a more profitable source of income. In Dallas, he was indicted, along with 12 others, for illegal gambling, on May 12, 1874. He was arrested in Dallas in January 1875 after trading gunfire with a saloon-keeper, but no one was injured and he was found not guilty. He moved his offices to Denison, Texas, and after being found guilty of, and fined for, "gaming" in Dallas, he decided to leave the state.

In the years that followed, Holliday had many more such disagreements, fueled by a hot temper and an attitude that death by gun or knife was better than by tuberculosis. The alcohol Holliday used to control his cough may also have contributed. Further, there was the practical matter that a professional gambler, working on his own at the edge of the law, had to be able to back up disputed points of play with at least a threat of force. Over time, Holliday continued traveling on the western mining frontier where gambling was most likely to be lucrative and legal. Holliday was in Denver, Cheyenne, and Deadwood (site of the gold rush in the Dakota Territory) in the fall of 1876. It was possibly that winter, in Deadwood, Holliday first heard of Wyatt Earp, who was there at the time.

By 1877, Holliday was in Fort Griffin, Texas, where Wyatt Earp remembered first meeting him. They were initially introduced through mutual friend John Shanssey. The two began to form an unlikely friendship; Earp more even-tempered and controlled, Holliday more hot-headed and impulsive. This friendship was cemented in 1878 in Dodge City, Kansas, where both Earp and Holliday had traveled to make money gambling with the cowboys who drove cattle from Texas. On the side, Holliday was still practicing dentistry from his rooms in Dodge City, as indicated in an 1878 Dodge newspaper advertisement (he promised money back for less than complete customer satisfaction), but this is the last known time he attempted practice. In an interview printed in a newspaper later in his life, he said that he only practiced dentistry "for about 5 years.

Dedicated gambler, gunman reputation
An incident in September 1878 had Earp, at the time a deputy city marshal, surrounded by men who had "the drop" on him. Holliday, who currently owned a bar in the town and was dealing faro (as he did throughout his life), left the bar coming from another angle to cover the group with a gun, either shot or threatened to shoot one of these men. Earp afterward always credited Holliday with saving his life that day. Many other accounts of Holliday's involvement in gunfights, however, are exaggerated. He had several documented saloon altercations involving small shootings, but in most cases he was drunk and missed his target completely.
One documented instance happened when Holliday was employed during a railroad dispute. On July 19, 1879, Holliday and noted gunman John Joshua Webb were seated in a saloon in Las Vegas, New Mexico when a former U.S. Army scout named Mike Gordon began yelling loudly at one of the saloon girls. When Gordon stormed from the saloon, Holliday followed him. Gordon produced his pistol and fired one shot, missing. Holliday immediately drew his gun and fired, killing Gordon. Holliday was placed on trial for the shooting but was acquitted, mostly based on the testimony of Webb.

Tombstone Arizona Territory
Dodge was not a frontier town for long; by 1879 it had become too respectable for the kinds of people who had seen it through its early days. For many, it was time to move on to places not yet reached by the civilizing railroad, places money was being made. Holliday, by this time, was as well known for his gunfighter reputation as for his gambling, though the latter was his trade and the former simply a reputation. Through his friendship with Wyatt and the other Earp brothers, especially Morgan and Virgil, Holliday made his way to the silver-mining boom town of Tombstone, Arizona Territory, in September 1880. The Earps had been there since December 1879, some accounts state the Earps sent for Holliday when they realized the problems they faced in their feud with the Cowboy faction. In Tombstone, Holliday quickly became embroiled in the local politics and violence that led up to the famous Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in October 1881.

The gunfight happened in the vacant lot and street immediately next to Fly's boarding house where Holliday had a room, the day after a late-night argument between Holliday and Ike Clanton. The Clantons and McLaurys collected in the lot before being confronted by the Earps, and Holliday likely thought they were there specifically to assassinate him.
Testimony from an eyewitness who saw the fight begin with a "nickle plated pistol" and a blast of unusual smoke suggests Holliday may have started the gunfight despite town marshal Virgil Earp's attempts to calmly disarm the cowboys. It is known Holliday carried Virgil's Coach Gun into the fight; he was given the weapon just before the fight by Earp, as Holliday was wearing a long coat which could conceal it. Virgil Earp took Holliday's walking stick: by not going conspicuously armed, Virgil was seeking to avoid panic in the citizenry of Tombstone, and in the Clantons and McLaurys.

