VOASE0318_This Is America

18 March 2007

On a Farm, Life Has to Go On -- Even in the Dead of Winter
Meet the Fitzpatricks, a family in rural Michigan with an award-winning barn and a strong connection to local history.

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VOICE ONE:

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Faith Lapidus. Every family has a story. Today we travel to a farm in the Midwest, the center of American agriculture, to meet the Fitzpatrick family.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Thick snow falls on the quiet Michigan countryside as we make our way to visit Leo Fitzpatrick and his family.

The Fitzpatricks are among the minority of Americans who live a rural life. Instead of a big city, they live near small towns. And, unlike many families today, they all still live near each other.

As we drive along a country road, we can see many buggies in a line near a farmhouse. These belong to Leo's Amish neighbors. The people are attending religious services in a home. The Amish live as people did many years ago.

The horses that pull the buggies are nowhere to be seen -- probably warming up inside a barn.

VOICE TWO:

It seems hard to believe that any crop could survive this icy weather. The land is asleep. But not completely. Winter wheat grows in a field that belongs to the Fitzpatrick family.

Leo Fitzpatrick, the head of the family, farmed for most of his long life. Now he is leaving the work to his sons. The oldest son planted the wheat.

The Fitzpatrick family is well known in this corner of rural America. Some of them live on the family's one hundred fifteen hectares of land. Almost all have helped farm at some time or another, but most also hold other jobs. Some work in manufacturing. Another is an excavator; he has a digging and earth-moving business. Others work in a dentist's office, a post office and a courthouse.

VOICE ONE:

Leo Fitzpatrick's grandfather claimed land here more than one hundred years ago. In two thousand five, Leo was honored as the owner of the Michigan Centennial Farm of the Year. The honor goes to land that has been farmed by the same family for at least a century.

That might not sound like very long compared to other countries. But keep in mind that the United States is not yet two-and-a-half centuries old.

VOICE TWO:

Leo Fitzpatrick holds a picture of his prize-winning barn

Leo Fitzpatrick will be eighty years old in October. He looks powerful and muscular. And he soon proves it, as he leads a visitor around his farm through the deepening snow in the fierce cold and wind. A big red barn stands out even in the gathering darkness. Other, smaller red buildings house bright green farm machinery.

Leo explains that his grandfather, Dennis Fitzpatrick, built the barn more than ninety years ago. The family made repairs over the years. By the nineteen nineties, though, it became clear that the wooden structure would need a lot of work or it would have to be torn down.

Leo decided that he would restore the barn. He did much of the work himself, over a period of nine years. He also worked in a factory some of that time.

He used wood from trees in the area to strengthen and support the roof and the walls. To reach the roof he stood on bales of hay.

VOICE ONE:

Today the barn is a big star. In the last few years it has been named Michigan Barn of the Year and honored with the Barn Alive! Farm Heritage Award. The award is given by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and Successful Farming magazine.

Fitzpatrick's barn

In winter the Fitzpatricks use the barn to keep straw that they sell. The straw is made from the remainders of their wheat and oats. Nine thousand bales of straw reach almost to the roof of the barn. Near the roof is a round window. When the Fitzpatrick children were young, they climbed up to this window to look out at the surrounding land.

The barn is big enough to hold several hundred people. In warmer weather, the family uses it for social events like dances and special celebrations.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Another building on the Fitzpatrick property is a workshop. It contains what seems like every tool ever manufactured. The tools line the walls.

The workshop feels warm and welcoming. A corn burner heats the building. Kernels of corn make a very hot fire, Leo says.

Now we are on the move again, following Leo and his footsteps through the snow. His house is not far. It just feels that way in the wind.

(SOUND)

VOICE ONE:

Inside the house, family members are seated around a table. On this snowy day, the extended family has gathered for a meal. Everyone brought food -- lots of food. Corn pudding is being heated up in the oven. It smells wonderful.

Judy Fitzpatrick Weber (left) playing Scrabble next to Paul Webber and Mary Fitzpatrick (Leo's daughter-in-law)

Some people have been playing a lively game of Scrabble, a word game. There is much laughter and talking. One of the Fitzpatrick daughters holds a one-point lead over her brother's wife.

Others in the family have been talking about family happenings and local news. The youngest family members are playing computer games on a huge television.

VOICE TWO:

Leo Fitzpatrick's wife, Mary, died in nineteen ninety-six. But he never has to worry about being alone.

(SOUND)

"My name is Linda. I'm the second child to Leo."
"I am Leo Fitzpatrick's third daughter, third in line. And my name is Judy Weber."
"I am Leo's friend, Judy Grant."
"Leo Fitzpatrick. I'm the daddy of the seven children assembled here."
"I'm Leah Fitzpatrick, and I'm Vernon Fitzpatrick's wife."
"I'm Vernon Fitzpatrick, and I'm Leah Fitzpatrick's husband."
"I'm Dan Fitzpatrick, I'm the oldest son of three."
"I'm Terry Fitzpatrick, I'm the second son of three."
"I'm Debbie Fitzpatrick. I'm the oldest daughter."
"I'm Rhonda Reppert, I'm number six in the family, youngest daughter."
"I'm Sarah Fitzpatrick. I'm Leo's granddaughter."

VOICE ONE:

Where is Mark, the youngest of Leo's three sons? Mark is somewhere else in the house.

Some of the family moved out the area for a while, but in time they returned. Leo's daughter Rhonda married a man named John Reppert. For years they lived near the biggest city in Michigan, Detroit.

VOICE TWO:

Rhonda Reppert says it was good to come back. The Repperts now live in a big house that was built for them. The house is made from logs of cedar wood.

John Reppert likes to hunt and fish. But if he wants to see wildlife, all he has to do is look out his window. Rhonda says deer often come right up to the house.

VOICE ONE:

Rhonda's brother Dan never left the area. After high school he spent more than twenty years as a welder and part-time farmer. Then he got his wish. He became a full-time farmer. He plants corn, wheat and oats on more than three hundred twenty hectares of land, including some family land.

