Operation Nickel

Operation Nickel or the Wankie Campaign or the Wankie Battles was a military operation launched by the Rhodesian Security Forces on 1 August 1967 in response to the group of ZIPRA and "Umkhonto we Sizwe" (MK) fighters crossing the Zambezi River, which marked the Rhodesian-Zambian border. The operation was a success with only one of the cadres out of a force of seventy-nine making it back to Zambia.
Background.
The RLI continued to grow in strength during the latter part of 1966 and the beginning of 1967; it first began to experiment with parachutes early during this year, borrowing equipment from the SAS to do so. Walls was replaced as CO on 18 June 1967 by Lieutenant-Colonel Jack Caine, formerly of the British Coldstream Guards.
Operation.
The next guerrilla incursion came on 1 August 1967, when a combined force of 79 ZIPRA and South African "Umkhonto we Sizwe" (MK) fighters crossed the Zambezi about east of Victoria Falls. Having mislaid 10 men along the way, they based up a week later in the Wankie Game Reserve, in the extreme west of the country, near the border with Botswana. The cadres, whose intention was to recruit local black Rhodesians and subsequently attack white farms and police stations, split into two groups. One headed towards Tjolotjo and the other made for Nkai. One of the members who had become lost earlier was captured by the RAR on the road between Victoria Falls and Wankie on 3 August, and from this captive the police and security forces learned of the two groups and of their intentions. Operation "Nickel", described by Ron Reid-Daly as one of "the most significant operations of the war," was launched.
At first, the incursion was countered by the RAR, but after a tactical error in its third engagement with the guerrillas led to casualties, the Rhodesian African Rifles were joined by 2 commandos, RLI on 25 August 1967. The insurgents were consistently undone in their incursions by the suspicion of Rhodesia's rural blacks, whose tribal chiefs and headmen would often work together to inform the police and security forces of the infiltrators' presence. This proved to be no exception: when a cadre visited a local kraal early on 31 August to obtain food, an old woman invited him to stay and kept him there while she sent a young girl to alert the security forces.
7 troops and 2 commandos arrived at 07:20 and captured the insurgent, who then guided 7 troops, led by Lieutenant Charl Viljoen, and a platoon of RAR men to where his five comrades were encamped. The combined force surrounded the guerrillas and opened fire, killing four; the fifth escaped and returned to Zambia.
The next day, on 1 September, 2 commando troops in ambush were informed by a tractor driver that he had been given money by 14 guerrillas the previous night to buy mielie-meal for them and that they would be collecting it from him at his kraal that evening. A sweep was planned; the tractor driver was briefed and returned to the kraal with the mielie-meal while 2 commandos and the RAR formed a cordon around it. The following morning the soldiers performed their sweep but failed to find the enemy, who were already gone. The insurgents, who were actually 17 in number and all South African "Umkhonto" fighters, crossed the border into Botswana and were arrested there on 3 September.
Aftermath.
Of the 79 cadres who had crossed the border on 1 August, 29 were killed and 17 captured within Rhodesia, 29 were arrested in Botswana, where one also died, one was arrested in Durban and one escaped back to Zambia. One remained unaccounted for. "Nickel" was officially closed at 06:00 on 8 September 1967.
Prime Minister Ian Smith attended the RLI's Annual Regimental Sundowner on 1 February 1968, commemorating the founding of the Battalion seven years earlier. Smith stood and proposed a toast to the Regiment and the health of "the incredible Rhodesian Light Infantry". The toast was widely publicized by the Rhodesian press and had such an impact that "The Incredibles" became a second nickname of the RLI alongside "The Saints". Captain F. Sutton, who had three years earlier composed the Battalion's slow march, "The Rhodesian Light Infantry", renamed the march "The Incredibles".


Campaign to Suppress Bandits in Wuping

The Campaign to Suppress Bandits in Wuping (武平剿匪) was a counter-guerrilla / counterinsurgency campaign the communists fought against the nationalist guerrilla that was mostly consisted of bandits and nationalist regular troops left behind after the nationalist government withdrew from mainland China. The campaign was fought during the Chinese Civil War in the post-World War II era and resulted in communist victory. This campaign is part of Campaign to Suppress Bandits in Fujian.
Strategies.
The nationalists had faced a precarious dilemma in waging the campaign against its communist enemy because of complex situation they had faced, and consequently, made several grave miscalculations which contributed to their eventual failure.
Nationalist miscalculations.
Like other nationalist futile attempts to fight guerrilla and insurgency warfare against the communists after being driven off from mainland China, the very first grave strategic miscalculation made by the retreating nationalist government contributed at least equally if not greater than the enemy's political and military pressure to the nationalist defeat in this campaign. The very first strategic miscalculation made by the retreating nationalist government was identical to the earlier one the nationalist government had made immediately after World War II, when it had neither the sufficient troops nor enough transportation assets to be deployed into the Japanese-occupied regions of China, and unwilling to let these regions falling into communist hands, the nationalist government ordered the Japanese and their turncoat Chinese puppet government not to surrender to the communists and allowed them to keep their fighting capabilities to "maintain order" in the Japanese occupied regions by fighting off the communists. This earlier miscalculation resulted in further alienation and resentment to the nationalist government by the local population, which had already blamed the nationalists for losing the regions to the Japanese invaders during the war. Half a decade later when the nationalists were driven from mainland China, they had made the similar miscalculation once again in their desperation, this time by enlisting the help of local bandits to fight the communists, and ordering the nationalist troops left behind to join these bandits in the struggle against the communism. However, the bandits were deeply feared and hated by the local populace they plagued for so long, and nationalist troops left behind joining the bandits certainly did not help them win the support of the general population. In fact, it served the exact opposite, strengthening the popular support of their communist enemy.
The second grave strategic miscalculation made by the retreating nationalist government was also similar to the one the nationalist government had made immediately after World War II, when it attempted to simultaneously solve the warlord problem that had plagued China for so long with the problem of the exterminating communists together: those warlords allied with Chiang Kai-shek's nationalist government were only interested in keeping their own power and defected to the Japanese side when Japanese invaders offered to let them keep their power in exchange for their collaborations. After World War II, these forces of former Japanese puppet governments once again returned to the nationalist camp for the same reason they defected to the Japanese invaders. Obviously, it was difficult for Chiang to immediately get rid of these warlords for good as soon as they surrendered to Chiang and rejoined nationalists, because such move would alienate other factions within the nationalist ranks, and those former Japanese puppet government's warlords could still help the nationalists to by holding on to what was under their control and fighting off communists, and they and the communists would both be weakened. Similarly, the bandits the nationalist governments had failed to exterminate were obviously not good candidates for evacuation to Taiwan half a decade later, and using them to fight communists appeared to be the only logical alternative. If the communists were great weakened by the bandits, then it would the nationalists would have easier time in their counterattacks to retake China. If the bandits were defeated, then the nationalists would have easier job to eradicate them later after retaking China. However, just like those warlords, these bandits were only interested in keeping their own power also, and thus did not put any real efforts to fight the communists like some of the nationalists who were dedicated to their political cause. The eradication of bandits by the communist government only strengthened its popular support since previous governments (including the nationalist government itself) dating back from Qing Dynasty had failed to do so.
The third grave strategic miscalculation made by the retreating nationalist government was similar to the second one, but this one was about its own troops left behind. The nationalist government had faced a dilemma: the highly disciplined troops were in desperate need to defend Taiwan, the last nationalist island sanctuary. The less disciplined second rate and undisciplined third rate troops, both of which mostly consisted of warlords' troop were definitely not suited to be withdrawn to defend the last stand nationalists had made, and they were not given the top priority for evacuation. Instead, they were left behind to fight the communists behind the enemy line, but such move had alienated many of the troops left behind, and it was impossible to expect them to fight their communist enemy with the same kind of dedication like those nationalist agents who believed in their political cause. Compounding the problem, due to the need of bandits' knowledge of local area, they were often rewarded with higher ranks than the nationalist troops left behind. As a result, the former-nationalist regular troops turned guerrilla fighters lacked any willingness to work together with the bandits they once attempted to exterminate, especially when many of the bandits had killed their comrades-in-arms earlier in the battles of eradications / pacifications. Many loyal nationalists were enraged by the fact that they had to serve under the former-enemy they once fought. Similarly, the bandits lacked the similar willingness and attempted to expend those nationalist troops whenever they could in order to save their own lives.
The fourth grave strategic miscalculation made by the retreating nationalist government was financial / economical: due to the lack of money, those bandits turned guerrillas were mostly provided with arms, but not sufficient supplies and money. The bandits turned guerrillas had no problem of looting the local population to get what they need, as they had done for decades, which inevitably drove the general popular support further into the communist side. The little financial support provided by the nationalist government was simply not enough to support such guerrilla and insurgency warfare on such a large scale. Another unexpected but disastrous result of the insufficient financial support was that it had greatly eroded the support of the nationalist government within its own ranks. The wealthy landowners and businessmen were the strong supporters of nationalist government and as their properties were confiscated by the communists and redistributed to the poor, their hatred toward the communist government was enough to cause many of them to stay behind voluntarily to fight behind the enemy lines. However, the landowners and businessmen were also longtime victims of bandits due to their wealth, and many of them had suffered even more than the general populace who had far less wealth. As these former landowners and businessmen turned guerrilla fighters were ordered to join their former bandits who once threatened, looted, kidnapped and even killed them and their relatives, it was obvious that such cooperation was mostly in name only and could not produce any actual benefits, and the alienation and discontent toward the nationalist government harbored by these once ardent nationalists would only grow greater.
Another problem for the nationalists was the strong disagreement among themselves over how to fight the war against their communist enemy. Military professionals preferred to fight a total war, incapacitate the enemy's ability to fight, but this inevitably conflicted with the interest of another faction of strong supporters of the nationalist government: the landowners and businessmen, who joined bandits to oppose such tactic. The reason was that landowners and businessmen supporting and joining the nationalist guerrilla firmly believed that the nationalists would be able to retake mainland China within several years and they would be able to regain their lost lands, businesses, and other properties that were confiscated and redistributed to the poor by the communists. As the nationalist military professionals in the guerrilla suggested and destroyed the production facilities and businesses as part of the total war, the landowners and businessmen would not be able to regain any valuable properties after the return of the nationalist government because those properties had been destroyed. The bandits agreed with the businessmen and landowners to oppose the idea of total war for a different reason: when the properties were destroyed and productivity dropped, they would not be able to loot enough supply to survive. As a result, despite the animosities between the bandits and landowners and businessmen, they were united together in the opposition to the military professional faction of the nationalists.
Communist strategies.
In contrast to the nationalists, the communists had much simpler but effective strategy because communists did not have the dilemma the nationalists had, and all they had to do was to eradicate bandits. The job of fighting a counterinsurgency and counter guerrilla war was made much easier for the communists by the grave strategic miscalculations nationalists they had made themselves, and communists exploited these to the maximum for their advantage. As with all other bandit eradication campaigns, the most important communist strategy was to mobilize the entire population to fight the bandits, and furthermore, additional strategies were devised specifically to fit the local situation to fight the bandits.
Order of battle.
Nationalists:
Communists:
Campaign.
After nationalists withdrew from Wuping, they sent many agents and military professionals to local bandits to help the latter to wage a guerrilla war against the communists. In January 1951, the communists mobilized several units totaling over three thousand to eradicate local bandits, headed by the communist 259th Infantry Regiment. Ruan Wenbing (阮文炳), the commander of the communist 259th Regiment and Li Feng (李峰), the political commissar of the communist 259th Regiment were joined by the local communist party secretary Chen Zhongping (陈仲平) of Wuping County to form the headquarters of this bandit suppression campaign. The communists divided Wuping County into four regions, each assigned to a particular military unit:
In addition to deploying the military and police, the general populace was also mobilized in the campaign, with great success. Military formations were primarily fighting on the platoon scale, and supported by local populace. In February 1950, after six days and six nights of combing through the mountains by the communist force, over ninety bandits were annihilated. Meanwhile, political pressure also produced results. The nationalist Ding Riverine Protecting Group in the eastern region and bandits in the northern region totaling over a hundred surrendered to the communists without a fight. In October 1950, in the region of Fresh Water Pond (Xianshuitang, 鲜水塘) of Shifang (十方) Hamlet, the highest ranking nationalist commander, Jiang Deping (蒋德平), the commander-in-chief of Fujian – Guangdong Column and his deputy, Lin Zha (林叱) were captured with three of their staff members. By late October 1950, in the border region of Wuping County and Shanghang County, communist forces succeeded in completely annihilating bandits headed by Lin Hanqiang (林汉强) totaling over a hundred, after combing through their hiding place in Huangqing (皇庆山) Mountain continuously for four nights and three days.
By 1951, bandits headed by Lan Qiguan (蓝启观) totaling over four hundred fifty were annihilated, including over four hundred being captured alive, and an additional eight hundred defected to the communist side. With the organized bands of bandits eradicated, the communist main force withdrew from the region by the end of the year, and beginning in 1952, the campaign turned to mopping up operations carried out by militias and police. In the summer of 1952, bandit chieftain Zhong Guoxun (钟国勋) and his allies captured alive, and in the spring of 1953, bandit chieftain Zhong Yong (钟勇) and his allies were also captured. By June 1955, all bandits in the local area were annihilated and the campaign concluded with communist victory. A total of 3,143 bandits were annihilated, including 533 killed, 998 captured, and 1,592 defected to the communist side. Additionally, the communist victory also included capturing 18 machine guns, 11 sub-machine guns, 490 handguns and 3734 rifles, 20 artillery pieces, and two radio sets.
Outcome.
Although sharing the common anticommunist goal, the nationalist guerrilla and insurgency warfare was largely handicapped by the enlistment of bandits, many of whom had fought and killed nationalist troops earlier in the eradication / pacification campaign, and also looted, kidnapped and even killed landlords and business owners, an important faction that supported the nationalist government, but now must united against the common enemy, which is half-hearted at the best. Compounding the problem further with additional differences within the ranks of the nationalist guerrillas themselves, the futile nationalist guerrilla and insurgency warfare against its communist enemy was destined to fail.


