for all of you that hate reading twitter posts
here's something that might make you hate them just a little bit less...

(don't forget, read from bottom to top)
from-historicaltweets.com/



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torture devices

well right now watching the special on torture
various methods are being tested - unfortunately, not with live humans.

so far:
the rack has been looked at - what actually breaks first?
the next was the tunica molesta - how fast was it ?
the pear... how death would really occur?

burning at the stake. actual causes of death by looking at 3 different variations
1) timber piled high against the pole/victim
2) timber piled at the feet
3) timber piled around the victim

impaling a la vlad: ok. this is actually cool.
how could a stake actually be stuck into someone and yet be able to keep them alive.
right now, it's a matter of not actually perforating the important bits.
gotta push up the rectum, the bowels will be torn (infection would cause death in a couple of days).
then up and forwards towards the sternum which will keep the stake within the body and then finally upwards.
if the taper on the stake remains thin, then it wont block the windpipe and the victim could remain alive - well temporarily. heh.

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Next up: Death Machines of the Ancient World

i would have liked to have read his new book on the Korean War.

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Famed journalist Halberstam dies in Menlo Park crash



Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist and author David Halberstam was killed this morning in a three-vehicle crash near the Dumbarton Bridge in Menlo Park, the San Mateo County Coroner's Office reported.

Halberstam won a Pulitzer Prize in 1964 for his reporting for the New York Times in the early days of the Vietnam War.

He later wrote "The Best and the Brightest," about why the country went to war in Vietnam, "The Powers That Be," about the rise of modern media, "The Fifties," about that decade in American life and "The Summer of '49," about the pennant race that year between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, among other books.

According to a spokeswoman with the University of California, Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, Halberstam left Berkeley this morning and was on his way to an interview in the South Bay about a new book he was working on about the Korean War. Halberstam was being driven to the interview by a graduate student at the journalism school.

Halberstam had given a lecture Saturday at an alumni conference at the school, the spokeswoman said.

Halberstam, 73, of New York City, was a passenger in one of the vehicles and was the only fatality, according to Deputy Coroner Michelle Rippy.

The crash was reported shortly after 10:30 a.m. on the westbound Bayfront Expressway at Willow Road, according to Menlo Park police Public Information Officer Nicole Acker.

Menlo Park Fire District units also responded to the crash.

According to Fire District Chief Harold Schapelhouman, emergency units arrived to find Halberstam trapped in the passenger side of a red Toyota Camry and the car's motor compartment on fire.

While the fire was extinguished, emergency crews worked to free Halberstam from the passenger side of the vehicle, which had been caved in about 18 to 24 inches by the impact of the collision, Schapelhouman said.

Halberstam was extricated but had no pulse and was not breathing, according to Schapelhouman. Lifesaving measures were not successful and Halberstam was pronounced dead at the scene, he said.

According to the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism spokeswoman, the male driver of the car in which Halberstam was riding is a student at the journalism school and was taken to Stanford Medical Center. He is believed to be "doing okay," the spokeswoman said.

Two other cars were involved in the crash, Schapelhouman said, the primary one a late-model, green Infiniti. Its driver was taken to Stanford Medical Center, he said. The female driver of the third vehicle, a silver Nissan coupe, was uninjured, according to Schapelhouman.

Police are still looking for witnesses to help in their investigation, Acker said. Anyone with information about the collision are asked to call Menlo Park police at 650-330-6300.

Halberstam is widely known for his coverage of the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights movement and also penned several books on sports. He was born in New York City and in 1964, received the Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on the Vietnam War.

Additional reporting by Don Kazak.

http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/show_story.php?id=4924

San Jose Mercury Story:
http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_5733552

August 1

The Polish Home Army has begun a battle to liberate Warsaw, the first European capital to fall to the Germans nearly five years ago.
At 1700 local time, the code signal "Tempest" was given and there was a wave of explosions and rifle fire throughout the city.

Reports from Poland say the timing of the uprising was chosen for maximum effect as the Germans appeared to be about to withdraw from Warsaw.

The German frontline has been forced to retreat over the past few months in the face of a sustained attack from the Red Army, forcing them out of the Baltic States, Belorussia and western Poland.

Soviet troops are now said to be fighting within 10-12 miles of Praga, the suburb on Warsaw's right bank.

To the north of the city, Soviet troops are advancing north-westward to Warsaw, with the River Vistula on their left flank.

General Tadeusz 'Bor' Komorowski, commander-in-chief of the Home Army, or Armia Krajowa, wanted to take the Germans by surprise and seized his opportunity in late afternoon.

He sent out a rallying call to his troops: "Today I have issued the order you have been waiting for, the order to begin open battle against Poland's age-old enemy, the German invader.

"After nearly five years of uninterrupted and heavy fighting underground, today you will carry your arms in the open in order to free your country again and to render exemplary punishment to the German criminals for the terror and crimes committed on Polish soil."

He has an estimated 40,000 troops, including 4,000 women, but they have only enough arms for about 2,500 - and most of those are rifles and tommy guns.

