| Friday quiz: coming in from the cold | Michael Tomasky If we grow up with something, and it's what we learn about the world as children, we think it's normal. But what, I ask myself in retrospect, was "normal" about a world in which two superpowers spent billions and billions of dollars amassing the weaponry to destroy not only each other but all known life not once, not even three or five times over, but a 100 or 1,000 times over? The cold war – I would personally prefer upper-casing it, to give it its proper historical due, but that runs counters to Guardian rules – defined so many things about life from 1945 to 1990 that even quantifying it into that grim and incomprehensible figure above denies it its true place. And not just for Americans and Russians; perhaps not even chiefly for Americans and Russians. Ask a Guatemalan with a knowledge of her country's history about that, or a North Korean with an honest knowledge of his.It touched everything – philosophy, fiction, film, art, advertising, comedy, you name it. And it seemed, didn't it, so immutable; when the East finally crumbled, it was one of those events that was simultaneously unsurprising (the whole apparatus had been standing on toothpicks for years) and completely shocking (history simply doesn't change like that before our eyes). Watching the hammer and sickle lowered for the last time from above the Kremlin – incredibly, it was Christmas Day 1991 – remains one of the most startling sights of my life, I think.Loads of material, in other words. Twelve questions will barely hint at it. Since I know many of you are around my age or older, it would be fun to hear your memories of your personal cold war. And remember the rule of Friday-quiz threads. No political arguments! Let's not re-litigate the questions of who started it and who won it. All that said, let's go.1. George Orwell was evidently the first to use the phrase "cold war" to describe the new US-USSR dominated era, in a 1945 essay. The American financier and statesman Bernard Baruch then used it in a speech in 1947. But this famous US journalist, who used the phrase as the title of a book of essays on the new world situation, is considered the person who really made it stick.a. James Restonb. Drew Pearsonc. Walter Lippmann2. Probably the single most famous speech of the 1940s was given at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri in March 1946. The speaker was being given an honorary degree, and he warned that "an Iron Curtain" had descended across Europe, "from Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic." Who gave this speech?a. General Dwight Eisenhowerb. Winston Churchillc. General Bernard Law Montgomery3. US Secretary of State Dean Acheson told President Truman, regarding a spring 1947 crisis situation, that his arguments to the American people had to be "clearer than truth," a phrase that some have argued opened the door to cold-war propaganda. About what countries was Acheson then concerned?a. Greece and Turkeyb. Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakiac. Greece and Yugoslavia4. Joseph Rotblat, a native of Poland but a British citizen who during and after World War II worked in America, is the only physicist to have left what on moral grounds?a. The then-newly formed National Security Councilb. The Manhattan Projectc. The staff of the House Un-American Activities Committee5. A helmet-wearing turtle named Bert was used in films and newsreels produced by the US Civil Defense Administration to alert American schoolchildren to the fact that if they saw a flash of blinding light as might be produced by an atomic weapon, they should:a. Splay and prayb. Crouch and count to 20c. Duck and cover6. Identify each of these third-world heads of state as a client of either East or West:a. Syngman Rheeb. Haile Selassiec. Jose Eduardo dos Santosd. Patrice Lumumbae. Norodom Sihanoukf. Suharto7. For the 1962 premier of this work, it was intended that the principal soloists would be from Germany, Britain and Russia, as a show of global unity. But at the last minute, Russia refused to permit its soloist to travel to Coventry, and a substitute was found.a. Benjamin Britten's War Requiemb. Igor Stravinsky's The Floodc. Aaron Copland's Third Symphony8. Yulian Semyonov is not a name known to many Westerners, but he was very famous in Soviet Russia as what:a. That rare figure, a defector from West (where he'd been the American scientist Julian Semon) to Eastb. A spy novelist – basically the USSR's answer to John LeCarrec. The USSR's first rock star, who recorded in 1967 a complete Russian-language version of Dylan's Blonde on Blonde9. True or false: Joseph Stalin is the 20th-century world leader responsible for the most deaths.10. What incident ended detente, the thaw in US-USSR relations during the 1970s?a. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistanb. The Mayaguez incidentc. The Moscow-backed Sandinista overthrow of Somoza in Nicaragua11. Who joked during a radio sound-check that "we begin bombing in five minutes"?a. Leonid Brezhnevb. Margaret Thatcherc. Ronald Reagan12. The beginning of the end of the East, little-remembered today, came when border guards of what Eastern bloc country began snipping the border fence, permitting people to cross into the West? a. Czechoslovakiab. Polandc. HungarySo much I'd wanted to ask but didn't get to. Which leaves a lot for you all to discuss. Let's look at the answers.Answers:1-c; 2-b; 3-a; 4-b; 5-c; 6: a, West; b, West; c, East; d, East; e, East; f, West; 7-a; 8-b; 9-false; 10-a; 11-c; 12-c.Notes:1. The fake answers are both plausible, but Lippmann seems common-sense-ish to me.2. Should have been easy. Certainly this was drilled into Americans, and I'm guessing into Britons too?3. Resulting in the Truman Doctrine, the language of which ultimately committed the US to the war in Vietnam.4. Interesting story, ripe for biography or screenplay.5. Gimme