His father says Dan has greatly improved the farm's production with up-to-date agricultural methods and equipment. Dan planted soybeans once, not too long ago. The crop did well. But it was a loss. It was destroyed by hungry deer.

The Fitzpatricks used to raise turkeys, but not anymore, not since wild turkeys invaded their farm.

VOICE TWO:

Debbie, the oldest of the Fitzpatrick children, lives with her father and her sister Linda. Debbie works at a post office. Linda works at a machinery company in the nearby town of Beaverton, Michigan.

The two sisters have never moved from their childhood home. But they remember how the family would take a two-week vacation every year when the children were growing up. Linda and Debbie now continue that tradition. They often go to Canada with other family members and have traveled as far as New Zealand.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

These days only about two percent of Americans farm for a living. Part-time farming and community farming are gaining popularity. But traditional family farms have largely been replaced by big, highly productive factory farms.

Fifty years ago, fourteen hours of labor on one hectare of land produced about one hundred bushels of corn, or maize. Now it can be done with less than half a hectare. These numbers come from the United States Department of Agriculture.

But Leo Fitzpatrick points out that farmers still work very hard. It is not unusual for a farmer to work day and night at planting and harvest times.

LEO FITZPATRICK: "With all the gadgets and things that's great for industry and everything, we're still people who live off the land. We're part of the land. You can eat an old cow, but you can't eat an old computer."

VOICE TWO:

Leo and his friend Judy Grant belong to several historical societies. Together they research family history, and Leo has written a book about his ancestors.

His grandparents on his mother's side were named Abraham Lincoln Brubaker and Emma Cecilia Shondell. They arrived in Michigan with almost enough children to start a school. The family came from the neighboring state of Ohio. Fourteen of their sixteen children were born there.

VOICE ONE:

Leo Fitzpatrick makes it clear that he wants to help save the memories of America's rural past. He wants people to know the story of the land and its people.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Our program was written by Jerilyn Watson and produced by Caty Weaver. You can see pictures of the Fitzpatricks and their farm at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Faith Lapidus.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Steve Ember. From time to time we plan to introduce you to other American families, so keep listening. We hope you can join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.

VOASE0318_Development Report

18 March 2007

Honors for Women From China, Guatemala, India and Sudan
Vital Voices, a nonprofit group, recognizes seven at a ceremony in Washington for working for women’s rights in their countries.

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This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

Seven women were honored last week in Washington for their efforts to expand democracy and women’s rights in their countries. The seven from China, Guatemala, India and Sudan received awards from Vital Voices, a nonprofit group.

Doctor Gao Yaojie

Among them was Chinese AIDS activist Gao Yaojie, an eighty-year-old retired doctor. During the late nineteen nineties, Doctor Gao discovered a public health crisis in Henan province. Thousands of local farmers were being infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. They were selling their blood at collection centers that were using dirty needles and recycled blood.

Doctor Gao was almost not able to travel to the United States to receive the Vital Voices award. Local officials in Henan placed her under house arrest. But they let her travel after her situation received international attention.

Vital Voices also honored three other Chinese women. Guo Jianmei has led efforts to provide Chinese women with legal aid. Wang Xingjuan has created a telephone hotline for women seeking advice about their rights and ways to improve their economic situations. And Xie Lihua started Rural Women Knowing All magazine. She is also secretary general of the Cultural Development Center for Rural Women.

Vital Voices also recognized Margaret Alva from India. She has been a government minister and parliament member. She helped start a so-called "silent revolution" in an effort to guarantee that women’s voices are heard in Indian politics.

Award winner Maria Pacheco is from Guatemala. She has worked to help local women start small businesses and connect with world markets.

Awut Deng Acuil (left) with Margaret Alva

The seventh women is Awut Deng Acuil, a leader in conflict resolution in southern Sudan. She tells us that working for peace requires self-sacrifice. Becoming a victim does not give you hope, she says; what does is turning that experience into change for good.

Among those attending the ceremony was Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, a Vital Voices board member.

Until now, Vital Voices has only honored women. But this year it gave an award to Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh. He won the Nobel Peace Prize last year for starting the Grameen Bank, a leader in micro-lending, giving small loans as a way to fight poverty. The bank directs most of its services to women.

And that's the VOA Special English Development Report, written by Jill Moss. I'm Steve Ember.

Sandra Bullock Stars in New Romantic Thriller "Premonition"

By Alan Silverman Hollywood 18 March 2007

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Sandra Bullock stars in a new romantic thriller as a woman caught between what she knows is reality and a nightmare that she fears will come true. Alan Silverman has a look at Premonition.

Sandra Bullock "Premonition"

The apparently idyllic life of suburban housewife Linda Hanson is devastated by what the police officer at the door tells her. Then she awakens the next morning to find her husband Jim in bed next to her and very much alive.

But when the pattern starts to repeat ...when she wakes up to find her family in mourning ...Linda begins to believe that she is experiencing a Premonition and becomes determined to change the tragic fate it foretells.

Sandra Bullock stars as Linda and says she had to come to terms with her own beliefs about the unsettling feeling that something is about to happen. "I do think that there is something to human nature. You can call it intuitiveness or 'gut instinct' ...people who know things that have happened. It has happened to a lot of people, so when someone says to me 'I had a bad feeling that something is going to happen and then it did,' I don't know how to explain it. It can't be explained by science, but I believe in that happening," says the actress.

Jim McMahon, a co-star of the edgy TV series Nip/Tuck, plays Linda's husband, Jim. The Australia-born actor says his character is unaware of the fate his wife believes awaits him. "He had to live his life normally, but with this wife of his who is becoming a little strange, telling him 'don't go to work tomorrow, don't go there, don't do this ...' crazy stuff and particularly at a point in time when their relationship is pretty far on the rocks. So I felt like my part was kind of to solidify things a little bit, just in regards to the fact that we were, at some point, a normal family and this is the way we live our life. While she's going all haywire, living days out of order and doing all that kind of stuff, still whenever she came back to us it was just kind of normal life," he says.