Dekendra Thapa

Dekendra Thapa was a Nepali journalist. He was killed by Maoist combatants during the Maoist insurgency in Nepal after getting kidnapped from his home at Dailekh District of western Nepal. He was working for Radio Nepal, the National broadcasting service at the time.
The Facts.
In June 2004, the Maoists blocked the pipe that brought water to the district capital, and Dekendra Thapa and other journalists walked to the Maoist-controlled area to try to persuade them to open it. Instead, they were kidnapped by the rebels, and while the others were released, Dekendra was detained.
Maoists abducted Thapa on June 26, and a rebel commander said on August 16 that they had executed him on August 11, 2004, according to local news reports.
Dekendra Raj Thapa was killed two months after the rebels abducted him.
His corpse was discovered after four years buried inside a local forest. It was found that since his mouth was found open and two bones broken, he was buried alive. The police arrested 5 people after 8 years of killing in charge of their involvement in killing of Mr. Thapa.
Timeline.
June 2004 Radio journalist Dekendra Thapa abducted from Toli VDC
11 August 2004 Dekendra Thapa buried alive in Dwari after month-and-half of torture
28 August 2008 Laxmi Thapa lodged FIR at Dailekh Police about her husband’s murder
2012 Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai and his handpicked attorney general Mukti Pradhan order police investigation quashed
5 January 2013 Police arrest Lachhiram Gharti and five others for the murder of Dekendra Thapa
28 January 2013 State lawyers file case against accused and on 31 January court ordered them arrested
4 July 2013 The Appellate Court in Surkhet upholds verdict against accused
5 August 2013 The Supreme Court overturns the verdict and orders the accused to be freed
20 August 2014 District court schedules to have the final hearing on the Dekendra case. Hearing postponed to 3 November 2014 due to recent floods which has disrupted mobility in the district.
7 December 2014 District Court convicts five of the accused
Court's decision.
On Sunday, 7 December 2014, the Dailekh District Court awarded punishment in the case. The five accused are awarded imprisonment of one and a half to two years. Two of those awarded have already finished the term of their punishment, hence they were supposed to be released on 8 December 2014.


Walsh-Kaiser Company

Walsh-Kaiser Co., Inc. was a shipyard in both Cranston and Providence, Rhode Island. It was built during World War II and financed by the Maritime Commission as part of the country's Emergency Shipbuilding Program. It was originally operated by Rheem Manufacturing, a company with no previous shipbuilding expertise. When Rheem had difficulty managing the yard, Kaiser Shipyards was retained to manage the operation.
History.
Early history and war years.
In 1942, the Maritime Commission selected Fields Point for the location of an emergency shipyard. It was planned to be able to build ships on six different ways. The construction of the shipyard was financed as part of the country's Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Storekeepers and housewives, clerks and youths fresh out of school worked side by side, turning out ship after ship. Construction began on March 28, 1942. The shipyard construction swallowed the popular Kerwin's Beach, which drew thousands to the shores of the Providence River before it was covered over. One million yards of fill from a nearby hillside was dumped onto the mud flats, but this still failed to stabilize the area. The total cost of the shipyard was twenty six million dollars.
On New Year's Eve, 1942, the first of many misfortunes hit the plant. The plate shop, the first step in the production process, burned to the ground. In February 1943, after the Rheem company showed difficulty managing the yard, Kaiser Shipyards was asked to manage the operation of the yard. As a result of the takeover, the size of the yard increased from 9,000 employees to over 14,000 just four months later. Eventually, seven miles of road wound about the yard.
The first ships that the yard produced were Liberty ships. After ten ships were completed, 21 frigates were built. After those ships were finished, 32 attack cargo ships (Navy hull designation AKA) were constructed and launched. In the three years that the yard was in operation, 63 ships were eventually launched and completed.
After learning from their initial mistakes, workers became more skilled with the building of ships. It took only 136 days from the keel laying to delivery of the attack cargo ships. The fastest turnover took a mere 82 days.
The yard didn't escape recognition by famous dignitaries. President Harry S Truman was escorted by then Governor J. Howard McGrath when Truman toured the yard. Navy Secretary James Forrestal on September 1, 1945 wrote to T.J. Walsh, the head of the company, praising the work of the local yard and saying that it was preeminent in building the great arsenal that helped save the world.
Work was described as decent by the workers who labored there. Wages were also high due to the influence that the AFL had in the area. Common laborers at the yard earned eighty-five cents an hour.
The steady employment actually helped the local economy as the yard employed 18,767 on September 30, 1944. Three months later the payroll included 20,879. During the yard's peak in January 1945, 21,264 people were employed. Among these numbers were over 3,000 women. At the end of the war, the shipyard closed after laying off over 3,000 people in three months.
The shipyard today.
Today, the yard has been reused by a few companies. Johnson & Wales University has taken over the northwestern portion of the yard for their culinary arts program. A drive-in theater also operated on the site of the yard from 1958 to 1976. The theater had a 1,700 car capacity. In the late 1970s there were also plans to construct a cargo container port at the site, but these plans fell through and two cranes from these plans are all that remain. There is a combined Navy, Marine Corps and Army Reserve center on the site.


