Thursday, June 30, 2011

The Pentagon Papers, officially titled "Report of the Office of the Secretary of Defense Vietnam Task Force", was commissioned by Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara in 1967. In June of 1971, small portions of the report were leaked to the press and widely distributed. However, the publications of the report that resulted from these leaks were incomplete and suffered from many quality issues.

On the 40th anniversary of the leak to the press, the National Archives, along with the Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon Presidential Libraries, has released the complete report. There are 48 boxes and approximately 7,000 declassified pages. Approximately 34% of the report is available for the first time.

What is unique about this, compared to other versions, is that:

The complete Report is now available with no redactions compared to previous releases
The Report is presented as Leslie Gelb presented it to then Secretary of Defense Clark Clifford on January 15, 1969
All the supplemental back-documentation is included. In the Gravel Edition, 80% of the documents in Part V.B. were not included
This release includes the complete account of peace negotiations, significant portions of which were not previously available either in the House Armed Services Committee redacted copy of the Report or in the Gravel Edition

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Godaddy

This is an automatic post by BlogRobot, waiting for human editor to update.

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Qvc

Jeanne Bice Dies

Jeanne Bice, a designer and QVC host known for her headbands and boisterous personality, has passed away at the age of 71. Her cause of death has not been disclosed.

Bice, who started the Quacker Factory clothing line and first appeared on QVC in 1995, brought brightly colored outfits and seasonal-themed clothing to the network and garnered a legion of fans. The Quacker empire spanned television, internet and even fan ocean cruises. She also wrote a book titled, "Pull Yourself Up By The Bra Straps."

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Darren Criss

Ministry of Gossip

Darren Criss was pulled off stage by a fan during a recent performance, illustrating that while "Glee" costar Dianna Agron might like girls, at least one girl likes this boy just a little too much.

Criss, on tour with "Glee Live! In Concert," fell into the crowd Thursday night in Washington, D.C., after kneeling down to shake hands with a front-row fan during the curtain call after "Somebody to Love." He quickly jumped back on stage.

"To the lady who pulled me off the stage and into the pit tonight: if I ever see you on a stage... keep your wits about ya. Love, Darren :) !," the actor said on Twitter, adding, "btw I'm lucky I didn't hit my head on the gate in front of this lady. Seriously close call tonight... Like, please don't kill me. I'm nice."

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Neil Patrick Harris

Neil Patrick Harris' 2011 Tony Awards Opening Number

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Monday, June 13, 2011

Ice T

Ice-T extends deal at 'Law & Order: SVU'

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - While it remains unclear who will replace Chris Meloni on "Law & Order: SVU," one thing is clear: Ice-T will be returning to the veteran cop show.

The rapper-turned-actor, who has played hard-nosed Detective Fin Tutuola since Season 2, announced on Twitter that he has signed a two-year deal to return for the NBC series' upcoming 13th, and if renewed, 14th seasons.

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Saving Private Ryan

Plot Summary

Opening with the Allied invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944, members of the 2nd Ranger Battalion under Cpt. Miller fight ashore to secure a beachhead. Amidst the fighting, two brothers are killed in action. Earlier in New Guinea, a third brother is KIA. Their mother, Mrs. Ryan, is to receive all three of the grave telegrams on the same day. The United States Army Chief of Staff, George C. Marshall, is given an opportunity to alleviate some of her grief when he learns of a fourth brother, Private James Ryan, and decides to send out 8 men (Cpt. Miller and select members from 2nd Rangers) to find him and bring him back home to his mother... Written by J.Zelman

After the invasion of fortress Europe on June 6th 1944, Tom Hanks leads his squad from the 2nd Ranger Battalion of the 29th Infantry Division, on a mission to find and bring home Private James Francis Ryan after the death of his brothers. The mission takes them through Nazi occupied territory to establish contact with Ryan's unit an element of the 101st Airborne Division. This exiting war thriller brings the reality of history's bloodiest war into the homes of ordinary people, but also brings into light the reality of broken and lost families in a time of total and encompassing war. Written by Pvt. Maher, HHC 29th Aviation Brigade, 29th Infantry Division, Aberdeen Proving Grounds, MD