If it seems confusing to describe, Sandra Bullock says imagine what it was like to act that out. I had a really hard time. I thought I was going to lose it. I went to the director and said 'I'm having a hard time. I don't know what to do.' There was a smile on his face when he heard that and he said 'no, this is exactly where you need to be.' I answered 'no, it's not' ...but in my unraveling we played the levels right. We played the levels right. Is she just pure grief here? When does the grief go into denial and anger? And when does she get angry at [events]? You have to start infusing ...it just wasn't pretty," she says.

"For me it was important that you believe her emotional journey," says Director Mennan Yapo. He says he could not worry about loose ends in the plot that might confuse the audience. The German-born filmmaker says the film balances on believing in the emotions that Bullock's character is going through. "Once you believe that, the details and all that become less important ...and they should, because at some point the story and the film should elevate into something else, and I feel it does. It goes to a place where you clearly understand that it's not only a thriller about this-and-that; it's about loss [and] much more. It's about what goes on inside of her."

Bullock says that once she accepted that premise and stopped questioning the details, she could take the character's emotional journey. "It was all about 'what is Linda going through at this point? What did she do with her kids? What wouldn't she say? Why doesn't she say anything to him, because he's going to think she's crazier.' So you feel it when you see it, but you don't know it until the pieces get together. Then, at the end, there's that feeling of 'what would I have done? Would I have gone back and changed or would I have let him die?' What would you have done?"

Premonition is written by Bill Kelly. The cast also features Peter Stormare as a psychiatrist to whom Linda turns for answers; and Amber Valletta is a woman in the husband's life who may hold a key to averting the tragic outcome.

Bush Cautions Democrats Against Setting Iraq Withdrawal Timeline

By Scott Stearns White House 17 March 2007

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U.S. President George Bush says he will veto an emergency spending bill for the war in Iraq, if Democrats, who control Congress, include conditions setting a timeline for the withdrawal of U.S. troops. Democrats say the president is committing American forces to an open-ended civil war. VOA White House Correspondent Scott Stearns reports.

President Bush says Democrats in Congress want to force a precipitous withdrawal from Iraq, just as his new strategy for success is beginning to show what he calls hopeful signs of progress.

President Bush

"As these operations unfold, they will help the Iraqi government stabilize the country, rebuild the economy, and advance the work of political reconciliation," said Mr. Bush. "Yet, the bill Congress is considering would undermine General Petraeus and the troops under his command, just as these critical security operations are getting under way."

General David Petraeus, the new U.S. commander in Iraq, was confirmed by the Senate without opposition.

The House of Representatives is expected next week to consider Democratic-sponsored legislation calling for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq no later than September next year, as part of a spending package that includes more than $95 billion for Iraq and Afghanistan. President Bush says Congressional Democrats want to impose what he calls arbitrary and restrictive conditions on the use of war funds.

In his weekly radio address, President Bush said imposing an artificial timetable on the war would be disastrous.

"Many in Congress say they support the troops, and I believe them," added Mr. Bush. "Now they have a chance to show that support in deed, as well as in word. Congress needs to approve emergency funding for our troops, without strings and without delay. If they send me a bill that does otherwise, I will veto it."

In the Democratic radio address, Washington Senator Patty Murray said narrowing America's mission gives U.S troops the best chance to succeed. She says it is time for a new direction in Iraq, not more of the same.

"Unfortunately, this is a reality President Bush and a majority of Congressional Republicans still refuse to recognize," she said. "They want to stay the course. They want to ignore the lessons of the last four years. They want to commit America to an open-ended civil war."

Tuesday marks the fourth anniversary of the U.S. invasion, and protests are planned around the country, including a march in Washington Saturday to the Pentagon. A public opinion poll by CNN says 61 percent of Americans believe the United States is not winning.

Senator Murray says the start of the fifth year of U.S. troops in Iraq will be a solemn day.

"In Congress, my fellow Democrats and I believe it is time to bring this war to a close," she added. "Our troops, who have served bravely under difficult conditions, have done everything we have asked. As we enter the fifth year, it is time for the Iraqis to step up, secure their own country, and finally take responsibility for their own future."

White House officials say the president does not intend to mark the anniversary of the invasion.

Thousands March in Washington to Protest Iraq War

By Sean Maroney Washington 17 March 2007

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Thousands of anti-war protestors rallied near the Pentagon Saturday, calling on President Bush to pull American forces out of Iraq. Organizers led the march to what was the site of a pivotal rally against the Vietnam war 40 years ago. VOA's Sean Maroney followed the rally from Washington to the Pentagon and has this report.

Riot police confront protesters near the Pentagon

Demonstrators huddled close to each other against the wind outside the Pentagon.

Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan addressed the predominately young crowd. Sheehan's son was killed while serving in Iraq. She invoked the memory of another demonstration outside the U.S. military headquarters decades ago against the Vietnam war. "Forty years ago, there was a march on the Pentagon," she said. "And here we are, 40 years later, marching on the Pentagon in another illegal and immoral war. When is it going to stop?"

Veterans and other activists also took the stage, calling on the Bush administration to change course. "I will be brutally honest, it is insane to believe that more of the same will end it," said one Iraq war veteran. "Our clever signs, our passionate speeches and our large crowds alone -- if that could end the war, we would not be here today."

Demonstrators opposed to the Iraq war march across the Memorial Bridge in Washington

The protesters had marched across the Potomac River from Washington's Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Many held signs calling for the United States to pull out of Iraq and for the impeachment of President Bush.

Across the street, a sizable gathering of counter-demonstrators waved their own placards that read "Peace Through Strength" and "Win the War or Lose Jihad."

Jane Johnson was among them. Her 22-year-old son was killed while serving in Baghdad. "To me, they are basically spitting on my son's grave," she said.

Juan Torres led the anti-war protesters during the march. His son also died while deployed overseas. "I come from Argentina to this beautiful country for my American dream. And my American dream is destroyed forever. My only son is dead now. This is why I came here. Because I don't want to see any more kids die," he said.