Military Vicariate of Netherlands


Jungle ration

The Jungle Ration (or "J-Ration") was a dry, lightweight United States military ration developed by the U.S. Army in World War II for soldiers on extended missions in tropical regions.
Origins, development, and use.
Prior to World War II, during field exercises in Panama and other jungle regions, it was determined that standard heavy canned or 'wet' rations were unsuited to soldiers on foot carrying out extended missions in jungle or tropical environments with an abundance of water sources. Testing in Panama by units of the U.S. Army soon discovered that a dry ration that could be easily decanted into waterproof bags for individual use would best suit jungle infantrymen carrying their own supplies while on foot, to be rehydrated as necessary from local water sources.
The Jungle ration was originally based on foods carried by American civilians, such as geologists and engineers, prior to World War II. Lightweight, ready-to-eat dry foods appealing to American palates and selected for their bulk when rehydrated were included in the menu, such as dried beef, peaches, apricots, and dehydrated whole milk. Water purification tablets were carried in order to purify water required for rehydration and drinking purposes. After extensive field testing in the Panamanian jungles, the Jungle ration was finalized at the U.S. Army Quartermaster Branch's Subsistence Research Laboratory (SRL) in Chicago, Illinois, resulting in a daily energy total of about , and weighing about when packaged for shipping.
The Jungle ration was designed to be compact and to feed four men in one day. A can opener, matches, toilet paper, and cigarettes were packed in each 10-ration waterproof box. In the original issue of the Jungle ration, all food components were dried or dehydrated and could be decanted from their tins or packages into individually carried lightweight waterproof bags; this practice greatly decreased the total weight, yet the foods would still keep for several weeks in jungle heat and humidity. In general, it was favorably accepted by soldiers during experiments with the testing platoons in Panama. Among Australian forces, who were briefly issued the ration in New Guinea, the Jungle ration became known as "the Christmas package" for its varied components, which were appreciated after a steady diet of hardtack and tins of corned beef.
However, because of its expense and specialized nature, the Jungle ration, like the Mountain ration, was never popular with the U.S. Army's Quartermaster Command, who were forced to expend additional funds for procurement and storage of what they viewed as an overly expensive, redundant, and limited-issue field ration. The Subsistence Research Laboratory staff in particular criticized the Jungle ration for not being packaged from the processor for immediate distribution to an individual soldier fighting in a foxhole or other defensive position, as for example, the K ration. This criticism arose as a result of the Army and Quartermaster Corps' own failure to incorporate previous infantry field reports and test data to SRL staff and dieticians. As none of the SRL personnel had ever served as infantry foot soldiers carrying their own loads through jungle terrain, they were unaware that the primary rationale of the Jungle ration was to provide a palatable, lightweight dry ration that could be broken down and carried in waterproof bags for extended patrols in heavy jungle.
During its short existence, the Jungle ration was repeatedly altered with heavier, less expensive canned components by the SRL at the direction of Quartermaster Corps staff, defeating the purpose of a lightweight dehydrated ration. Replacement of the dried beef component with processed, tinned pork or beef in 1942, followed by elimination of the dried fruit component, caused a predictable nosedive in the popularity of the Jungle ration. It was finally discontinued completely in 1943 in favor of the K ration. The absence of a lightweight, yet sufficiently nourishing and palatable compact field ration had serious consequences for some U.S. troops later in the war, most notably the soldiers of Merrill's Marauders.
Menu contents.
The jungle ration was repeatedly altered during its existence, as Quartermaster Corps officers substituted less expensive or heavier canned components (such as evaporated milk). Some known components include:


Bette Bao Lord

Bette Bao Lord (Chinese: 包柏漪, Pinyin: Bāo Bóyì; born November 3, 1938) is a Chinese-born American writer and civic activist for human rights and democracy.
Early life.
Lord was born as Bette Bao in Shanghai, China. With her mother and father, Dora and Sandys Bao, and her younger sister, Cathy Bao, she came to the United States at the age of eight when her father, a British-trained engineer, was sent there in 1946 by the Chinese government to purchase equipment. In 1949 Bette Bao Lord and her family were stranded in the United States when Mao Zedong and his communist rebels won the civil war in China.
Bette Bao Lord has written eloquently about her childhood experiences as a Chinese immigrant in the post-World War II United States in her autobiographical children's book "In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson". In this book she describes her efforts to learn English and to become accepted by her classmates and how she succeeds with the help of baseball and Jackie Robinson.
Lord went to public schools in Brooklyn and New Jersey. She earned a B.A. in Political Science at Tufts University in 1959 and a master's degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in 1960.
Career.
Lord worked as Assistant to the Director at the East-West Center in Hawaii, and as program officer at the Fulbright Program for professors in Washington, D.C.
In 1962, as refugees surged into Hong Kong, Bette's mother, Dora Bao, conceived and carried out a plan to get her third daughter, nicknamed Sansan (Putonghua, "Sānsān", "Threethree") (Jean Bao) out of the People's Republic of China. Bette's book, "Eighth Moon", written with Sansan's help, tells Sansan's story. Sansan was a bridesmaid at Bette's wedding to Winston Lord, a Foreign Service Officer.
Winston became a principal adviser to Henry Kissinger on relations with the PRC, and in 1973, he and Bette had a visit with her family in the PRC, a visit which inspired Bette to write "Spring Moon".
"Spring Moon" (1981), which spans the times from pre-revolutionary China to Nixon's visit, was an international bestseller and American Book Award nominee for best first novel. "The Middle Heart" (1996) spans 70 years of modern Chinese history, ending in 1989 with the student-led demonstrations at Tiananmen Square. Her children's book, "In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson", has become a classic used in schools nationwide. Her true stories of Chinese people, "Legacies: A Chinese Mosaic", was also a bestseller and chosen by "Time" as one of the five best non-fiction works of the year. Ms. Lord's works have received numerous awards and been translated into 15–20 languages.
In addition to chairing Freedom House, Ms. Lord has served on many other boards including the Newseum, The Freedom Forum, the international U.S. Agency for Global Media, the Council on Foreign Relations, and WNET.
Bette Bao Lord is a recipient of seven honorary degrees (including Notre Dame, Tufts, and Pepperdine) and many awards as author, democracy advocate and outstanding immigrant. These include the USIA Award for Outstanding Contributions. President Clinton in 1998 presented her the first Eleanor Roosevelt Award for Human Rights and hailed her as "someone who writes so powerfully about the past and is working so effectively to shape the future".
Personal life.
Lord is married to Winston Lord, former U.S. Ambassador to China. She has two children, Elizabeth Pillsbury Lord and Winston Bao Lord.


Prince Monolulu

Ras Prince Monolulu (26 October 1881 – 14 February 1965), whose real name was Peter Carl Mackay (or McKay), was a horse-racing tipster, and something of an institution on the British racing scene from the 1920s until the time of his death. He was particularly noticeable for his brightly coloured clothing; as a tipster, one of his best known phrases was the cry "I gotta horse!", which was subsequently the title of his memoirs.
Family background and early life.
Monolulu claimed to be a chief of the Falasha tribe of Abyssinia, but in reality he was born in St Croix, Danish West Indies (now part of the United States Virgin Islands). His baptism (as Peter Carl McKay) is noted in the records of the English Episcopal Church of the Danish West Indies. His father, whose name is not shown in the register, was William Henry McKay and his mother was Catherine Heyliger. His father and brothers were horse breeders, raisers and racers on St Croix.
According to his own account, he made his way from his birthplace to the African coast, where he was shanghaied on board a British ship: he styled himself a prince in the hope of receiving better treatment. His ship was subsequently shipwrecked on the Portuguese coast, from whence he made his way to New York. More plausibly he travelled to New York via Puerto Rico. He had various jobs, on shore and at sea, and eventually reached London in 1902.
Career as tipster.
Monolulu first went to The Derby in 1903, and soon began to establish himself as a tipster. He adopted colourful robes, a plumed headdress, and the slogan "I've gotta horse!", sometimes alternating with "Black man for luck!". However, he also continued to travel around Britain, and around Europe, for example visiting Saint Petersburg with an American "negro show". He was in Königsberg when World War I broke out, and was held in Ruhleben internment camp, near Berlin, for the duration of the war. He returned to London in 1919.
Great Yarmouth resident Maud Swallow remembered Prince Monolulu at Great Yarmouth Racecourse. "I thought I was placing a bet on a horse but my father told me afterwards that I had actually bought a tip from Monolulu instead of placing a bet".
Monolulu rose to prominence after picking out the horse "Spion Kop" in the 1920 Derby, which came in at the long odds of 100–6, and from which he personally made some £ 8,000, a vast amount of money at the time, equivalent to £ 400,000 in 2020.
Personal life.
Monolulu claimed to have been married six times, though only five marriages are documented at all, and reliable evidence exists for only three. He claimed to have been married first in a Jewish ceremony in Moscow in 1902, to a girl who was afterwards taken away by the police; and second in a Catholic ceremony in 1903 to a German girl who was killed in a car accident. More certain were his marriages to another German, Elizabeth Arnold, who accompanied him to England and whom he married in 1908, but who died in 1911; to Rhoda Carley in 1922, the marriage being dissolved in 1929; and finally to Nellie Adkins in 1931, a marriage which also broke down. In the 1950s he was romantically linked to an Austrian governess in London.
Death.
The biography of Jeffrey Bernard by Graham Lord relates Prince Monolulu's death in some detail. It describes how Bernard at the time was working as a horse-racing journalist and visited Monolulu in the Middlesex Hospital to interview him. Bernard had brought with him a box of Black Magic chocolates and offered Monolulu a "strawberry cream". Monolulu subsequently choked to death on it and Bernard bade him farewell.
Media appearances.
Monolulu frequently featured in newsreel broadcasts, and as a consequence was probably the best-known black man in Britain of the time.
He appeared in a clip in the 1939 propaganda film by Alexander Korda, "The Lion has Wings (1939 film)", Korda used him as an example of what Britain was, a nation at play and at ease with herself.
He appeared briefly in the 1952 film "Derby Day", which is set around The Derby, the 1954 film "Aunt Clara" with Margaret Rutherford and Sid James, and also in the 1959 film "Make Mine a Million".
In 1957 Monolulu appeared on the March 28th and April 4th episodes of Groucho Marx's quiz show "You Bet Your Life".
Monolulu's name is referenced by the character Rigsby in the 1974 pilot episode of the UK comedy series "Rising Damp", in humorous comparison to the new tenant Philip, who had stated he was the son of a chief.