After learning that Private Ryans three brothers have all died in the war, the government attempts to locate him to send him home. The problem is they don't know if he is dead or alive behind enemy lines. Written by Anonymous

During WWII, Chief of Staff, General Marshall is informed that three of a woman's sons have been killed and that she's going to receive the notifications of their demise at the same time. And when he learns that a fourth son is still unaccounted for, the General decides to send a unit to find him and bring him back, despite being told that it's highly unlikely that he is still alive and the area that he was known to be at is very dangerous. So the unit consisting of 8 men are sent to find him but as stated it's very dangerous and one by one, each of them are being picked off. Will they find him and how many of them will still be alive. Written by rcs0411@yahoo.com

Following the Allied invasion of Normandy, two brothers lay dead in the wake of the onslaught. Meanwhile, in New Guinea, a third brother has been killed fighting the Japanese. After the Army General Staff learns that a fourth brother is missing in the French countryside, a rescue mission is ordered to find the young soldier and return him safely home. The mission is mounted by a veteran Ranger Captain commanding a squad of men who have mixed feelings about risking their lives to "Save Private Ryan". Written by Anthony Hughes

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Williams Syndrome

Signs and symptoms

Poor little birdie teased, by Victorian eraillustrator Richard Doyle depicts an elf with the facial features associated with Williams syndrome.

The most common symptoms of Williams syndrome are mental disability, heart defects, and unusual facial features. Other symptoms include failure to gain weight appropriately in infancy and low muscle tone. Most individuals with Williams syndrome are highly verbal and overly sociable, having what has been described as a "cocktail party" type personality, and exhibit a remarkable blend of cognitive strengths and weaknesses.^[3] Individuals with WS hyperfocus on the eyes of others in social engagements.^[4] Patients tend to have widely spaced teeth, a long philtrum, and flattened nasal bridge.^[5] Individuals with Williams syndrome also experience many cardiac problems, commonly heart murmurs and the narrowing of major blood vessels as well as supravalvular aortic stenosis. Other symptoms may include gastrointestinal problems, such as severe or prolonged colic,^[6] abdominal pain and diverticulitis, nocturnal enuresis (bed wetting) and urinary difficulties,^[7] dental irregularities and defective tooth enamel,^[8] as well as hormone problems, the most common being hypercalcemia (elevated calcium levels in the blood). Hypothyroidism has been reported to occur in children, although there is no proof of it occurring in adults; diabetes has been reported to occur in adults with WS as young as 21 years old.^[9]

Individuals with Williams syndrome often have hyperacusis and phonophobia which resembles noise-induced hearing loss, but this may be due to a malfunctioning auditory nerve.^[10]^[11] However, individuals with WS can also tend to demonstrate a love of music,^[2] and appear significantly more likely to possess perfect pitch.^[12] There also appears to be a higher prevalence of left-handedness and left-eye dominance.^[13] Individuals with Williams syndrome also report higher anxiety levels as well as phobiadevelopment, which may be associated with hyperacusis.^[14]

Furthermore, individuals with Williams syndrome have problems with visual processing, but this is related to difficulty in dealing with complex spatial relationships rather than to issues with depth perception.^[15]

In an experiment, a group of children with Williams syndrome showed no signs of inherent racial bias, unlike children without the syndrome.^[16]

While patients with Williams syndrome often have abnormal proficiency in verbal skills, they do not perform better on verbal tasks than average. This syndrome is characterized more by a deficiency in other areas of processing. Williams syndrome is notable in that respect in that it represents a double dissociation between verbal and spatial processing.

Some cultural historians believe that the adjective "elfin" came to be used to describe the facial features of people with Williams syndrome because, before Williams Syndrome's scientific cause was understood, people believed that sufferers of the syndrome, who have very charming and extraordinarily kind personalities in comparison to most people, were gifted with extraordinary, even magical, powers. This is often believed to be the origin of the folklore of elves, fairies and other forms of the 'good people' or 'wee folk' present in English folklore.^[17]

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