Police arrested a number of people assembled outside the White House Friday evening after an anti-war religious service ended at the Washington National Cathedral.

Protests are expected to continue in the coming days in the United States and elsewhere in the world ahead of Tuesday's four-year anniversary of the start of the war in Iraq.

Chlorine Gas Attacks in Iraq Injure 350

By Margaret Besheer Irbil, Iraq 17 March 2007

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In the volatile Western Iraqi province of Al-Anbar, suicide bombers driving trucks filled with chemicals struck at three different locations late Friday afternoon. U.S. military officials said Saturday at least two Iraqi policemen were killed and 350 civilians and six U.S. troops required medical treatment for exposure to chlorine gas.

A US soldier keeps watch in a Shi'ite enclave of Sadr City in Baghdad, Iraq

The two most serious explosions happened just south of the town of Fallujah, and a third, smaller blast occurred near Ramadi. Both towns are in the heartland of the Sunni Arab insurgency.

In each attack, a suicide bomber detonated a truck packed with explosives and chlorine canisters near police and civilian targets in crowded areas.

U.S. military officials said about 350 civilians required medical treatment. Most were suffering from signs of chlorine gas exposure, with symptoms ranging from minor skin and lung irritations to vomiting.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but some observers say they bear the hallmarks of al-Qaida in Iraq.

The French Press agency (AFP) reports that a senior Iraqi interior ministry official (Brigadier General Abdel Karim Khalaf) suggested the bombings may have been carried out in retaliation for recent government successes against insurgents in Ramadi.

This is not the first time insurgents have used unconventional weapons. Earlier this year, two separate bombings involving chlorine gas killed several people and sickened dozens more in Baghdad and Ramadi.

In February, the U.S. military said its troops uncovered a car bomb factory near Fallujah that had dozens of propane tanks and ordinary chemicals it believed the insurgents were going to try to mix with explosives.

Meanwhile, in Baghdad, Australian Prime Minister John Howard made an unannounced visit to meet with his Iraqi counterpart, Nouri al-Maliki, and to visit some of Australia's nearly 1,500 troops serving in Iraq.

At a joint press conference, Mr. Maliki said he did not want to put a timeline on Australian withdrawal, while Mr. Howard said his country's troops would remain in Iraq until the job is done.

"I have also told the prime minister that Australia will continue its presence in Iraq to assist in bringing about a situation where the Iraqi people are reasonably able to provide for their own future security," he said.

Most of Australia's troops are stationed in southern Iraq, along with British forces.

New Palestinian Unity Government Sworn In

By Robert Berger Jerusalem 17 March 2007

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The new Palestinian national unity government has been sworn in, after it was overwhelmingly approved by parliament Saturday. The ruling Islamic militant group Hamas now begins to share power with the rival and more moderate Fatah faction. The coalition agreement caps months of negotiations, and is aimed at ending infighting that has raised fears of civil war. As Robert Berger reports from VOA's Jerusalem bureau, the Palestinians are also hoping to end their international isolation.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, left, and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh from Hamas, right, raise their linked arms as they move through the crowd at a special session of parliament in Gaza City 17 Mar 2007

President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah began the parliament session with an appeal to the international community to lift crippling sanctions on the Palestinian Authority.

But Hamas has rejected key international conditions for removing the boycott, namely renunciation of violence and recognition of Israel. Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas reiterated that position in a policy speech.

Mr. Haniyeh said the new government affirms the Palestinians' right to resist the Israeli occupation "by all means," understood as a reference to shooting attacks and suicide bombings. Such attacks in the past have prompted the United States and European Union to brand Hamas a terrorist organization and cut off nearly $1 billion in annual aid.

Israel says it will not deal with the new government, and it will urge the international community to keep sanctions in place.

Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres told Israel Radio that if this is a government of terror and not peace, it should not be helped.

International reaction has been mixed. Russia said the new Palestinian government has taken international demands "into account," while Britain said it is "a step in the right direction."

However, the U.S. reiterated its long-term position that it will not deal with the Palestinian government until it renounces violence and recognizes Israel.

North Korea Will Not Stop Nuclear Program Unless US Releases Frozen Funds

By Heda Bayron Hong Kong 17 March 2007

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North Korea says it will not shut down its nuclear programs as agreed, until the United States releases millions of dollars frozen in a Macau bank. U.S. officials say that decision is up to Macau. The comments come ahead of Monday's resumption of six-nation talks in Beijing on North Korean nuclear disarmament. VOA's Heda Bayron reports from our Asia News Center in Hong Kong.

A branch of Banco Delta Asia in Macau (file photo)

North Korea's chief nuclear negotiator, Kim Kye Gwan, threatened to renege on his country's promise last month to abandon its nuclear programs, unless the issue of frozen North Korean funds in Macau is resolved.

Speaking in Beijing Saturday, Kim says his country will not shut down its main Yongbyon nuclear facility, until all the money is released.

The dispute erupted in September 2005, when the United States imposed restrictions on Macau's Banco Delta Asia for alleged money laundering for North Korea's illicit activities. The Monetary Authority of Macau subsequently froze about $24 million in North Korean funds.

The U.S. financial sanctions against North Korea led banks in other countries to curtail financial dealings with North Korea, cutting off much of the isolated country's access to international financing.

The United States had promised it would resolve the issue by this week ahead of crucial disarmament implementation talks in Beijing.

In a decision Wednesday, the U.S. Treasury Department said its investigation found that Banco Delta Asia had indeed "turned a blind eye on the illicit activity" of its North Korean clients, who the U.S. accuses of depositing money from narcotics trading and counterfeiting of U.S. currency. As a result, the United States is banning American banks from doing business with the Macau bank.

U.S. Treasury Department's Deputy Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing And Financial Crimes Daniel Glaser

U.S. Deputy Assistant Treasury Secretary Daniel Glaser met with Macau's leader and monetary authorities Saturday to discuss the U.S. findings. But he says it is not up to the United States to release North Korea's money.