Edmund Horman

Edmund C. Horman (April 15, 1906 – April 16, 1993) was an American businessman who flew to Chile in 1973 in search of his son, Charles Horman, knowing that soldiers had seized him, but unaware that he had been shot dead by the Chilean military forces under General Augusto Pinochet, during their coup against President Salvador Allende.
Biography.
Horman was born in Manhattan, and had studied at Columbia University. Horman worked in engineering and industrial design and owned Jersey Industrial Trucks. He was married to Elizabeth Lazar from 1940 until his death. Horman was also the father-in-law of Joyce Horman. Horman died of pneumonia at New York City's Mount Sinai Hospital on 16 April, 1993. He was 87.
Search for Charles Horman.
Horman's search for his son, Charles, was depicted in Thomas Hauser's 1979 book "The Execution of Charles Horman: An American Sacrifice", which was then adapted into the 1982 Academy Award-winning Costa Gavras film, "Missing", in which Horman was portrayed by Jack Lemmon.
After forcefully overthrowing the duly-elected socialist government of Dr. Salvador Allende Gossens, the military rounded up thousand of suspected enemies and prisoners of the Pinochet coup, and confined them at the National Stadium in Santiago.
During his search, Horman was able to gain entry to the stadium. Through a bullhorn, the senior Horman called out;
"Charles Horman, I hope you are out there. This is your father speaking. If you hear me, please - come forward. You have nothing to fear."
There was no response. By this time, Charles had already been dead for 3 weeks, Horman would later learn.
Horman's frustration in dealing with United States authorities, grew, after finding out they had failed to try and protect Charles, after they'd learned of his arrest, and Horman accused them of covering up their failure to do anything.
Horman turned the anguish and tragedy of losing his son into a crusade for human-rights issues. Horman testified at hearings, and spoke to conferences in both the United States and internationally. "I'm not interested in revenge," Horman said. "What can revenge do? I don't want this to happen to any American citizens, again."


War (Marvel Comics)

War is the name of three fictional characters, who are supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Two are discussed here: both members of the Four Horsemen of Apocalypse. The first War (real name unknown) and Abraham Kieros. The title was also held by the mutant Gazer and, briefly, by Bruce Banner, the Hulk.
War (Abraham Kieros).
Publication history.
War first appeared in "X-Factor" #11 (December 1986), and was created by Louise Simonson and Walter Simonson.
The character subsequently appears in "X-Factor" #15 (April 1987), #17 (June 1987), #19 (August 1987), #22-25 (November 1987-February 1988), "Daredevil" #252 (March 1988), "X-Factor" #26-27 (March–April 1988), "X-Factor" #84 (November 1992), "Uncanny X-Men" #294–295 (November–December 1992), and "Wolverine" #147 (February 2000).
War appeared as part of the "Apocalypse's Horsemen" entry in the "Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Update '89" #1.
Fictional character biography.
Kieros was a young Vietnam War veteran who was paralyzed in combat. He was kept in a hospital and placed in an iron lung, but felt as though he was betrayed and forgotten by his country. Apocalypse appeared to him one day and offered him the ability to move and to get revenge on those who had tossed him aside. He accepted the offer and was indeed given the ability to move again, which allowed him to use his mutant power—the ability to create explosions through kinetic contact, usually by clapping his hands together—in Apocalypse's service as his Horseman of War. He often bickered with one of the other Horsemen, Famine, and disliked her total lack of obedience.
War liked to take control of situations and during their first confrontation with X-Factor, attempted to lead the other Horsemen. Famine and Pestilence refused to obey his orders and flew off to do their own business. Soon after, Death took over leadership and the Four Horsemen learned to ride as one. During the attack on Manhattan, War immediately attacked Cyclops and was later teleported back to the ship by Apocalypse, where he fought several more X-Factor members. He was eventually defeated by Iceman. Apocalypse then grabbed War and fled.
Later, during the X-Cutioner's Song story arc, War attacked Colossus and Iceman, but soon fled after Caliban grabbed Jean Grey and Cyclops, handing them over to Apocalypse, who was really Mr. Sinister in disguise. The X-Men sought out the Horsemen and War was presumably defeated in combat.
Much later, War appeared in an hospital, once again paralyzed from the neck down, apparently abandoned by Apocalypse who stripped him of his powers. Archangel, who had gained newfound powers and had been searching for Kieros, healed him of his wounds, giving him hope to start over with a new life.
Powers and abilities.
Kieros is a mutant with the superhuman power to create explosions in his immediate area by clapping his hands. He does so by harnessing the minor kinetic force created when his hands strike each other, amplifying it to a significant degree, and redirecting it spatially so that it strikes and affects some other object in his line-of-sight, causing an explosive release of force. The limits of the range in which his power is effective have not yet been determined.
While a servant of Apocalypse, he used his sentient ship to construct for War a robot mount that resembles a demonic quadruped beast and that can travel on land or fly through the air and also was capable of teleportation.
War (Apocalypse vs. Dracula).
The earliest depiction of Apocalypse's Horseman, War. Not much is known about this incarnation of War. He was chosen by Apocalypse in the fifteenth century to become his horseman and lead his army, the Riders of the Dark. This army was so fierce and powerful that most people presumed it was just a myth used to scare soldiers before their first battle. It was no myth at all, and it precisely was what people thought it was, fierce and strong. In most of their battles, the only soldier who had to fight was War, who would single-handedly defeat hordes of men just by himself.
In 1459, the Riders of the Dark appeared in Romania where Vlad Ţepeş' army was fighting against the Ottomans and emerged victorious. Unfortunately for Vlad (whom would become Dracula), War defeated Dracula's army. The survivors fled for their life, abandoning Dracula on the field who stood his ground and faced War but ultimately fell.
War (Gazer).
Gazer was a mutant astronaut, who after being depowered on M-Day, went out into space to die. Instead he was transported onto Apocalypse's ship and made to battle for the title of War, one of the Horsemen of Apocalypse. With Ozymandias' intervention, he was victorious, and through a torturous process became the newest incarnation of War.
Gazer was an astronaut permanently stationed alone on a NASA observation space station, due to the unusual metabolism he possessed as his mutant power, whereby he could absorb harmful radiation and process it to gain sustenance. He first encountered the X-Men when they used his station as a staging post for an attack on a group of non-sentient aliens which induced harmful emotions in humans.
Shortly afterwards, he lost his powers on M-Day, along with 90% of mutants. Succumbing to radiation sickness, he began to imagine that an experiment on the effects of radiation sickness was sentient (calling it "Phantom Torso"), and it constantly advised him to call NASA to ask for a return home. However, he remained until an alien resembling Doop, which he had built up to himself as his last hope, passed by his station on its way to crash-landing on Earth near Polaris, who'd seen it in space and had a similar reaction.
Thereafter, "Phantom Torso" stopped "talking" to him, and he put on a spacesuit and went out into space to die. However, he was teleported to Apocalypse's sphinx-like ship, and forced to battle Dr. Foster, a human archeologist who had stumbled upon Apocalypse's tomb, for the "right" to become War, Horseman of Apocalypse. Gazer would have lost the battle if it were not for Ozymandias, Apocalypse's servant. Ozymandias told Gazer that he would owe him and one day the scribe would become the master.
Gazer went through a terribly painful process where his skeleton was stretched, the former X-Man Sunfire, who was also chosen by Apocalypse to be a Horseman, tried to save him but Gazer had already been under Apocalypse's mind-control by then and helped recapture Shiro.
As War, Gazer was sent to battle the X-Men and Sentinel Squad O*N*E. Upon returning to Apocalypse's sphinx, he was approached by Ozymandias who wanted his debt repaid. War, no longer Gazer, did not fulfill his oath and instead revealed the truth to Apocalypse about Ozymandias' treachery.
During a heated battle against the X-Men, Ozymandias finally took his vengeance, stabbing Gazer from behind with a sword.
Powers and abilities.
Before M-Day, Gazer, in addition to his unusual appearance, could absorb radiation at frequencies and levels which induce radiation sickness in normal humans and photosynthesize it as food.
After his depowerment on M-Day, he was taken by Apocalypse and transformed to possess super-strength and enhanced durability, and the ability to absorb and rechannel solar energy as blasts of fire through his eyes. He also carries a spiked mace which flashes with electricity-like bursts, and rides a robotic horse-like flying machine.
Other versions.
Age of Apocalypse.
The original War (Kieros) appeared in the Age of Apocalypse as a member of Apocalypse's first wave of Horsemen. War was killed by Mikhail Rasputin when Apocalypse invaded Russia. Impressed by Mikhail's victory, Apocalypse captured and brainwashed Mikhail so he could join the Horsemen of Apocalypse.
Mutant X.
War also is seen in the "Mutant X" reality, where he constantly bickered with Death, but they had a mutual respect for each other.
In other media.
Film.
In "", Magneto is the horseman War.


