3.04.2007

Bush Tours Tornado Damage in US Midwest, Southeast



03 March 2007

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U.S. President George Bush is touring damage from killer tornadoes in America's Midwest and Southeast. VOA White House Correspondent Scott Stearns reports, the violent weather killed at least 20 people.

Scene at school in Enterprise, Alabama after tornado struck, 1 Mar 2007
The president's helicopter flew over the path of the deadly storm in the state of Alabama, where eight teenagers were killed Thursday in the collapse of a high school in the town of Enterprise.

Meeting with state and local officials in Enterprise, President Bush called on Americans to help those affected.

"Some people are going to need your help," he said. "There have been some poor citizens who may or may not qualify for federal help, who are going to need the help of our fellow citizens. And, I would ask you, out of the generosity of your heart, to help the folks down here. This storm was a tough storm."

The storm killed two other people in Alabama, nine in the neighboring state of Georgia, and a young girl in Missouri.

Fourteen teams of experts from the Federal Emergency Management Agency are evaluating the damage to assess what federal assistance might be needed in situations that overwhelm state and local capabilities.

President Bush tours tornado damage at Enterprise High School in Enterprise, Alabama, 3 Mar 2007
That agency and President Bush were widely criticized for their poor response to Hurricane Katrina in August of 2005, which killed more than 1,800 people along the Gulf Coast.

Asked if the president's decision to visit the tornado-stricken areas Saturday was influenced by the political fall-out from Hurricane Katrina, White House Spokeswoman Dana Perino said that was never part of the discussion.

Traveling with the president, FEMA Director David Paulson stressed how much the response system has changed since Hurricane Katrina, telling reporters that federal officials no longer wait for state and local governments to be overwhelmed before stepping in.

Paulson says FEMA quickly supplied food, water, ice, plastic sheeting and communications equipment to help state officials care for people whose homes were damaged.

US Army Secretary Resigns Over Poor Conditions at Medical Facility



03 March 2007

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The secretary of the U.S. Army has resigned amid a scandal over the quality of health care for troops wounded in Afghanistan and Iraq. VOA White House Correspondent Scott Stearns reports, President Bush wants a bipartisan commission to investigate ahead of Congressional hearings by opposition Democrats.

Francis Harvey (file photo)
U.S. defense officials say Defense Secretary Robert Gates asked for the resignation of Army Secretary Francis Harvey, because he said he was disappointed that some Army officials were not taking the poor treatment of wounded soldiers seriously enough.

Harvey's forced resignation follows the ouster of the general who ran the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where an investigation by The Washington Post newspaper uncovered recuperating soldiers living in a run-down building, infested with mice, mold and cockroaches.

The scandal is especially embarrassing for President Bush, who regularly visits with wounded troops at Walter Reed. He used his weekly radio address to announce a bipartisan commission to investigate.

George Bush, 2 Mar 2007
"Some of our troops at Walter Reed have experienced bureaucratic delays and living conditions that are less than they deserve," he said. "This is unacceptable to me, it is unacceptable to our country, and it's not going to continue."

Mr. Bush says he will name the members of that group and their deadline for reporting back to him in the coming days. He says he wants the commission to evaluate the treatment of wounded from the time they leave the battlefield to their return to civilian life as veterans.

The commander-in-chief has seen his public approval ratings fall over the war in Iraq. Opinion polls say a majority of Americans oppose the president's sending more than 20,000 additional troops as part of a new strategy to secure Baghdad.

Most opposition Democrats also oppose that plan, but are reluctant to cut funding for the troop increase, concerned that might appear disloyal to soldiers serving in harms way. Democrats have responded swiftly to the scandal at Walter Reed.

Congressional Democrats have already scheduled hearings for next week, one at Walter Reed with some of the recovering soldiers who have struggled through Army bureaucracy.

In the Democratic radio address, Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman, who is an independent, said soldiers with brain injuries have gone weeks without being able to get doctor appointments.