"I think it is important to emphasize that it was a Macanese action to freeze the funds, and it will be a Macanese process to [determine] the release of the funds," he noted.

The financial issue had been a major stumbling block in nuclear negotiations. For more than a year, Pyongyang refused to return to the bargaining table. It only agreed to resume talks after it conducted its first ever-nuclear test last October.

At the February 13 talks, the U.S. promised to resolve the Macau bank issue after North Korea agreed to take steps to shut down its nuclear programs within 60 days, in exchange for economic and diplomatic benefits.

The next round of talks resume in Beijing Monday on how to implement the February agreement. The chief U.S. negotiator, Christopher Hill, says he does not believe the Macau bank issue should be an obstacle.

VOASE0317_People In America

17 March 2007

Thomas Edison, 1847-1931: America's Great Inventor
Edison is remembered most for the electric light, phonograph and his work with motion pictures.

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ANNOUNCER:

Welcome to the VOA Special English program, People in America. Today, Sarah Long and Bob Doughty tell about the inventor Thomas Alva Edison. He had a major effect on the lives of people around the world. Thomas Edison is remembered most for the electric light, his phonograph and his work with motion pictures.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Thomas Edison

Thomas Edison’s major inventions were designed and built in the last years of the eighteen hundreds. However, most of them had their greatest effect in the twentieth century. His inventions made possible the progress of technology.

It is extremely difficult to find anyone living today who has not been affected in some way by Thomas Edison. Most people on Earth have seen some kind of motion picture or heard some kind of sound recording. And almost everyone has at least seen an electric light.

These are only three of the many devices Thomas Edison invented or helped to improve. People living in this century have had easier and more enjoyable lives because of his inventions.

VOICE TWO:

Thomas Alva Edison was born on February eleventh, eighteen forty-seven in the small town of Milan, Ohio. He was the youngest of seven children.

Thomas Edison was self-taught. He went to school for only three months. His teacher thought he could not learn because he had a mental problem. But young Tom Edison could learn. He learned from books and he experimented.

At the age of ten, he built his own chemical laboratory. He experimented with chemicals and electricity. He built a telegraph machine and quickly learned to send and receive telegraph messages. At the time, sending electric signals over wires was the fastest method of sending information long distances. At the age of sixteen, he went to work as a telegraph operator.

He later worked in many different places. He continued to experiment with electricity. When he was twenty-one, he sent the United States government the documents needed to request the legal protection for his first invention. The government gave him his first patent on an electric device he called an Electrographic Vote Recorder. It used electricity to count votes in an election.

VOICE ONE:

In the summer months of eighteen sixty-nine, the Western Union Telegraph Company asked Thomas Edison to improve a device that was used to send financial information. It was called a stock printer. Mister Edison very quickly made great improvements in the device. The company paid him forty thousand dollars for his effort. That was a lot of money for the time.

This large amount of money permitted Mister Edison to start his own company. He announced that the company would improve existing telegraph devices and work on new inventions.

Mister Edison told friends that his new company would invent a minor device every ten days and produce what he called a “big trick” about every six months. He also proposed that his company would make inventions to order. He said that if someone needed a device to do some kind of work, just ask and it would be invented.

VOICE TWO:

Within a few weeks Thomas Edison and his employees were working on more than forty different projects. They were either new inventions or would lead to improvements in other devices. Very quickly he was asking the United States government for patents to protect more than one hundred devices or inventions each year. He was an extremely busy man. But then Thomas Edison was always very busy.

He almost never slept more than four or five hours a night. He usually worked eighteen hours each day because he enjoyed what he was doing. He believed no one really needed much sleep. He once said that anyone could learn to go without sleep.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Thomas Edison did not enjoy taking to reporters. He thought it was a waste of time. However, he did talk to a reporter in nineteen seventeen. He was seventy years old at the time and still working on new devices and inventions.

The reporter asked Mister Edison which of his many inventions he enjoyed the most. He answered quickly, the phonograph. He said the phonograph was really the most interesting. He also said it took longer to develop a machine to reproduce sound than any other of his inventions.

Thomas Edison told the reporter that he had listened to many thousands of recordings. He especially liked music by Brahms, Verdi and Beethoven. He also liked popular music.

Many of the recordings that Thomas Edison listened to in nineteen seventeen can still be enjoyed today. His invention makes it possible for people around the world to enjoy the same recorded sound.

VOICE TWO:

The reporter also asked Thomas Edison what was the hardest invention to develop. He answered quickly again -- the electric light. He said that it was the most difficult and the most important.

Before the electric light was invented, light was provided in most homes and buildings by oil or natural gas. Both caused many fires each year. Neither one produced much light.

Mister Edison had seen a huge and powerful electric light. He believed that a smaller electric light would be extremely useful.He and his employees began work on the electric light.

VOICE ONE:

An electric light passes electricity through material called a filament or wire. The electricity makes the filament burn and produce light. Thomas Edison and his employees worked for many months to find the right material to act as the filament.

Time after time a new filament would produce light for a few moments and then burn up. At last Mister Edison found that a carbon fiber produced light and lasted a long time without burning up. The electric light worked.

At first, people thought the electric light was extremely interesting but had no value. Homes and businesses did not have electricity. There was no need for it.

Mister Edison started a company that provided electricity for electric lights for a small price each month. The small company grew slowly at first. Then it expanded rapidly. His company was the beginning of the electric power industry.

VOICE TWO:

Thomas Edison also was responsible for the very beginnings of the movie industry. While he did not invent the idea of the motion picture, he greatly improved the process. He also invented the modern motion picture film.

When motion pictures first were shown in the late eighteen hundreds, people came to see movies of almost anything -- a ship, people walking on the street, new automobiles. But in time, these moving pictures were no longer interesting.