Konstantinos Engolfopoulos

Konstantinos Engolfopoulos (, 1912–1991) was a Hellenic Navy officer who served twice as Chief of the Hellenic Navy General Staff (1967 and 1975–76), retiring with the rank of vice admiral. He is notable for his opposition to the Greek military junta of 1967–74, which imprisoned him. He also served briefly as Minister for Mercantile Marine in 1974.
Life.
Born at the village of Molos, Phthiotis, in 1912, Konstantinos Engolfopoulos entered the Hellenic Navy Academy on 13 September 1929 and graduated on 28 September 1933 as a Line Ensign. During the failed pro-republican coup d'état attempt in March 1935 he was serving on the destroyer "Psara". Accused of being involved in the coup, he was imprisoned on 19 March, but the court-martial acquitted him on 11 May and he resumed his service. He was then promoted to Sub-Lieutenant on 27 October 1937.
In 1940 he underwent training as on submarine warfare, and during the Greco-Italian War (1940–41) he served aboard submarines, undertaking patrols to intercept Italian shipping in the Adriatic Sea. On 31 December 1940 he was promoted to lieutenant. In March 1941 he received the War Cross for his service as an officer on board the submarine "Nirefs". In April 1941, as the German invasion of Greece had almost overrun the country, as much of the Greek fleet as could be saved was sent to the Allied-held Middle East. Although only a subaltern, Engolfopoulos took over command of "Nirefs" and led his vessel to the Middle East, where he joined the forces of the Greek government-in-exile. For this initiative he received his second War Cross on 14 September 1944. He then served as executive officer on board the destroyer "Pindos", with which he participated in the Battle of the Mediterranean as well as the Allied invasion of Sicily (July 1943) and the invasion of southern France ("Operation Dragoon", August 1944). He assumed himself command of the destroyer for a time in 1944. During the pro-Communist navy mutiny of April 1944, he participated in the boarding detachments that forcibly retook control of the ships and suppressed the mutiny.
Promoted to Lt. Commander on 1 January 1945, he assumed command of the destroyer (1945), of the tank carrier "Samos" (1945–46), of the open sea minesweeper "Armatolos" (1947–48), and of the destroyers "Miaoulis" (1948), (1948–49), "Aigaion" (1949–50), "Kriti" again (1950–51), and "Navarinon" (1951–52). At the same time, in 1948–50 he served as chief of staff of the Superior Commander of Light Craft, and was promoted to commander on 7 May 1949. On 16 January 1952 he was awarded his third War Cross for his service during the naval operations of the Greek Civil War (1946–49). Engolfopoulos then served as a staff officer at NATO's Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (1952–54). Promoted to captain on 8 January 1954, he served as director of the Hellenic Navy General Staff's A1 Bureau and underwent training at the Naval War School (1954–55), then served as captain of the Greek flagship, the cruiser "Elli", as well as chief of staff to the Fleet Command (1955–56), and commanded the "Kanellopoulos" naval training centre (1956–58). After further studies at the National Defence School and then in the US (1958–59), he assumed command of the Naval War School (1959) and of the Second Light Craft Flotilla (1960–61), before his first senior staff appointments as Superior Commander of the Crete Naval Station (1961–62) and another stint at NATO CINCAFMED (1962–64).
Returning to Greece, he was appointed Chief of the Navy General Staff's Second Section (Organization) and was promoted to rear admiral on 23 April 1964 (retroactive to 8 February). He then served as director of the 3rd Joint Staff Group of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff (1964–65) and Chief of the Cretan and Ionian Seas Command (1965–67). After a brief stint as Deputy Chief of the Navy General Staff, he was promoted to vice admiral on 27 March 1967 and became Chief of the Navy General Staff and NATO COMEDEAST on 30 March. He held the post during the coup d'état of 21 April 1967 which established the military junta, but refused to support it and was dismissed on 24 April. Due to his known opposition to the regime, he was offered the leadership of the long-planned mutiny by the mostly anti-junta oriented navy, but he refused, as he did not believe it stood any chance of success. Indeed, the conspiracy was betrayed and the uprising in May 1973 failed; only the destroyer managed to escape and its officers, led by captain Nikolaos Pappas, sought political asylum in Italy. Engolfopoulos was arrested by the junta, but was eventually released on 24 July without charges.
Following the collapse of the junta and the restoration of democracy in July/August 1974, he served as Minister for Mercantile Marine in the national unity government of Konstantinos Karamanlis from 6 October to 21 November 1974. On 8 January 1975, he was reinstated to active service "as having never left it", and resumed his post as Chief of the Navy until his retirement, upon his own request, on 8 January 1976. Engolfopoulos was also a witness at the trial of the junta leadership.
In 1981–82 he served as chairman of the Hellenic Sea Union. He died at Athens on 6 May 1991.


Tuli, Zimbabwe

Tuli is a village in the province of Matabeleland South, Zimbabwe. It is located about 90 km west of Beitbridge on the eastern bank of the Shashe River. The village grew around "Fort Tuli", which was the first settlement built by the Pioneer Column in July 1890 at the place known as Selous Camp and used by Frederick Selous as a base for his hunting expeditions. The village is mainly a police post and associated housing.
The village can be accessed from Gwanda town via Guyu and Hwali, or from Beitbridge via Nottingham and Shashi Irrigation Scheme, although the latter road is in very poor condition.
History.
Tuli was the first point at which the pioneer column, and many subsequent expeditions entered into Matabeleland and onward north to Salisbury (now Harare), the capital of Rhodesia as the country was then known. Tuli was the first location north of the Limpopo/Shashe rivers where a 'European' style building was erected - the BSA Police Station was a wooden modular style Victorian building, brought from the UK and erected to house members of the BSA Police who monitored the river crossing just south of the building's location. Until this time a large Fort (Fort Tuli) had existed on the southern bank of the Shashe where oxen and horses were rested prior to undertaking the river crossing. In the 1970s this building was re-located from its original site and erected at the site of the old, and now obliterated, Fort Tuli. It was used to house artifacts and items if historic interest which were found by persons in the area of the old Fort.
Fort Tuli was also the launching point of the Jameson Raid into the South African Republic which contributed significantly to the start of the Second Boer War in the late 19th century.
Tuli Circle.
Tuli also forms the centre of a 10-mile 'circle', the southern half of which stretches south of the Shashe River. This circle was established by the early pioneers with the agreement of local tribesmen as a no-go area for the grazing of local cattle. This preserved the grazing and helped to prevent the spread of rinderpest from the local cattle to the all important oxen needed for the trek north. The historic legacy of this, being that the international boundary separating Zimbabwe from Botswana ceases to be the Shashe River for the section where it flows through the 'circle' and the "Tuli Circle" as it became known, was formed. This is a protected area, now the Thuli Parks and Wildlife Land.