for the Yanks, at least of a certain age. Did you have a similar figure in England? Here's a little Bert video.6. Rhee (South Korea) should have been easy. Selassie, it might have been hard to remember which side he was on, but he sent troops to fight with the US in Korea. Dos Santos may have thrown many of you – sound Latin American but was actually the leader of the Marxist MPLA in Angola (Jonas Savimbi was the West's guy, from Unita). Lumumba should have been easy. Sihanouk and Suharto are confuse-able. The former was Cambodian, pre-Khmer Rouge, and tilted toward Moscow; the latter Indonesian and solidly pro-West (and yes, he had only one name).7. I like this question. "Coventry" should have helped.8. I never heard of this guy until this morning. Bears more looking into from the sound of things. My fake answers kinda rock here, though I figure if c) had happened, you'd have heard of it.9. Not even all that close to Mao Zedong. Numbers are disputed but Mao comes out on top (as it were) in every list I've ever seen.10. Remember the US boycott of the 1980 Olympics?11. Total gimme, thought you might want one at this point.12. The unsung role of Hungary is one of history's most untold stories, as I've probably mentioned on this blog before.As always, tell us how you did, and share with the rest of us your non-belligerent cold-war thoughts and memories.United StatesMichael Tomaskyguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Michael Been obituary Core member of the US rock band the CallThe Call – the California rock band led by the singer, bassist and songwriter Michael Been, who has died of a heart attack aged 60 – never enjoyed the same success as their 1980s peers, but their influence ranged far and wide. Their stridently passionate, literate rock was once hailed by Peter Gabriel as "the future of American music". Bono, Jim Kerr and Robbie Robertson made guest appearances on their albums.Al Gore chose the Call's rousing Let the Day Begin as the Democrats' signature song for their 2000 US presidential campaign. A pumping celebration of working-class optimism, it was typical of Been's work. Been, who grew up in Oklahoma City, also wrote the 1986 anthem Oklahoma, which made the shortlist in a contest for that state's official rock song.His unswerving belief in the power of rock'n'roll was forged as a child. He cited Elvis Presley's appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1956 as a personal epiphany. Aged seven, Been performed on a local TV show, Big Red Shindig, billed as "Little Elvis". He moved with his family to Chicago as a teenager.He briefly played bass in the psychedelic band Aorta and then, at the turn of the 1970s, he joined Lovecraft, a streamlined offshoot of the freak-rockers HP Lovecraft, named after the American author. He moved to California in 1972 and formed Fine Wine, playing with the former Moby Grape members Jerry Miller and Bob Mosley. Been wrote five songs on their eponymous 1976 album, after which he played with Miller in the Original Haze.It was all useful groundwork for starting his own band, Motion Pictures, in Santa Cruz in 1979, with the guitarist Tom Ferrier, the bassist Greg Freeman and the drummer Scott Musick. They renamed themselves the Call and set about crafting powerful, emotive rock with heart pinned firmly to sleeve. Their self-titled 1982 debut was a solid start, but it was with 1983's Modern Romans that they began to find their range: cloud-scraping choruses, urgent guitars and socially conscious lyrics. The politically charged The Walls Came Down was the breakout hit, its video becoming an MTV staple and prompting Gabriel to offer them a support slot on his tour of the US and Europe.Gabriel, along with Kerr, sang back-up vocals on Everywhere I Go, from the 1986 album Reconciled. By then the Call had switched from the Mercury label to Elektra and replaced Freeman with Jim Goodwin. The album's big number, the defiant I Still Believe, was covered by Tim Capello as the soundtrack to the film The Lost Boys the following year.Been was keen to explore other avenues, not least the movies. Martin Scorsese, a fan of the Call, cast him as John the Apostle in The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), a period Been later recalled as "one of the greatest times of my life". An on-set friendship with Harry Dean Stanton led to the actor playing harmonica on the Call's biggest-selling album, the bombastic Let the Day Begin (1989).But major success remained elusive. Red Moon (1990), despite a cameo by Bono on the gospel-styled What's Happened to You?, was less well received. The Call split in 1990, only to reunite in 1997 for another album, To Heaven and Back. Been released a solo LP, On the Edge of a Nervous Breakthrough, in 1994. In recent years he had worked as a sound engineer and co-producer for his son Robert's band, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.He is survived by his wife, Carol, Robert, and a sister, Linda.Pop and rockUnited StatesBonoAl GoreDemocratsPeter GabrielRob Hughesguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Poll: Many Obama 2008 supporters defecting to GOP By LIZ SIDOTI 2010-10-17T12:38:36ZWASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama's winning coalition from 2008 has crumbled and his core backers are dispirited. It's now Republicans who stand to benefit from an electorate that's again craving change.... hosted.ap.org |