In nineteen-oh-three, an employee of Thomas Edison’s motion picture company produced a movie with a story. It was called “The Great Train Robbery.” It told a simple story of a group of western criminals who steal money from a train. Later they are killed by a group of police in a gun fight. The movie was extremely popular. “The Great Train Robbery” started the huge motion picture industry.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Thomas Alva Edison is remembered most for the electric light, his phonograph and his work with motion pictures. However, he also invented several devices that greatly improved the telephone. He improved several kinds of machines called generators that produced electricity. He improved batteries that hold electricity. He worked on many different kinds of electric motors including those for electric trains.

Mister Edison also is remembered for making changes in the invention process. He moved from the Nineteenth Century method of an individual doing the inventing to the Twentieth Century method using a team of researchers.

VOICE TWO:

In nineteen thirteen, a popular magazine at the time called Thomas Edison the most useful man in America. In nineteen twenty-eight, he received a special medal of honor from the Congress of the United States.

Thomas Edison died on January sixth, nineteen thirty-one. In the months before his death he was still working very hard. He had asked the government for legal protection for his last invention. It was patent number one thousand ninety-three.

(MUSIC)

ANNOUNCER:

This Special English program was written and produced by Paul Thompson. The announcers were Sarah Long and Bob Doughty.

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

VOASE0316_In the News

16 March 2007

Presidential Candidates Crowd the Field for a Long Race to November '08
Campaign for the White House is seen as the most wide open in many years.

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This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

Who will be the next person to live here?

The next presidential election in the United States is in November of two thousand eight. But a crowd of candidates and possible candidates is forming early for what is seen as one of the most wide open races in many years.

The last election without a sitting president or vice president as a candidate was either in nineteen fifty-two or nineteen twenty-eight. Political experts disagree. In any case, President Bush is constitutionally barred from a third term. And Vice President Dick Cheney says he will not be a candidate for president.

Every president and vice president has been white and male. The current group of candidates includes a woman, Hillary Rodham Clinton; an African-American, Barack Obama; a Latino, Bill Richardson; and a Mormon, Mitt Romney.

The diversity may not mean much to people who are waiting to hear more about candidates' positions. But others may feel conflicting loyalties. A black teenager in Washington, D.C., is excited that she will be old enough to vote in her first presidential election. She says that as a woman, she hopes Hillary Clinton will win. But as an African-American, she hopes Barack Obama will win.

"I'm in, and I'm in to win," says Hillary Clinton. The New York senator and former first lady is the most popular Democrat. But Senator Obama of Illinois has gained on her with a following that some call "Obamamania."

Another popular Democrat is John Edwards, the two thousand four vice presidential nominee. Also in the race are Senators Chris Dodd and Joe Biden, Representative Dennis Kucinich and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson.

In the race for the Republican nomination, some early studies show former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani in the lead. He gained national attention after the September eleventh, two thousand one, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.

Other Republicans include Arizona Senator John McCain and Kansas Senator Sam Brownback. They also include former governors Mitt Romney of Massachusetts and Mike Huckabee of Arkansas. Former House speaker Newt Gingrich is popular among Republicans. But he says he will wait until September to decide whether he will run.

Chuck Hagel announced that he too will make a decision later this year. The Nebraska senator is known for his criticism of President Bush's handling of the Iraq war. Sam Brownback is the only declared Republican candidate who has spoken out against the recent troop increase.

The presidential nominating process involves state primary elections and party meetings known as caucuses. A lot of states are moving to vote earlier than they have, in an effort to increase their influence.

California is the most populous state. Yet Californians were feeling disrespected by candidates because of their June primary. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has just signed legislation to move it to February fifth, a day when many other states may also vote.

And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English, written by Brianna Blake. I'm Steve Ember.

Britain Wants UN Security Council Attention on Zimbabwe

By Peter Heinlein United Nations 16 March 2007

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Britain is calling for a U.N. Security Council briefing on events in Zimbabwe, including the crackdown on government opponents. But as VOA correspondent Peter Heinlein at U.N. headquarters reports, the Council president, South Africa, is resisting the request.

Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai is seen in bed at a local hospital in Harare, 14 Mar. 2007

Britain's U.N. ambassador, Emyr Jones-Parry, Friday, said the widely condemned recent events in Zimbabwe, the attack on opposition leaders, including Morgan Tsvangirai, and what he called 'the impossibility of the present situation' warrant the Security Council's attention. He says the Council should be formally briefed by the U.N.'s political department.

"It is right the situation should be brought to the Security Council of the United Nations," he said. "That's what the briefing will do, actually making sure that the focus of attention here is on the appalling events of the last week, and the economic meltdown of a country, who, by it's own figures, its inflation rate is 1,740 percent, and the implications of that for the ordinary people of Zimbabwe, and potentially for the region."

But the request for a briefing immediately ran into opposition from regional power South Africa, which holds the rotating Security Council presidency this month. South Africa's U.N. ambassador, Dumisani Kumalo, called the British request 'surprising,' and said his country sees no need to bring the issue of Zimbabwe before the Council.

"We did put South Africa on record that we do not believe that the issue of Zimbabwe belongs to the Security Council, because it is not a matter of international peace and security," he said.

In the past, China, Russia and several African nations have opposed bringing Zimbabwe before the Security Council.

Britain demanded and received a Council briefing nearly two years ago on Zimbabwe's controversial urban slum demolition drive. In a rare protest, several ambassadors walked out of the Council chamber after a motion to hold the briefing passed by a narrow margin.

British ambassador Jones-Parry argued Friday that the earlier vote effectively placed Zimbabwe on the Council's permanent agenda.

"Remember, Zimbabwe is a formal agenda item," he added. "Yes, it was agreed last year. It was agreed by a majority vote in the council, formally."

U.N. diplomats noted Friday that, if South Africa succeeds in delaying a briefing on Zimbabwe, conditions could change next month, when Britain assumes the Security Council presidency.

Opposition MDC faction leader Arthur Mutambara(c) chairman of the National Constitutional Assembly Lovemore Madhuku(l) and Tendai Biti(r) Secretary General of the main opposition faction vowed to forge an alliance against Mugabe's government

Jones-Parry said Britain is also pursuing the Zimbabwe issue at the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva. The United States and Australia have also joined the call for increasing sanctions on President Robert Mugabe's government.