Longhai Campaign

Longhai Campaign (陇海战役), also known as the Campaign along the Longhai (Lanzhou – Lianyungang) Railway (陇海路战役), was a campaign launched against the nationalists by the communists during Chinese Civil War in the post World War II era. The campaign was a coordinated offensive in support of the other two campaigns the Communists launched against the nationalists, namely, the Campaign of the North China Plain Pocket and the Central Jiangsu Campaign. Longhai Campaign resulted in the communist victory, achieving the Communists objective of relieving the pressure on their comrades in the other two campaigns this one supported, enabling those in the Campaign of the North China Plain Pocket to successfully escape from the nationalists and those in the Central Jiangsu Campaign to also score a huge victory over the nationalists.
Prelude.
In the early August, 1946, over a dozen army-sized nationalist (reorganized) divisions were tied down in western Henan and southern Shaanxi in the Campaign of the North China Plain Pocket, and thus causing the offensives against the Communists in other theaters to fail due to insufficient strength. Only three nationalist armies were deployed to guard a vast area covering the region along the section of Longhai (Lanzhou – Lianyungang) Railway from Kaifeng to Xuzhou, and the region to the south of this section bordered by the northern shore of the Yellow River. Nationalists were not worried, however, because they were already to deploy additional troops for a preemptive strike to wipe out the Communists in the area. Unbeknown to the nationalists, the Communists were planning a preemptive strike of their own, before the much greater nationalist reinforcement could be ready, thus forcing the nationalist reinforcement to remain in the region after the campaign, hence relieving the pressure faced by the Communists in other campaigns.
Order of battle.
Originally, the nationalist had gravely underestimated their enemy and felt that the insufficient force deployed to the region would not be a problem because more troops were already mobilized for a preemptive strike against the enemy, which could not be ready for a large scale battle based on the intelligence. However, the rapid and unexpected development on the battlefield meant otherwise.
Nationalist order of battle.
Units originally stationed in the area and did bulk of the fighting (three armies total):
Units specifically deployed for this campaign but too late to participate in any major engagements:
Communists order of battle.
The main thrust of the Communists consisted of two groups:
Strategies.
Due to overall numerical and technical superiority, the nationalist commander-in-chief of the theater, Xue Yue was confident that he could wipe out the enemy and destroy their bases. In late July, 1946, Xue Yue revealed his battle plan to Hu Lien (胡琏), the commander of the army-sized nationalist Reorganized 11th Division in his headquarters in Xuzhou: the main battlefield would be the region to the northwest of Xuzhou, with nationalist troops first attacking northward, eradicating the Communists along the Jinpu railway, thus relieving the besieged nationalist strongholds of Lincheng (临城) and Yanzhou. After the Jinpu railway was secured, it would be used to mobilize nationalist troops to destroy the communist Hebei – Shandong – Henan base in the border region of these three provinces, and this would be the job for the army-sized nationalist Reorganized 11th Division. Meanwhile, other nationalist units were tasked to secure the surrounding regions of Xuzhou by eradicating the Communists in the area.
Nationalists were certain of the success of this plan because the main force of the communist Shanxi – Hebei – Shandong – Henan Field Army was still resting, re-supplying and regrouping in the region between Handan and Daming (大名) on the northern shore of the Yellow River, and only its 7th Column was in the southwestern Shandong on the southern shore of the Yellow River. The bulk of other communist force in Shandong was busy fighting nationalists in northern Jiangsu in the Central Jiangsu Campaign, and the rest was besieging the nationalist strongholds along the Jinpu railway. As the Communists were either tied down or needing more time to recover, nationalists would achieve their victory in a preemptive strike thanks to their mechanized forces. Little did the overly optimistic and overly confident nationalists know that as things developed, this plausible battle plan made before the campaign proved to be impossible to materialize afterward, and eventually, it had to be scrapped completely, because they had gravely underestimated their enemy.
To carry out the communist high command's order of reducing the pressure of communist forces in the Campaign of the North China Plain Pocket and the Central Jiangsu Campaign, Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping decided to launch an offensive against nationalists in the central section of the Longhai (Lanzhou – Lianyungang) Railway, targeting nationalist strongholds between Kaifeng and Xuzhou. Afterward, the Communists would take the region to the south of the railway, destroying the railroad, and thus forcing nationalists to withdraw some of their forces originally deployed in the other two campaigns and redeploying them to face the new threat. The communist force would be grouped into two, with the left group attacking toward the regions of Dang (砀) Mountains and Yellow Mouth (Huangkou, 黄口), and the right group attacking toward the regions of Lanfeng (兰封) and Minquan (民权).
1st Stage.
In the night of 10 August 1946, communist forces including the three columns of the communist Shanxi – Hebei – Shandong – Henan Field Army and some units of the communist Hebei – Shandong – Henan Military region infiltrated the 30 km deep nationalist defense to the north of Longhai (Lanzhou – Lianyungang) Railway in two directions, and launched a surprised attack on the unsuspecting nationalist defenders on a 150 km wide front along the middle section of Longhai (Lanzhou – Lianyungang) Railway that lasted from Lanfeng (兰封) to Yellow Mouth (Huangkou, 黄口). The overconfident defenders had gravely underestimated their enemy, and were completely unaware of the enemy offensive, and consequently, suffered a huge loss. After three days of fierce fighting, regions including Lanfeng (兰封) and Dang (砀) Mountains, plus more than a dozen important railway stations including Li's Hamlet (Lizhuang, 李庄), Poplar Village (Yangji, 杨集), Willow River Village (Liuheji, 柳河集), Wild Chicken Hill (Yejigang, 野鸡岗), Luowang (罗王) fell into the enemy hands. The engineering battalion and the medical battalion of the 18th Brigade of the nationalist Reorganized 11th Division taking of railway stations riding on the train was intercepted near Lanfeng (兰封), and all of the engineering and medical equipment of the division was captured intact by the enemy, along with most of the personnel. Additionally, the nationalists also suffered over five thousand casualties, and over 100 km stretch of railway and its adjacent regions had also fallen into the enemy hands.
Meanwhile, in the night of 10 August 1946, other communist forces including the 7th Column of the communist Shanxi – Hebei – Shandong – Henan Field Army, Units from the 3rd Military Sub-region of the Hebei – Shandong – Henan Military region, the Independent Brigade of the Hebei – Shandong – Henan Military region, and units from the 8th Military Sub-region of the communist Central China Military Region had joined their forces in a coordinated attack on the nationalist strongholds at Yellow Mouth (Huangkou, 黄口) and Dang (砀) Mountains. The nationalist commander of the region, the commander-in-chief of the nationalist 1st Jiangsu Security Column, Sun Liangcheng (孙良诚), was the first nationalist commander to have a real understanding of the scope of the communist attack, and immediately informed his superior, Xue Yue, and asked for reinforcement.
As the local nationalist frontline commander-in-chief Xue Yue learned the news of communist offensive to the west of Xuzhou, he was surprised because it had completely disrupted his original plan of exterminating the Communists and overrunning their bases in the border region of Hebei – Shandong – Henan provinces, and based on his intelligence, it was simply impossible for the enemy to be ready and launch an offensive of this scale in such a short time. Still dubious about the enemy's capability of launching a campaign against the superior nationalist force on this scale, Xue Yue's initial reinforcement plan was mainly geared toward as an eradication campaign with the following troop deployment:
However, before this battle plan could be fully materialized, the rapid change on the battlefield forced the nationalists to replace the plan with a different one that deployed much more troops in response to the communist threat.
2nd Stage.
On 13 August 1946, the Communists launched their general offensive along the railway, advancing southward. Regions including Ba (把) County and Tongxu (通许) had fallen into communist hands, and the Communists penetrated into the suburbs of Kaifeng, all the way to the city wall, threatening the ancient capital. Under the unexpected pressure, the nationalist garrison of Yu (虞) City totaled more than four thousands defected to the Communists. In a desperate attempt to ask for reinforcement to be sent and arrived promptly, the outnumbered nationalist defenders in the local area gravely exaggerated both their loss and the enemy strength in the messages they sent out. In their urgent appealing for help, the defenders gravely exaggerated their loss to a ridiculously high amount, totaling ninety thousand, a number that was even rejected by the enemy. The city of Kaifeng was claimed to be fallen into the enemy hands at any moment, despite the fact that the enemy themselves never had any plan to even attempt to take the city because they were well aware it was beyond their capability. The city of Kaifeng would remain firmly in the nationalist hands throughout the entire campaign, but due to the lack of communications and chaos of the war, when the news reached the capital, Nanjing, it was erroneously misread as the city had fallen into the enemy hands when the defenders were fighting a fierce street battle in attempts to drive-out the communist advance guards that breached the defense and penetrated into the city. In reality, the defense was strong enough to prevent the enemy from approaching the city wall throughout the campaign. However, the false rumor that was even rejected by the enemy was believed to be true by nationalist politicians and thus a significant portion of the population in the capital in the panic.
Being the 2nd most populous province in China after Sichuan, Henan also had the 2nd highest number of seats in the national congress, and one of the largest immigrant communities in the capital. Nationalists from Henan living in the capital and the Henan representatives in the national congress were shocked by the communist offensive and mobilized quickly into the actions in attempting to pressure the nationalist government to immediately sent reinforcement to the region. In addition to actions in the national congress, the Henan representatives also took other drastic actions of kneeing down in front of government / public buildings, including presidential palace to cry for help, and they were joined by the numerous Henan populace residing in the capital. The political stake was simply too much, just as the pressure was simply too great for the nationalist government to ignore. Additionally, there were several practical reasons that could not be ignored: the 2nd most populous province would provide the enemy an abundant pool of conscripts if it was fallen into the enemy hands in a domino effect after the downfall of Kaifeng. The important strategic location of the province controlled vital transportation / communication lines that were critical to the other theaters of operation, and could not be afforded to be severed. As a result of these combined factors, the nationalist government decided that the original goals in the other two theaters of operation had to be sacrificed and postponed, and thus a nationalist redeployment was ordered. Three army-sized reorganized divisions in the Campaign of the North China Plain Pocket deployed to annihilate Li Xiannian's communist forces, the 3rd, 41st and 47th Reorganized Division were redeployed to rescue Kaifeng. Nationalist units in the Central Jiangsu Campaign were also redeployed for the rescue, including two army-sized reorganized divisions, the 11th and the 88th Reorganized Divisions in Xuzhou and the 5th Army in Huainan. However, such redeployment took time and these units never saw any actions because the campaign had concluded by the time they approached the planned battlefield, but most of these units would be participating in the following Dingtao Campaign.
On 21 August 1946, in the region to the west of Willow River Village (Liuheji, 柳河集), a regiment of the 29th Brigade and the 181st Brigade of the nationalist Reorganized 55th Division was completely destroyed by the Communists. By this time, the nationalist reinforcement in the east had reached the regions of the Dang (砀) Mountains and Xiayi (夏邑), and in the west, the nationalist reinforcement had reached Kaifeng, Xinxiang and Changyuan County, and the Communists decided to end the campaign on 22 August 1946 by retreating to the north of the railway to rest and regroup. Nationalists also ended their operations to recover and rest, and thus the campaign concluded with a communist victory.
Outcome.
It must be said that unlike the nationalist propaganda that exaggerated the communist threat, despite being threatened, Kaifeng remained firmly in the nationalist hands throughout the campaign, and even the Communists themselves had never planned to take the city, fully aware that it was an impossible task for them at the time. It should also be noted that another gravely exaggerated communist threat was the nationalist loss once announced by the local nationalist defenders themselves in order to draw more help / reinforcement, the nationalist loss was only sixteen thousands, (which was agreed by the enemy), it was never as high as ninety thousand, a number that was dismissed even by the enemy. Furthermore, the true casualty of sixteen thousand was insignificant, totaling less than 10% of the total nationalist force deployed for this campaign, and though it was too late for most of them to participate in actual fighting, they would have the chance later in the Dingtao Campaign soon to come.
For the Communists, just they had expected, Longhai Campaign they launched had successfully achieved its objective in relieving the pressure of their comrades in other theaters, namely, Li Xiannian's communist force in the Campaign of the North China Plain Pocket and Su Yu's communist force in the Central Jiangsu Campaign. The communist victory in Longhai Campaign forced the nationalists to redeploy their troops in the other two campaigns in an effort to reinforce Longhai theater, thus the reduced nationalist strength in the other two theaters had contributed respectively to the successful escape of Li Xiannian's the Communists force in the Campaign of the North China Plain Pocket and Su Yu's victory in Central Jiangsu Campaign. In addition, the Communists had taken five towns, more than a dozen railroad stations, and huge amount of supplies.


Khin Maung Swe

Khin Maung Swe () is a Burmese politician and member of Myanmar's State Administration Council. He is the chairman of the National Democratic Force (NDF).
Early life and education.
Khin Maung Swe was born in July 1942 in Ngathaingchaung, Pathein District. He graduated in 1966 with a degree in Geology. From 1966 to 1988, he worked as a geologist at the Myanmar Petroleum Corporation.
Career.
He served as secretary of the Petroleum Workers' Union during the 8888 Uprising. At the invitation of Aung San Suu Kyi, he became a member of the National League for Democracy (NLD) in October 1988. In July 1989, he became a member of the Executive Committee.
In the 1990 elections, he was elected as the Pyithu Hluttaw MP for Constituency of Sanchaung Township but was not allowed to assume his seat. In October 1990, Khin Maung Swe was convicted of sedition and sentenced to 17 years in prison.
After the NLD decided to boycott Burma's general elections in 2010, Khin Maung Swe and a few other leading NLD members created the new party to contest the controversial polls. His party won only 16 out of 161 parliamentary seats it contested. With other democratic parties, NDF complained to the Burmese government of widespread vote rigging. He was appointed as a member of the State Administration Council on 2 February 2021, in the aftermath of the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état.


