Japan Times

David Cozy at the Japan Times named Black Glasses Like Clark Kent to his "Best of Asia 2008" list--which is very short! Now if there were only more readers of English in Japan.

Old but Relevant

Practically a movie already! 28 black veterans wait 64 years to have their names cleared in the lynching of an Italian POW in Seattle--and the last survivor dies right after hearing the Army apologize. All because Jack Hamann wrote On American Soil. My dream of course with Black Glasses.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93304327

NOW THE HELL WILL START

A "non-fiction thriller" by Brendan Koernan about a black soldier fleeing WWII racism by hiding in the Burma jungle. Very well-documented, exciting chase and sad ending. But the book did get written.

Apologies

Somewhere in the shift of blogtech, I was lost--but now I'm found. Several posts to follow.

New Doc by Hoop Dreams Directors about Death Penalty

Hoping to renew discussion on the death penalty, the directors have just released At The Death House Door about a chaplain who oversaw 95 executions and concluded that "they served neither justice nor morality." This is the NY Times review:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/27/arts/television/27docu.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Lawsuit: Veterans Affairs has failed to prevent suicides

April 20, 2008

Lawsuit accuses Department of Veterans Affairs of failing to prevent an 'epidemic of suicide'

By PAUL ELIAS

The Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs isn't doing enough to prevent suicide and provide adequate medical care for Americans who have served in the armed forces, a class-action lawsuit that goes to trial this week charges.

The lawsuit, filed in July by two nonprofit groups representing military veterans, accuses the agency of inadequately addressing a "rising tide" of mental health problems, especially post-traumatic stress disorder.

But government lawyers say the VA has been devoting more resources to mental health and making suicide prevention a top priority. They also argue that the courts don't have the authority to tell the department how it should operate.

The trial is set to begin Monday in a San Francisco federal court.

An average of 18 military veterans kill themselves each day, and five of them are under VA care when they commit suicide, according to a December e-mail between top VA officials that was filed as part of the federal lawsuit.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=4689416

First Nebraskan killed in Iraq from my hometown

He died two weeks into the war five years ago and his relatives are still for the war! His nephew has signed up to join the reserves!


NPR March 23, 2008
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88883461