In a related development, Nobel Peace laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu issued a statement saying Africans should hang their heads in shame over what is happening in Zimbabwe. He questioned how African leaders could show so little concern.

News reports from Harare say the injured opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, was discharged from the hospital Friday, and he and other opposition leaders vowed to keep battling against President Mugabe's rule.

Israeli PM Admits He's Unpopular but Rejects Calls to Resign

By Robert Berger Jerusalem 16 March 2007

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Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is brushing off polls which show the vast majority of the public wants him to resign. As Robert Berger reports from VOA's Jerusalem bureau, Mr. Olmert's political fortunes have plummeted since the Lebanon War in July and August of last year.

Ehud Olmert

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert admits that he has lost the support of the Israeli public.

"I'm an unpopular prime minister," Mr. Olmert said. "The polls say so and they are right. I am indeed an unpopular prime minister."

Mr. Olmert's approval rating has plunged to single digits in the wake of last year's Lebanon War, which was widely seen as a failure.

Despite a 34-day air and ground assault, the powerful Israeli army was unable to defeat 5,000 Hezbollah fighters entrenched in South Lebanon.

The prime minister's political fortunes took a turn for the worse this week, when the official commission of inquiry into the war announced that it would issue an interim report next month on Mr. Olmert's "personal responsibility."

Israeli politicians and the media believe that means he will be condemned for his handling of the war and could be forced to resign under the pressure of public opinion.

But Mr. Olmert said those seeking his downfall will have to wait.

"I know this is hunting season," he said, "but I'm here to work and to lead."

Mr. Olmert was speaking to his ruling Kadima party in a bid to boost sagging morale. Polls show that if elections were held today, Kadima would win only 10 seats in the 120-member parliament, down from its current 29. The party enjoyed a meteoric rise to power in a landslide election victory a year ago, but now, it is in danger of a meteoric fall.

Former CIA Officer Testifies White House 'Recklessly' Exposed Her Identity

By Dan Robinson Capitiol Hill 16 March 2007

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Former undercover CIA officer Valerie Plame, who has been at the center of a controversy involving the role White House officials played in revealing her identity, has testified in public for the first time at a congressional hearing. VOA's Dan Robinson reports from Capitol Hill, her dramatic appearance before a House committee was her first before Congress, and came four years after her identity was leaked in 2003.

Valerie Plame testifies before US Congressional committee 16 Mar. 2007

Plame and her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, alleged that senior administration officials deliberately leaked her CIA identity to the media in retaliation for Wilson's allegation that the administration distorted intelligence on Iraq's weapons programs.

The scandal led to the recent conviction of senior White House aide Lewis Libby, who was found guilty of lying, perjury and obstruction of justice in connection with the investigation into the leak.

Congressman Henry Waxman opened Friday's hearing, saying its purpose was to find out whether White House officials took appropriate actions to safeguard Plame's identity.

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Representative Henry Waxman

"How did such a serious violation of our national security occur? Two, did the White House take the appropriate investigative and disciplinary steps after the breach occurred? And three, what changes in White House procedures to prevent future violations of our national security from occurring?," he said.

Waxman read a statement to the committee from the CIA supporting Plame's long-standing contention that she was an undercover agent, and, in the CIA's words, working on some of the most sensitive and highly-secretive matters handled by the agency, including service overseas.

Plame said that, in the days before her identity was revealed, she was working on classified weapons proliferation issues. She says she was shocked by evidence that emerged in the recent trial of former White House aide Lewis Libby.

"My name and identity were carelessly and recklessly abused by senior government officials in both the White House and the State Department," she said.

"All of them understood that I worked for the CIA. And having signed oaths to protect national security secrets, they should have been diligent in protecting me and every CIA officer," she added.

Former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby leaves federal court in Washington, 06 Mar 2007

Saying grave harm is done when undercover identities are revealed, Plame said evidence that emerged in the trial of Lewis Libby showed a pattern of, in her words, "creeping insidious politicizing" of the intelligence process.

"Testimony in the criminal trial of Vice President Cheney's chief of staff, who has now been convicted of serious crimes, indicates that my exposure resulted from purely political motives," she said.

Plame cited a number of visits by Vice President Cheney to the CIA in the weeks leading up to the U.S. invasion of Iraq as an example of political pressure being put on the agency.

In this exchange with Democrat Chris Van Hollen, Plame said Karl Rove, a close aide to the president, was involved in the disclosure of her identity.

VAN HOLLEN: "Do you believe there continue to be people, individuals in this administration, who were involved in leaking the information about you?"

PLAME: "Yes congressman, as we know again from the evidence that was introduced at the trial of the vice president's former chief of staff, for one, Karl Rove clearly was involved in the leaking of my name, and he still carries a security clearance to this day, despite the president's words to the contrary that he would immediately dismiss anybody who had anything to do with this."

Critics of Plame and her husband, including some key Republicans in Congress, have challenged their assertion that she was a covert agent. In response to repeated questions, Plame reaffirmed her undercover status.

Congressman Tom Davis questioned whether White House officials actually knew about this.

"It is a terrible thing that any CIA operative would be outed. But what is difficult, I think, what we have not been able to establish here, is who knew who was undercover, who was in a covert status, and, I think, we're going to have to look at that. But, if there is no evidence here that the people that were outing this or pursuing this had knowledge of the covert status," he said.

In later testimony, attorney Victoria Toensing disputed Plame's assertion that she was covert, saying her responsibilities did not qualify her as such under existing law aimed at protecting undercover agents.

And the director of the White House Office of Security since August 2004, James Knodell, faced intense questioning about what, if any, internal investigation was conducted by the White House itself.

None was conducted by officials in charge at the time, he said, because the matter had already been referred, at the request of the CIA, to the Department of Justice. But he added that an internal probe might be appropriate, now that the criminal investigation was completed.

