PICTURE POLITICS THE PICTURE OF THE DAY BY GWENDOLYN STEWART

GRIGORY YAVLINSKY IS COUNTED OUT

2012-01-27T18:07:00.000-08:00

THE RUSSIAN CENTRAL ELECTION COMMISSION REJECTS GRIGORY YAVLINSKY'S TWO-MILLION VOTER LIST January 27, 2012 GRIGORY YAVLINSKY IN THE AFTERMATH OF HIS FIRST RUN FOR PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA In 1996, Boris Yeltsin won; Yavlinsky came in fourth. As I wrote (here) in the run-up to the end of Yeltsin's time in office: Grigory Yavlinsky is trying to capitalize on an anti-corruption

TWO DECADES OF THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT (ADA)

2012-01-26T16:51:00.000-08:00

THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT OF 1990 (ADA) GOES INTO EFFECT January 26, 1992 WORKING CANE January 26, 2012 ADA Home Page here

MOSCOW UNIVERSITY (MGU) IS 257 YEARS OLD

2012-01-25T20:52:00.000-08:00

MOSCOW UNIVERSITY FOUNDED BY EMPRESS ELIZABETH (TSARINA ELIZAVETA) January 25, 1755 MOSCOW STATE UNIVERSITY (MGU), 1984 One of Stalin's Skyscrapers The Seven высотки (vysotkyi) Official website here SADDAM HUSSEIN ABD AL-MAJID AL-TIKRITI April 28, 1937-December 30, 2006 Saddam Hussein is hanged, five years ago today, and cell-phone video of his hanging gets quickly passed around (right). John F. Burns of the New York Times comments (left). DUELING TVs #7

WHAT IS IN THE CARDS? ALMOST THE NEW YEAR

2011-12-29T19:31:00.000-08:00

WHAT DO THE CARDS HOLD? TEMPLE OF HEAVEN BEIJING, OCTOBER 1992 After the 14th Party Congress Next year, same time: the 18th Scheduled: Leadership changes

BILL LEE TURNS SIXTY-FIVE

2011-12-28T19:43:00.000-08:00

"THE SPACEMAN" NOTCHES SIXTY-FIVE YEARS b. December 28, 1946 WILLIAM FRANCIS ("BILL") LEE III Bill Lee pitched left-handed for the Boston Red Sox (1969-1978) and then the Montreal Expos (1979-1982). He was inducted into the Red Sox Hall of Fame, but apparently had his major-league career cut short after 1982 for reasons that had less to do with his pitching and more to do with his personality ("

DARK RIVER, DARK DAYS

2011-12-27T17:17:00.000-08:00

DARK DAYS DARK THE RIVER AND RED

SOME REFLECTIONS ON THE RUSSIAN WINTER I

2011-12-26T17:47:00.000-08:00

WHITE HOUSE KREMLIN KREMLIN GOVERNMENT HOUSE GOVERNMENT HOUSE ("THE WHITE HOUSE") MOSCOW (right), AT TWILIGHT The beginnings of some musings re Prime Minister, President, President, Prime Minister, Russia/The USSR: Once upon a time, just a bit over two decades ago now, when there still was a Soviet Union, Boris Yeltsin got himself elected first (in 1990) to chair the Russian parliament, and then

MERRY ON A MOPED: Christmas in NATO Member West Germany; also, the USSR Breaks Up (or Down), Twenty Years Ago; & Russians Rise: Yesterday and ???

2011-12-25T09:53:00.000-08:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS FATHER CHRISTMAS VISITS THE AMERICANS GIESSEN, GERMANY Juvenilia

KIDS & PHONES

2011-12-19T16:46:00.000-08:00

ON THE LINE BACK WHEN With all the discussion about when (is if still in question?) children should be allowed their first phone -- cell phone, of course; do any kids agitate for a landline? -- in the midst of scares about the possible deleterious effects on developing tissues, and developing social skills, pray spare a moment for a bit of whimsey (above).