Chao-Li Chi

Chao-Li Chi (; April 5, 1927 – October 16, 2010) was a Chinese-born American actor and dancer who worked extensively in American television, including his best known role as Chao-Li, the faithful majordomo and chauffeur of Jane Wyman's character in "Falcon Crest". Additionally, his film credits include "Big Trouble in Little China", "The Joy Luck Club", "The Nutty Professor", "Wedding Crashers" and "The Prestige". He was featured in the short film by Maya Deren, "Meditation on Violence", in 1948.
His brothers include the economist Ji Chaoding and diplomat Ji Chaozhu.
Early life and education.
Chi was born in Shanxi, China, on April 5, 1927. He settled in New York City in 1939 with his family, including his younger brother Ji Chaozhu, as refugees from the Japanese invasion of China. He obtained a bachelor's degree from St. John's College, in Annapolis, Maryland. Chi also earned a master's degree from New York University and a second master's degree from The New School, which was known as the New School for Social Research at the time.
Career.
Chi began studying acting under Pearl S. Buck at the East and West Association. He appeared as the lead performer in Maya Deren's 1948 film, "Meditation on Violence". He continued to perform with Deren dance companies into the 1960s. In 1967, Chi became the Dance Director of the Living Arts Program in Dayton, Ohio, while touring with Deren.
Chi appeared in approximately fifty-one film and television roles during the course of his career. On television, Chi was perhaps best known for his role as Chao-Li in the 1980s soap opera "Falcon Crest" which aired for nine years on CBS. His other television credits included parts on "M*A*S*H" and "Pushing Daisies". Chi's film credits included "The Joy Luck Club", "Big Trouble in Little China", "The Prestige" and "Wedding Crashers". His theater credits included the travelling production of "Flower Drum Song" and the short lived musical "Barbary Coast".
Chi moved to Los Angeles in 1975. A practicing Taoist, Chi co-founded the Taoist Sanctuary, which is now known as the Taoist Institute, in Hollywood. He taught courses in Tao Te Ching, I Ching, philosophy and T'ai chi at California State University, Los Angeles and the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute. He also taught T'ai chi at the Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena, California, on Saturdays for more than thirty years.
Death.
Chi died in his home in Granada Hills, California, on October 16, 2010, at the age of 83. He was survived by his wife, daughter and stepson.


Reham Al-Farra

Reham Al-Farra (1974 – 2003) was a Palestinian diplomat and journalist who was murdered in the Canal Hotel bombing in 2003. She had served as a Minister of Public Information and for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Early life and education.
Al-Farra was born in Kuwait, and graduated from the Faculty of Mass Communications in Yarmouk University.
Career.
Al-Farra worked as a journalist at Shihan weekly newspaper and later became the editor of the same. She was the youngest Columnist in Jordan to write a daily column in Al-Arab Al-Yawm for four consecutive years.
In 2002, Al-Farra joined the United Nations Department of Public Information and was nominated later as an Arabic spokesperson for the UN operations in Iraq. She had also been active at the Center for Defending Freedom of Journalists
Death.
Al-Farra was killed along with other United Nations staff members in the terrorist Canal Hotel bombing of the UN Headquarters in Baghdad, Iraq on 19 August 2003.
Honours.
In September 2003, the UN Department of Public Information decided to rename its annual training programme for young journalists “The Reham Al-Farra Memorial Journalists' Fellowship Programme” in memory of her.
On 19 September 2003, former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan paid tribute to Al-Farra during a memorial ceremony for those killed in Baghdad: “You chose to work for the United Nations because you wanted to do something for others," Annan said. "You went to Iraq to make a contribution to the lives of your Arab brothers and sisters. It is their loss as much as ours that you were denied the chance to do that".


Military use of children in World War II

In World War II, children frequently fought in both the Allied and Axis forces.
Use of children.
German armed forces.
Hitler Youth.
Hitler Youth ("Hitlerjugend") was established as an organization in Nazi Germany that physically trained youth and indoctrinated them with Nazi ideology to the point of fanaticism. Even at the onset of war, the Hitler Youth totalled 8.8 million members. Numbers decreased significantly (to just over one million) once the war began, as many local and district leaders were drafted for the national army. The previous average age for local and district leaders was 24, but following the onset of war, this had to change to those who were 16 and 17 years of age. These youths were in command of up to 500 boys.
One Hitler Youth soldier, Heinz Shuetze aged 15 from Leipzig, was only given a half-day of training with a Panzerfaust. He was immediately given an SS uniform and directed to the front lines to fight.
Huge numbers of youths were removed from school in early 1945, and sent on what were essentially suicide missions. Hitler Youth activities often included learning to throw grenades and dig trenches, bayonet drills and escaping under barbed wire under pistol fire; the boys were encouraged to find these activities exhilarating and exciting. The Hitler Youth was essentially an army of fit, young Germans that Hitler had created, trained to fight for their country. They had the "choice" either to follow Nazi party orders or to face trial with the possibility of execution.
The boys of Hitler Youth first saw action following the British air raids in Berlin in 1940. Later, in 1942, the Wehrertüchtigungslager or WEL (Defense Strengthening Camps) were created in Germany; they were designed to train Hitler Youth boys aged 16–18. They learnt how to handle German infantry weaponry, including hand grenades, machine guns and hand pistols. By 1943, Hitler Youth boys were facing the forces of Britain, the United States and Soviet Russia.
Even younger boys from the ages of 10–14 years could be involved in the Hitler Youth movement, under the Deutsches Jungvolk.
Girls were also involved in Hitler Youth Operations, although in a limited capacity, through the Bund Deutscher Mädel (BDM, the League of German Girls). Avoiding direct armed conflict, their primary role was to produce healthy, racially pure baby boys. They were also required to run 60 metres in 14 seconds, throw a ball at least 12 metres, march for 2 hours and swim 100 metres.
SS Youth Division.
Towards the end of the war, the Germans established an entire SS Panzer Tank Division with the majority of its recruits being 16- and 17-year-old boys from the Hitler Youth brigades. In the 1st Battalion over 65% were under 18 years old, and only 3% were over 25. There were more than 10,000 boys in this division.
The 12th SS Panzer Division of the Hitlerjugend was established later in World War II as Germany suffered more casualties, and more young people "volunteered", initially as reserves, but soon joined front line troops. These children saw extensive action and were among the fiercest and most effective German defenders in the Battle of Berlin. In the battle of the Normandy beaches, the division suffered 60% casualties, most of whom were teenagers.
These fearsome young boy soldiers acquired a formidable reputation for their violent and unforgiving practice, shooting prisoners, and were responsible for 64 deaths of British and Canadian soldiers between 7–16 June 1944.
Other German involvement.
In late 1944, the People's Army was formed ("Volkssturm") in anticipation of an Allied invasion. Men of all ages, from 16–60 were conscripted into this army.
Children as young as 8 were reported as having been captured by American troops, with boys aged 12 and under manning artillery units. Girls were also being placed in armed combat, operating anti-aircraft, or "flak", guns alongside boys. Children commonly served in auxiliary roles in the "Luftwaffe" and were known as "flakhelfer", from "luftwaffenhelfer".
Japan.
In anticipation of the possible Allied invasion of Japan, Japanese military authorities also trained young teenagers to fight the enemy with bamboo spears and other (often poorly) improvised weapons. Some Japanese children aged 17 years volunteered to be Kamikaze suicide pilots.
The Japanese Imperial Army mobilized students aged 14–17 years in Okinawa island for the Battle of Okinawa. This mobilization was conducted by the ordinance of the Ministry of Army, not by law. The ordinances mobilized the student for a volunteer soldier for form's sake. However, in reality, the military authorities ordered schools to force almost all students to "volunteer" for soldiers. Sometimes they counterfeited the necessary documents of students. And student soldiers "Tekketsu Kinnotai" were killed such as in suicide attacks against a tank with bombs and in guerrilla operations.
After losing in the Battle of Okinawa in June 1945, the Japanese government enacted new laws in preparation for the decisive battles in the main islands. They were the laws that made it possible boys aged 15 or older and girls aged 17 or older to be drafted into the army for actual battles. Those who tried to escape the draft were punished by imprisonment.
The Japanese surrender, however, had forestalled the Allied invasion of the Japanese main islands, and therefore rendered these child soldiers unnecessary.
Jewish resistance.
During the Holocaust, Jews of all ages participated in the Jewish resistance simply to survive. Most Jewish Resistance took place after 1942 when the Nazi atrocities became clear. Many Polish political leaders fled Warsaw at the onset of war, and those who remained were generally executed, jailed or forced to serve on the Jewish Council ("Judenrat").
Leaders of the Zionist Youth Movement who fled returned to Warsaw through a sense of responsibility as local leaders, for both youth in general and the wider Jewish community. More than 100,000 young Jews participated in resistance youth movements, despite the Germans outlawing such activity.
The Zionist groups' focus changed with the onset of war. Before the war, they focused on social and ideological development. Feeling a higher sense of responsibility to their people during the war, they set out to educate their people by setting up underground schools in ghettos.
These leaders led a ghetto resistance, determining political and social action underground. Youth of the Zionist resistance were part of the Armee Juive ("Jewish Army") in France, created in 1942, an armed Jewish resistance in Western Europe. They took part in the 1944 uprisings against the Germans in Paris.
Many members of the youth movement Hashomer Hatzair fought in the Warsaw Ghetto uprising of 1943. The participation of children in this armed resistance is usually regarded as nothing short of heroic.
Soviet Union.
A number of child soldiers served in the Soviet Union's armed forces during World War II. In some cases, orphans also unofficially joined the Soviet Red Army. Such children were affectionately known as "sons of the regiment" (Russian: сын полка) and sometimes willingly performed military missions such as reconnaissance. Officially, the age of military conscription was lowered to 18 for those without secondary education and 19 for those with higher education.
In 1943 and 1944, 16–17 years old teenagers (born 1926-7), many from Central Asia, were drafted. These soldiers served in secondary units, not combat. Many were sent to the Far East, to replace units sent to the German front. After training and coming of age, these youth were sent to the front too.
United Kingdom.
In the United Kingdom, boys of 17 were accepted into the Home Guard when it was formed in 1940 in preparation for a German invasion and as a "last line of defence". On 27 September 1942, the minimum age was lowered to 16 provided there was parental consent. They were nicknamed "Dad's Army". The Secretary of State for War, Anthony Eden, called for men between the ages of 17 and 65 for Home Guard duty, so it was voluntarily undertaken by those of the younger age. Initially a rag-tag militia, the Home Guard and its young volunteers became well-equipped and well-trained. More than 1,200 Home Guard men died from German bombings.
United States.
In World War II, the US only allowed men and women 18 years or older to be drafted or enlisted into the armed forces, although 17-year-olds were allowed to enlist with parental consent, and women were not allowed in armed conflict. Some successfully lied about their age. The youngest member of the United States military was 12-year-old Calvin Graham. He lied about his age when he enlisted in the US Navy, and his real age was not known until after he was wounded.
Poland.
From 1939, Polish youth created multiple resistance organisations. Children also joined military organisations despite the age limit, where they acted as liaison or distributor. At the end of the war in extreme situations also acted in Operation Tempest or Warsaw Uprising. In November 1942 were put in place age ranges: school of military support aged 12 to 15 years; same school and acting in Minor sabotage, Operation N, liaison office and reconnaissance aged 16 to 18 years; older had military training and joined Home Army. There were only few well known children aged below 14 who took part in military fights.
Legality.
The legality of the use of children in armed conflicts, as soldiers or in other capacities, has changed significantly in the last century. During both world wars, the legal framework was under-developed. Following World War I, in 1924 the League of Nations adopted the Geneva Declaration of the Rights of the Child. Despite this attempt to protect children's rights, stating they must be "protected against every form of exploitation," the rise of fascism that led to the start of World War II left millions of children again unprotected – gassed, killed or orphaned.
Definition of a child.
The lack of legal protection for children in times of war, which allows for their exploitation, can be linked to the lack of a universally recognised definition of a child during World War II.
Prior to the creation of the United Nations during World War II, protection of child welfare was predominantly embodied in the laws of war, "jus in bello". These laws sought to outlaw war.
In relation to protecting the rights of children involved in conflict, however, this concept failed to address the concept of a child-soldier at the time of World War II.
Furthermore, there was essentially no criminal culpability placed on the child where a breach of jus in bello occurred. No legal limits excluded children being involved in armed conflicts, nor was there any definition of what a child was in relation to their ability to be involved in conflicts.
Changes since World War II.
The introduction of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of a Child in 1989 was the first time that any formal commitment was entered into that specified, protected and realised the human rights of a child. This Convention sets out the civil, political, economic, social, health and cultural rights of children.
Currently, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) defines a child soldier as "any child – boy or girl – under eighteen years of age, who is part of any kind of regular or irregular armed force or armed group in any capacity". This age limit of 18 is relatively new, only introduced in 2002 under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Prior to 2002, the 1949 Geneva Convention, the 1977 Additional Protocols, and the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child, all set 15 as the minimum age to participate in armed conflict.
Convicting children of war crimes.
It is a contentious issue whether children should be able to be prosecuted for committing war crimes.
Following the creation of the United Nations in 1945, and subsequent international conventions, such as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, child rights have been notably asserted and protected. Immediately following World War II, children involved in armed conflict were not able to be prosecuted, as the legislative instruments did not exist to do so. Currently, international law does not prohibit children in being prosecuted for war crimes they committed, although article 37 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of a Child does limit the punishment a child can receive. This includes "neither capital punishment nor life imprisonment without possibility of release shall be imposed for offences committed by persons below eighteen years of age".
Under Article 8(2)(b)(xxvi) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which was adopted in 1998, and came into force in 2002, "Conscripting or enlisting children under the age of fifteen years into the national armed forces or using them to participate actively in hostilities" is a war crime.
Under the Paris Principles and Guidelines on Children Associated with Armed Forces or armed groups, those children accused of war crimes, should primarily be treated as victims and treated in accordance with international law under restorative justice, rehabilitation that is consistent child protection treaties and principles.
There were some cases from World War II, where children were prosecuted of war crimes for actions undertaken during the war. Two 15-year-old ex-Hitler Youth were convicted of violating laws of war, by being party to a shooting of a prisoner of war. The youths' age was a mitigating factor in their sentencing.