The strategy failed: while Virgil held up the cane, one witness saw a man, almost certainly Holliday, poke a Cowboy in the chest with the shotgun then step back. Shortly thereafter, Holliday used his weapon to kill Tom McLaury, the only man to sustain shotgun wounds — a fatal buckshot charge to the chest. This probably happened quite early in the fight, before Holliday fired a pistol, though scenarios in how the slight and tubercular Holliday held a pistol with one hand and a double-barreled shotgun in the other during the gunfight are speculated. Ike Clanton was never hit.

An inquest and arraignment hearing determined the gunfight was not a criminal act on the part of Holliday and the Earps. The situation in Tombstone soon grew worse when Virgil Earp was ambushed and permanently injured in December 1881, then Morgan Earp was ambushed and killed in March 1882. After Morgan's murder, the Earps, their families, and Holliday fled town. In Tucson, while Wyatt, Warren Earp, and Holliday were escorting the wounded Virgil Earp and his wife Allie to California, they prevented another ambush and began the Earp vendetta against the Cowboys responsible for Morgan's death.

Earp Vendetta Ride
The first victim of the vendetta was Frank Stilwell, a former deputy of Johnny Behan's. Stilwell was in Tucson to answer a stage-robbery charge but wound up dead on the tracks in the train yard near the Earps' train. What Stilwell was doing in the train yard has never been explained (he may have been waiting to pick up another man who was supposed to testify in his favor), but Wyatt Earp certainly thought Stilwell was there to do the Earps harm. In his biographies, Wyatt admitted to shooting Stilwell with a shotgun. However, Stilwell was found with two shotgun wounds and three bullet wounds. Holliday, who was with Wyatt that night and said Stilwell and Ike Clanton were waiting in the train yard to assassinate Virgil Earp, is likely the second shooter. Holliday never directly acknowledged his role in Stilwell's killing or those that followed.

After the Earp families left for California and safety, Holliday, Wyatt, Wyatt's younger brother, Warren, and Wyatt's friends Sherman McMasters, Turkey Creek Jack Johnson, and Texas Jack Vermillion rode on a vendetta for three weeks, during which Curly Bill Brocius and at least two other men thought to be responsible for Morgan's death were killed. Eventually, with warrants out for six of the vendetta posse (including Holliday) in the Arizona Territory for the killing of Stilwell, the group moved to New Mexico, then Colorado, in mid-April 1882. Along that journey, while in New Mexico, Wyatt Earp and Holliday had a minor argument and parted ways, going separately to different parts of Colorado.

After the vendetta ride, neither Holliday nor any other member of the party ever returned to Arizona to live. In May 1882, Holliday was arrested in Denver for the Stilwell killing. Due to lack of evidence, Colorado refused to extradite him, although he spent the last two weeks of that month in jail while the issue was decided. He and Wyatt met again in June 1882 in Gunnison after he was released. There is controversy regarding whether any of the Earp vendetta posse slipped briefly back to the Tombstone area to kill Johnny Ringo on July 13, 1882. Biographers of Ringo do not believe it is very likely. Several other known gunmen were also implicated in the death, to include "Buckskin" Frank Leslie, little known gunman Lou Cooley, and gambler Mike O'Rourke. Some believe, however, that Ringo's death was in fact a suicide, as reported.

Final illness
Holliday spent the rest of his life in Colorado. After a stay in Leadville, he suffered from the effects of the high altitude; his health, and evidently his gambling skills, began to deteriorate badly.

In 1887, prematurely gray and badly ailing, Holliday made his way to the Hotel Glenwood near the hot springs of Glenwood Springs, Colorado. He hoped to take advantage of the reputed curative power of the waters, but the sulfurous fumes from the spring may have done his lungs more harm than good. As he lay dying, Holliday asked for a drink of whiskey. Amused, he looked at his bootless feet as he died — no one ever thought that he would die in bed, with his boots off. His reputed last words were, "This is funny." Despite legend, Wyatt Earp was not present when Holliday died, and did not know of his death until months afterward.

Holliday's grave stone sits in Linwood cemetery, which overlooks the city of Glenwood Springs. There is dispute about whether he is actually buried in his marked grave, or even in the cemetery itself. He died in winter when the ground was frozen and was buried the same day in what was probably a temporary grave. This grave may not have been in the old cemetery, which was up a difficult road on the mountain. It is thus possible his body was never later relocated, but the truth is not known, since no exhumation has been attempted.