Paraguayan Mennonites hit back at criticism of environmental record | John Vidal How did this Christian sect go from Biblical exhortations for stewardship of the Earth to outright exploitation and dominion?What is it with Mennonites? Two weeks ago I wrote a piece from Paraguay on how the vast dry forest known as the Gran Chaco was being felled at an alarming rate mainly by people from this Christian fundamentalist sect.Having fled from persecution in eastern Europe 80 years ago, they went to one of the most inhospitable places on earth and by the sweat of their brow – and a lot of help from the indigenous peoples on whom they depended – they have survived in the wilderness. But now, it seems they have moved from Biblical exhortations for stewardship of the Earth to outright exploitation and dominion. They have bought up nearly 2m hectares, worth, these days, in the region of $600m (£382m), made themselves fabulously wealthy from a $100m-a-year meat and dairy business, and are now in danger of totally destroying an unique ecosystem, indigenous peoples and all.The piece I wrote went down like a lead balloon in parts of Paraguay where the Mennonites are powerful industrialists. Here's a declaration by the Mennonite community, from a full-page advertisement placed in one newspaper:We don't understand why foreigners make such a big deal about some situations in Paraguay, that to the Paraguayans are really not that important. Livestock production and rearing have been attacked in a totally incomprehensible way. For the past 80 years, us Mennonites have worked and organised a production system in the Paraguayan Chaco that today has an important role. And it is now, just as this productive system is getting to be successful that our initiatives are attacked/criticised using invented environmental arguments with supposed violation of ancestral rights of the indigenous people. We know the Chaco better than John Vidal and when he states that 'life and the indigenous tribes in the area are at risk because the Mennonites are converting the land to pastures and farmland', he is wrong. It is interesting to note that such a statement puts wildlife and tribes on the same level.Erosion and desertification are inventions of ignorant people or people with bad intentions who are looking to obtain international funding for their own benefit. It remains that environmental projects for decades are wasted and leave no impact and little improvement for the groups involved. The Chaco is characterised by peaceful coexistence of the different ethnic groups living in the region. This has been possible, because, thanks to God, only the people directly involved have made the decisions, with no foreign interference. Since the coming of NGOs and other pseudo-scientific groups, especially foreign, things have begun to deteriorate in a way only comparable to the conquistadors of the 15th-18th centuries in America. Attacking/criticising production and its efficiency are only the result of envy and fear of being overtaken in the world market. We don't believe that these environmental affirmations, have any scientific basis. They are just stories with the aim of simple destruction, with no consideration of the consequences. It will be deplorable to see everything we have built destroyed, especially for Paraguay, for its people and that will see their painful history repeated. But above all it will be felt by the government who will have to face the consequences. We are no longer in the 1950s, 60s, 70s and 80s. No, today there are other priorities.Now, not all Mennonites are the same, indeed I know of some in Canada who appear to be fully aware of the environment and "creation care". But the Paraguayan group behind this appear be insular, over-defensive and obsessed with physical expansion and capitalism. Moreover, they seem ignorant of their impact on the environment and unable to accept criticism.Since the article was published, many other people have commented on the Mennonites' attitude to nature and their treatment of indigenous and other marginalised people.Here's a comment from a conservationist in Belize:Before Mennonites came to Belize, the country imported almost all its food from Guatemala and Mexico. Now Mennonites supply the entire country with chicken, eggs, milk, and corn. Fast-growing communities of Belizean Mennonites are stripping thousands of acres of forest at a rate heretofore unknown in this laid-back nation, planting chemical-intensive crops on every arable acre they can buy. The Mennonites have by far the highest birth rate in Belize, and their culture drives them to constantly open up new settlements. Though their American counterparts may observe a quaint and simplistic lifestyle, in Belize, Mennonites are a major destructive force.And another, from a Mennonite:This situation is hard to bear as a Mennonite myself. Unfortunately, many American Mennonites also make excuses for the Paraguayan Mennonites because of their experience being persecuted during the Bolshevik revolution in Russia. But that is no excuse. Second, the Paraguayan Mennonites were not mere victims of persecution in Russia. Before they were persecuted they had treated the peasants around them very badly. The Paraguayan Mennonites are simply perpetuating a long habit of treating the people they live around poorly. By appealing to their own suffering they have not dealt with the reason they suffered and have painted themselves as helpless victims when that is far from the case, historically and currently.Last word goes to a religious outsider: People can twist the Bible to justify whatever they want. Genesis 1:28: 'And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth,' can be a rallying call for further conservation efforts, or, as in this case, justifying destroying what's there for biofuel and burgers. When that religious fervour is coupled with turning a fast buck, there's no stopping someone.DeforestationForestsFarmingParaguayJohn Vidalguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Former Argentine President Nestor Kirchner dies By MICHAEL WARREN 2010-10-27T17:35:51ZBUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) -- Former Argentine President Nestor Kirchner - the country's most powerful politician along with his wife, current leader Cristina Fernandez - died suddenly Wednesday after suffering a heart attack, the presidency said.... hosted.ap.org |