Ma Hong

Ma Hong (; May 18, 1920 ? – October 28, 2007), born in Dingxiang County, Shanxi Province, China, was a well known economist and was chiefly responsible for the reintroduction of market economics to China. He also pioneered Policy Consultation and chaired a government think tank.
Early life.
Ma Hong took part in Ximenghui in 1936, an organization of resistance against the Japanese. The following year he was involved in the organization of the General Trade Union of Tongpu Railroad, and in that same year joined the Communist Party of China. In 1938 he went to Yan'an, then the Communist capital, and won Chen Yun's (Minister of Organization) favour. As a result, he was admitted into the CPC's Central School. After graduation in 1941 Ma Hong was assigned to be a researcher in the CPC's Central Research Institute, laying the foundations of his later economic knowledge. He was transferred the CPC's Northeast Bureau to be the director of the Policy Research Office in 1949. Through investigation Ma Hong wrote "The Structure and Policy of the Northeastern Economy", and divided it into five sectors. This method was long employed by the Chinese Government. In 1952 Ma Hong was promoted to the post of General Secretary of the National Planning Committee of the Central Government.
During the Gao-Rau Incident, Ma Hong was purged and demoted. He came to work in the National Economic Committee and was involved in the drafting of the "70 Industrial Regulations", which helped China recover from the Great Leap Forward. After co-composing the regulations Ma Hong wrote the "Management of Chinese Manufacturing Enterprises", which became the compass of industrial management at that time.
Later years.
In 1978 Ma Hong's career rebounded and he founded the Industrial Economic Institute, becoming its director. He then became the president of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and Deputy General Secretary of the State Consul of the People's Republic of China. In 1984, at his suggestion, "the notion of a socialistic commercial economy was written into the CPC's list of doctrines." Ma Hong founded the State Council Development Research Centre, the first of its kind. Late in his career he warned the government of impending inflation, but the government chose to ignore his advice to its detriment.
Ma Hong has published more than 10 books in Chinese; "New Strategy of Chinese Economic Development" has been translated and edited by Fengbo Zhang and was published in Japan in 1985. His writings have been widely publicized, and in 2005 he won the Outstanding Economist Prize. On October 28, 2007, he died of Parkinson's disease.


Chen Liangting

Chen Liangting (; 1929–2020) was a Chinese translator. He is famous for translating American literary works. He was a member of the China Democratic League.
Biography.
Chen was born in Chaoyang District of Shantou, Guangdong, in 1929. He secondary studied at Guanghua Experimental Middle School. In 1947 he was accepted by Kwang Hua University (now East China Normal University). After university, he worked at Warner Films in Shanghai as a subtitle translator. Since 1951, he has been engaged in translation for foreign literature. Since 1978, he has focused on translating and introducing American contemporary dramas and popular fiction.
He was a member of the China Writers Association and Shanghai Museum of Literature and History.
Personal life.
In 1951 Chen married Liu Wenlan (; born 1931), who is also a translator. His father-in-law was one of the early leaders of the Communist Party of China.


Cary Lu

Cary Lu (December 4, 1945 – September 23, 1997) was an American writer specialising in the Apple Macintosh platform.
Early life.
Born in Qingdao, China, Lu arrived in the United States at the age of three and grew up in California. He studied physics at University of California, Berkeley, and eventually earned a Ph.D. in biology from the California Institute of Technology.
Television career.
Lu worked in television for several years on projects for NBC and CBS News, developed short films for "Sesame Street" and other children's programs on PBS and was the science and technology editor for the Children's Television Workshop.
He was part of the group that started "Nova" for PBS and worked on science and technology education projects for the governments of Australia, Kenya, and Algeria.
Writing career.
Lu was a best-selling author of Macintosh-related books.
Possibly one of his most well-known works is "The Apple Macintosh Book", the first edition of which was released almost simultaneously with the Macintosh 128K in 1984. The second edition covered the Macintosh 512K, while the third edition covered six Macintosh models in all. The fourth edition of the book (published in 1992) covered 21 models (including discontinued models, such as the Macintosh 128K), and even included mentions of the Macintosh Classic series, the Macintosh Quadra series, the PowerBooks, and System 7.
Lu was founding managing editor of "High Technology", technology editor for "Inc." and a columnist on future technology for "Inc. Technology". He wrote columns and articles for "Macworld" magazine and other computer and technology publications.
His final book, "The Race for Bandwidth: Understanding Data Transmission," was finished by friends, the technology writers Adam C. Engst and Stephen Manes, and published posthumously.
Death.
Cary Lu died of cancer at the age of 51.
Miscellaneous.
While the first edition of Katie Hafners and Matthew Lyons famous book about the history of the Internet ("Where Wizards stay up late", 1996) was solely dedicated to J. C. R. Licklider, the 2003 edition was dedicated to Cary Lu as well, who had died in 1997.


Thein Nyunt (politician)

Thein Nyunt () is a Burmese lawyer, columnist, and politician. He is currently a member of Myanmar's State Administration Council. A former member of the National League for Democracy (NLD), he founded the New National Democracy Party and co-founded the National Democratic Force (NDF) after splitting from the NLD. Thein Nyunt served as an MP for the Pyithu Hluttaw, representing Thingangyun Township, from 2011 to 2016.
Political career.
Thein Nyunt won a parliamentary seat in the 1990 Myanmar general election, representing Thingangyun Township in Yangon. Thein Nyunt served as a member of the National League for Democracy's Central Executive Committee. In the lead-up to the 2020 Myanmar general election, Thein Nyunt left the NLD to co-found the National Democratic Force, a new political party, with Khin Maung Swe. The NDF contested the 2010 election, but Thein Nyunt later resigned due to internal party funding problems and ran as an independent. He won a Pyithu Hluttaw seat, representing Thingangyun Township. In July 2011, he announced that he had formed a new political party, the New National Democratic Party (NNDP), to contest the 2015 Myanmar general election. He ultimately lost the race to Shwe Hla Win, a member of the NLD.
In advance of the 2020 Myanmar general election, Thein Nyunt formed an alliance with the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). The USDP pledged not to contest the Thingyangyun Township seat to improve Thein Nyunt's odds of winning the race. Thein Nyunt's son, Nay Aung, a co-founder of the NNDP, disavowed his father's military alliance, and reported the incident to the Union Election Commission. Thein Nyunt met with the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Min Aung Hlaing before the 2020 election. He was appointed to the State Administration Council on 2 February 2021, in the aftermath of the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état.


Frohwerk v. United States

Frohwerk v. United States, 249 U.S. 204 (1919), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court upheld the conviction of a newspaperman for violating the Espionage Act of 1917 in connection with criticism of U.S. involvement in foreign wars.
In a unanimous decision written by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, the Court found that this criticism constituted the "willful obstruction" of America's recruitment efforts and was not protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
As in "Schenck v. United States", also decided in 1919, the speech might have been protected were the country not at war.