"There is not enough staff with the right skills to treat and care for the severely injured troops," he said. "And, rooms where some soldiers lived were found to be moldy and infested with rodents. Our nation has no greater moral and patriotic responsibility than to ensure that these brave Americans receive first class treatment, not only immediately after their injuries, but for their entire lives, through the Veterans Administration."

Lieberman says it is unacceptable that service members and veterans suffering from mental illness are not receiving proper care.

VOASE0303_People In America

03 March 2007
Billy Wilder, 1906-2002: He Made Movies That People Will Never Forget

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VOICE ONE:

I’m Mary Tillotson.

VOICE TWO:

And I’m Steve Ember with the VOA Special English program, PEOPLE IN AMERICA. Today we tell about Billy Wilder. He was the director of some of the greatest American movies.

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VOICE ONE:

Many experts say that Billy Wilder changed the history of American movies. He is often called the best movie maker Hollywood has ever had. He was

Billy Wilder
known for making movies that offered sharp social comment and adult sexual situations. Wilder was one of the first directors to do this.

Between the middle nineteen thirties and the nineteen eighties, Billy Wilder made almost fifty movies. During that time he received more than twenty nominations from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He won six of the Oscar awards. His movies have been seen by people around the world. Wilder made famous movies like “Sunset Boulevard”, “Some Like It Hot”, and “Double Indemnity.” He also directed “The Lost Weekend”, “The Apartment”, and “The Seven Year Itch.”

VOICE TWO:

Samuel Wilder was born in nineteen-oh-six in the former Austro-Hungarian Empire. His birthplace is now part of Poland. His mother had enjoyed spending several years in the United States when she was young. So she called him Billy because she thought it sounded American.

Billy Wilder started law school in Vienna, Austria. Then he decided not to become a lawyer. Instead, he began reporting for a Vienna newspaper. By the nineteen twenties, he was writing movies in Germany.

However, the Nazis had risen to power in the nation. Wilder was Jewish, and he recognized that he had no future in Nazi Germany. In nineteen thirty-three, he went to Paris. There he directed a movie for the first time. It was called “The Bad Seed.” Then he received word that producers in the United States had accepted one of his scripts. Billy Wilder left Europe for America.

VOICE ONE:

Billy Wilder had only eleven dollars when he arrived to settle in the United States in nineteen thirty-four. He decided to live in the center of American movie making, Hollywood, California. At the time, many people who had left Germany were working there. They helped Wilder get jobs. After a while he formed a writing team with Charles Brackett. The two writers created many films together.

Wilder and Brackett wrote several successful movies. One was the nineteen thirty-nine movie, “Ninotchka”, starring Greta Garbo. Ernst Lubitsch directed the film. Wilder always praised this man as a friend and teacher whose humor and expert direction greatly influenced his work.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

In his love stories, Billy Wilder did not follow the Hollywood tradition of sweet boy-meets-girl situations. He had an unusual way of showing relations between men and women. For example, one of his most successful films was “Hold Back the Dawn.” The French actor Charles Boyer plays a refugee in this nineteen forty-one film. He marries an American woman so he can enter the United States.

In nineteen forty-four, Billy Wilder made a film called “Double Indemnity.” Some critics said this movie established him as one of the greatest Hollywood directors. It told a vicious story about a married woman and her boyfriend. They plot the death of her husband.

Charles Brackett thought the story was not moral. So the famous American mystery writer Raymond Chandler was asked to help write the script.

VOICE ONE:

As a director, Billy Wilder often violated Hollywood customs about social issues. For example, someone who drinks too much alcohol had rarely been a movie subject. Then Wilder directed “The Lost Weekend” in nineteen forty-five. Charles Brackett returned to work on the movie with him. They developed the script from a book by Charles Jackson.