During the first day's fighting significant areas of the city's left bank have been captured, including the main post office and mint. Gas, electricity and water services have all been returned to Polish hands.

A network of street barricades has been erected blocking the flow of traffic in and out of the city.

Reports speak of a great pall of smoke hanging over the city - though to have been caused by the Germans setting fire to buildings.

Casualty reports suggest 2,000 Poles and 500 Germans may have been killed.

one of my fave photographers died on Saturday at the age of 60. i have a collection of books that feature her work as well as others. Mostly with her coverage of Vietnam (she was only 21 when she arrived). A year after getting to Vietnam, she was the only journalist to combat jump. She was also captured by the NVA during the Tet Offensive but talked her way out. She also was able to photograph the NVA in action and got the cover of Life.

She also worked in Northern Ireland, Cypruss, Somalia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, and Libya.


Corpsman Vernon Wike, 2/3rd Marine, applies first aid to a wounded Marine. Battle for Hill 881. 1967


Corpsman Vernon Wike, 2/3rd Marine, tries to detect a heartbeat amidst the deafening noise of the battle. Battle for Hill 881. 1967


Corpsman Vernon Wike, 2/3rd Marine, looks in anguish when he realizes that his buddy is dead. Battle for Hill 881. 196

i have one of her books: "Under Fire: Images from Vietnam"
Published just last year (30th anniversary of the fall of saigon)
it also features my other favorite photographers like Larry Burrows, Henri Huet, and Don McCullin...
and the writings of David Halberstam, Philip Caputo, Neil Sheehan, and Tim O’Brien.

going on at home

NOVA #3004 BATTLE OF THE X-PLANES
11/03 8pm (1:54:18) (CC) (DVI)
They called it the "Great Fighter War" -- the
world's two aerospace titans battling for the
most lucrative contract in military history. A
trillion dollars and the future of America's
fighter industry are at stake as Boeing and
Lockheed Martin take on the challenge of the
Joint Strike Fighter competition. Filmed over
four years, "Battle of the X-Planes" takes
viewers behind the scenes, from design and
assembly to the test flights. With unprecedented
access from the Department of Defense, the film
marks the first time that filmmakers have ever
been allowed inside a major weapons competition.

AMERICAN EXPERIENCE #1710 VICTORY IN THE PACIFIC
11/07 10pm, 11/09 3am (1:56:19) (CC) (DVI)
"Take no prisoners. Fight to the bitter end."
Those were everyday words to combat troops on
both sides at the end of World War II in the
Pacific. And they led to an unprecedented orgy of
slaughter. In this provocative, thorough
examination of the final months of the war, this
film looks at the escalation of bloodletting from
the vantage point of both the Japanese and the
Americans. As the film will show, most of the
Emperor's inner circle was determined to continue
the war even after losses in the Philippines in
February 1945 cut off Japan's supply lines. And
though he was warned that the country, brought to
its knees by the conflict, might erupt in a
Communist revolution, Emperor Hirohito believed
that one last decisive battle could reverse
Japan's fortunes. The Americans, for their part,
were startled by the intensity and determination
of the Japanese defenders in the South Pacific.
From the U.S. capture of the Mariana Islands,
through the firebombing of Tokyo and the dropping
of the atomic bomb, this program chronicles the
dreadful and unprecedented loss of life and the
decisions made by leaders on both sides that finally ended the war.

today is the 60th anniversary of the bombing of hiroshima
hmmm
2 more days and nagasaki follows

done shooting here!
rawr!
straight jacket fun!

driving up today was hot as hell
it's like 105

and there was hella traffic on the 80E for some reason
assholes
oh well

back towards sacto now!
well, after i get dressed that is.

june usually respresents the end of the school year
just a couple of weeks and then freedom for the summer
i guess it's not necessarily that way all the time,
especially if you have to take summer sessions

last year on this date i was in Zurich with emilymarilyn
i was in the middle of my big euro tour of summer 2004.

i've been technically free from school since December.
it's nice to be able to travel without having to transport heavy books around
but then the lack of purpose does hit me once in a while

i have been getting booked for events and shoots and while i'd like to start to begin my career change,
i feel as though waiting isn't necessarily a bad thing as the opportunities i'm receiving now wont be around later.
i might as well continue while the going is good. though i do feel lucky in the sense that i have been able to do this type of work for so many years. ok. some luck mixed with good business sense and skill.

but then once in a while people ask and i dont know what to say.
i'm having fun with my job and i will have to stop sooner or later.
later sounds good to me, but how much later i wonder?

anyways, i got this in the mail the other day
i only opened it today

thought it was a bill.
HAH



Phi Alpha Theta
By its National Council
does hereby certify
that in recognition of
Conspicuous Attainments and Scholarship
in the field of history
Membership is Duly conferred on
KUMI MONSTER
beta lambda chapter
April 05, 2005

PhiAlphaTheta is the honors history group
i stumbled to the meetings once in a while
when i wasn't scheduled to work on the Burdick Military History Project Internship.
ok. it doesnt read kumimonster
but i blured out my legal name cuz some of you are fucking stalkers.