WAXMAN: "Do you know whether there was an investigation at the White House after the leaks came out?"

KNODELL: "I don't have any knowledge of an investigation in my office."

WAXMAN: "Ever?"

KNODELL: "I do not."

No White House or State Department officials alleged to have been involved in the leaking of Plame's identity testified before the House panel.

VOASE0315_American Mosaic

15 March 2007

Most Americans Have No Connection to Ireland. But You Would Never Know That on St. Patrick's Day
Also: A question from Brazil about the difference between advertising and propaganda. And music by the Thievery Corporation.

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HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC, in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

I'm Doug Johnson. On our show this week:

We answer a question about advertising …

Play some music from Thievery Corporation …

And report about Saint Patrick's Day.

Saint Patrick's Day

Celebrating St. Patrick's Day the American way

Saturday, March seventeenth is Saint Patrick’s Day. In Ireland, it is a religious holiday that honors the man who brought Christianity to that country in the fifth century. In the United States, people celebrate with parades and parties. Faith Lapidus tells us more.

FAITH LAPIDUS:

Saint Patrick’s Day has changed over the years. It is no longer a day to celebrate only Saint Patrick, but a day to celebrate all things Irish.

In nineteen ninety-five, the United States Congress declared the month of March as Irish-American Heritage Month. The American president releases a statement about it every year. The statement praises Americans whose families came to the United States from Ireland. And it calls on all Americans to celebrate the month by learning about the influence of Irish-Americans.

The Census Bureau reports that more than thirty-four million Americans say their ancestors came from Ireland. That is twelve percent of the country’s population. It is the nation's second most frequently reported ancestry. German ancestry is the highest. The state with the highest percentage of Irish-Americans is Massachusetts. Twenty-four percent of the people living there say their ancestors came from Ireland.

History experts say people from Ireland first celebrated Saint Patrick’s Day in the city of Boston about two hundred fifty years ago. But the first Saint Patrick’s Day parade was held in New York City on March seventeenth, seventeen sixty-two. It included Irish soldiers who were serving in the British army.

Parades spread across the country as more and more Irish people came to America. But New York City’s parade is still the biggest one. The city of Chicago, Illinois also holds a large Saint Patrick’s Day parade. And it celebrates Saint Patrick’s Day by coloring its river green.

Green is the traditional Irish color. You see lots of it on Saint Patrick’s Day. People wear green clothes. Some even color their hair or faces green. And some drinking places serve green beer. Many people eat the traditional Irish meal of corned beef and cabbage. And many attend Saint Patrick’s Day parties.

A majority of Americans have no real connection to Ireland. But they like to say that everyone is a little bit Irish on Saint Patrick’s Day.

Advertising and Propaganda

This week, our listener question comes from Curitiba, Brazil. Joalo Ademir dos Santos wants to know about propaganda, advertising and publicity.

In some ways these words have similar meanings, but they are each a little different. Propaganda is a message designed and spread to influence public opinion. It is most commonly used by governments and in politics. Before the twentieth century, pictures and written media were the main forms of propaganda.

Today, propaganda can be found in radio, television, movies, and the Internet. Many governments throughout history have used propaganda to gain the support of their public. Propaganda does not always include neutral information because it supports the opinion of one group or government.

During wartime, propaganda created by a government and directed at its own civilians and military can improve feelings about the country. Propaganda aimed at the enemy is considered a form of psychological warfare. Many governments use propaganda as a policy tool. However, experts debate its effectiveness.

Advertising is a paid message usually used to influence people to buy goods or services. It can also be used to spread the ideas of an organization or business.

You can see and hear advertisements on radio, television, newspapers, the Internet and even signs on the street. Businesses invest large amounts of money in advertising campaigns in order to make their products well known. Advertising has become a major part of life. Experts say most people see and hear hundreds of different advertising messages each day.

Publicity is usually information or an announcement about a person, group, event or product. It is sent to the media with the hope of being published or broadcast. An organization's public relations department usually creates publicity. Information about ceremonies, press conferences or protests are common kinds of publicity. Experts say publicity is most successful when it has news value.

Thievery Corporation

HOST:

Thievery Corporation may sound like the name of a company, but it is the name of a musical group. Thievery Corporation started as an important part of the musical nightlife of Washington, D.C. Now, the group has become well known all over the world. You can hear their music in video games, television shows, and movies. Barbara Klein has more.

BARBARA KLEIN:

Eric Hilton and Rob Garza (pictured) are the creators of Thievery Corporation. For ten years they have been making records that combine repetitive electronic beats with ethnic music and jazz sounds. They started performing together at a popular drinking place in Washington, D.C., called the Eighteenth Street Lounge. People loved their sound so much that the men started to make records. Here is the song “Shaolin Satellite” from one of their early albums.

(MUSIC)

The sounds of the city influenced Hilton and Garza. They heard many kinds of ethnic music performed in the areas of the city called Dupont Circle and Adams Morgan. They met musicians from all over the world and included this music in their songs.

Here is Sista Pat singing “Wires and Watchtowers.” It is from Thievery Corporation's latest album called “The Cosmic Game.”

(MUSIC)

Recently Thievery Corporation performed four nights in a row in Washington. All shows sold out very quickly. Their energetic and colorful concerts included many singers and musicians such as guitar, sitar and bass players. There was even a belly dancer. The shows were a celebration of the group's ten years together. We leave you with their international hit “Lebanese Blonde,” from an earlier album called "Mirror Conspiracy."

(MUSIC)

HOST:

I'm Doug Johnson. I hope you enjoyed our program today.

It was written by Brianna Blake, Dana Demange and Nancy Steinbach. Caty Weaver was our producer. To read the text of this program and download audio, go to our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com.

Send your questions about American life to mosaic@voanews.com. Please include your full name and mailing address. Or write to American Mosaic, VOA Special English, Washington, D.C., 20237, U.S.A.

Join us again next week for AMERICAN MOSAIC, VOA’s radio magazine in Special English.