Ray Milland plays the part of an alcoholic writer in the movie. It shows that alcohol rules his life, yet he does not admit it. He hides alcohol in his home and says he is not drinking.

VOICE TWO:

Reports at the time said manufacturers of alcoholic drinks tried to suppress the movie. They did not succeed. The public and critics praised “The Lost Weekend” for its painful honesty. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences gave Ray Milland the best actor award. Billy Wilder won two Academy Awards. One honored his part in writing the script. The other honored his direction. “The Lost Weekend” also won the first Grand Prix – first prize -- of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France.

World War Two ended in nineteen forty-five. Wilder had become an American citizen in nineteen thirty-nine. After the war, Wilder was asked by the United States Army to go to Germany to help re-organize the movie industry and radio media. The Nazi government had used both for its propaganda. While in Germany, Wilder learned that the Nazis had murdered his sister, his mother and his mother’s husband.

VOICE ONE:

In nineteen fifty, Wilder made “Sunset Boulevard.” This movie told of an aging actress in silent movies. She plans to return to movies. Gloria Swanson played this star. More than fifty years later, movie-lovers can still repeat some of her lines.

In one of the famous lines in “Sunset Boulevard,” Miz Swanson remembers telling the famous director Cecil B. DeMille that she is prepared for him to start filming:

(GLORIA SWANSON: “I’m ready for my close-up, Mister DeMille.” )

VOICE TWO:

“Sunset Boulevard” won three Academy awards. One honored the writing team of Wilder, Brackett and D. M. Marshman Junior. The movie marked the last time Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett wrote together.

Wilder also was highly praised for “Stalag Seventeen”, which he both produced and directed. The movie mixes humor and wartime realism. William Holden plays a dishonest American war prisoner in a World War Two German camp for Allied servicemen. Holden won the nineteen fifty-three Academy Award for his part. Wilder was nominated for best director.

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VOICE ONE:

In nineteen fifty-four, Billy Wilder became an independent producer. He left Paramount Pictures, the motion picture company he had worked with for many years. He left after company officials cut many anti-Nazi comments from a version of “Stalag Seventeen.” That version was to be shown in Germany.

The next year, Wilder’s first movie as an independent filmmaker was a huge success. It was “The Seven Year Itch.” He developed the movie from a play by George Axelrod. In this movie, a married man wants to cheat on his wife with a beautiful golden-haired young woman. Marilyn Monroe played the young woman. The part launched her as a major Hollywood success. Some critics said Marilyn Monroe gave her best performances under Billy Wilder’s direction.

VOICE TWO:

In nineteen fifty-nine, Wilder made a funny movie that was very popular. I. A. L. Diamond joined Wilder in writing “Some Like It Hot.” It tells about two jazz musicians being chased by criminals. Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis play the musicians. They decide to wear women’s clothes and join a band in which all the musicians were women. Marilyn Monroe plays one of the band members. She wants to make Lemmon and Curtis believe she is a musician.

(MARILYN MONROE: “I’m Sugar Kane. My mother was a piano teacher and my father was a conductor”)

VOICE ONE:

Billy Wilder continued to make interesting movies through the nineteen sixties and nineteen seventies. As usual, he filled his movies with social comment and sexual situations. Over the years, however, other writers and directors also did this. By the nineteen eighties Wilder no longer was considered the most unusual, creative moviemaker in Hollywood.

VOICE TWO:

In recent years, however, Billy Wilder received many more awards and honors. Critics praised his gifts to movie making. In nineteen eighty-seven, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences gave him the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award. It is the highest award a producer can receive.

Wilder died in March, two thousand two. He was ninety-five. A current Hollywood producer said: “Billy Wilder made movies that people will never forget.”

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VOICE ONE:

This VOA Special English program was written by Jerilyn Watson and produced by Caty Weaver. I’m Mary Tillotson.

VOICE TWO:

And I’m Steve Ember. Join us again next week for another PEOPLE IN AMERICA program on the Voice of America.