CHICKEN OUT; DO NOT ENTER

2011-12-18T19:12:00.000-08:00

A PICTURE IS WORTH READING

A CANDLELIGHT VIGIL FROM ANOTHER TIME OF WAR (VIETNAM/IRAQ)

2011-12-17T18:23:00.000-08:00

IRAQ IS OVER OFFICIALLY FOR THE AMERICANS FOR THE AMERICAN MILITARY A CANDLELIGHT VIGIL FROM ANOTHER TIME OF WAR ANOTHER "LONG WAR" VIETNAM

GUSTAVE EIFFEL b. December 15, 1832

2011-12-15T16:43:00.000-08:00

ALEXANDRE GUSTAVE EIFFEL December 15, 1832-December 27, 1923 THE EIFFEL TOWER, PARIS, FRANCE GUSTAVE EIFFEL'S MASTERPIECE COMPLETED 1889 Kid's Eye View PHOTOGRAPHED SEVENTY YEARS LATER Gustave Eiffel, an engineer and "constructor," specialized in metallic structures. He designed the iron skeleton frame for the Statue of Liberty for the 1876 U.S. Centennial Exposition (see here and here). He built

THE EURO-CRISIS GIVES JOSÉ MANUEL BARROSO HIS MOMENT IN THE SPOTLIGHT

2011-12-14T19:59:00.000-08:00

"NOT SEVENTEEN PLUS, BUT TWENTY-SEVEN MINUS." OR NOT. JOSÉ MANUEL BARROSA & HIS WIFE MARGARIDA SOUSA UVA On December 13, 2011, European Commission President José Manuel Barrosa rose to address the European Parliament in Strasbourg and dished some dirt on British Prime Minister David Cameron. What ruined the harmonious working of last week's Eurozone crisis summit? The British veto, and why? As

U.S.-IRAQ, IRAQ-U.S.: December 12, 2000-December 12, 2011

2011-12-12T17:49:00.000-08:00

U.S. SUPREME COURT HANDS GEORGE W. BUSH THE PRESIDENCY December 12, 2000 GEORGE W. BUSH TAKES THE U.S. INTO WAR WITH IRAQ George W. Bush makes his last trip to Iraq as President; holds a joint press conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, December 14, 2008. Al-Baghdadia TV Correspondent Muntadar al-Zeidi throws first one shoe, then the other, at the American president, shouting, "

BIG MAMA THORNTON b. December 11, 1926

2011-12-11T12:55:00.000-08:00

WILLIE MAE ("BIG MAMA") THORNTON December 11, 1926-July 25, 1984) BIG MAMA THORNTON Back in the Day Big Mama Thornton was a "blues queen" who had a career more than four decades long, from her start as a teenager until a heart attack took her in 1984, the same year she was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame. She has been called "a big, brawny belter," with a "robust, powerful voice." She also

WILLIAM McGOWAN b. December 10, 1927

2011-12-10T15:32:00.000-08:00

WILLIAM G. McGOWAN December 10, 1927-June 8, 1992 WILLIAM McGOWAN on the roof of the then MCI Building Washington, D.C. Two items in the news this year have particularly brought the late MCI Chair William McGowan back to public attention. One was AT&T's attempt to purchase T-Mobile, and the other was the broadcast of the film about McGowan, LONG DISTANCE WARRIOR. MCI took on the telephone

TIP O'NEILL b. December 9, 1912

2011-12-09T08:30:00.000-08:00

THOMAS P. ("TIP") O'NEILL, Jr. December 9, 1912-January 5, 1994 SPEAKER TIP O'NEILL WORKS THE MICROPHONE AND THE ROOM For more on the longest continuously-serving Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, born ninety-nine years ago today, see here and here and here and here and here and here.

TWENTY YEARS SINCE THE COMMONWEALTH OF INDEPENDENT STATES WAS FOUNDED, AND THE SOVIET UNION DOOMED

2011-12-08T12:31:00.000-08:00

THE COMMONWEALTH OF INDEPENDENT STATES (CIS) FOUNDED December 8, 1991 THE LEADERS OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF INDEPENDENT STATES MEET IN MOSCOW A COUPLE OF YEARS AFTER THE FOUNDING On December 8, 1991, the leaders of the three Slavic republics of the Soviet Union -- Boris Yeltsin of Russia, Leonid Kravchuk of Ukraine, and Stanislav Shushkevich of Belarus -- met in the Belavezha Woods government

RICHARD GOODWIN TURNS EIGHTY

2011-12-07T12:40:00.000-08:00

RICHARD N. GOODWIN b. December 7, 1931 RICHARD GOODWIN Back in the Day -- about a decade after his work as first a speechwriter and special counsel to President John F. Kennedy and then special assistant to President Lyndon Johnson, and a few years after his speechwriting for Senator and presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy was cut short by RFK's assassination (more on Goodwin's career here)

IN HONOR OF HELEN ELIZABETH STEWART

2011-12-06T07:24:00.000-08:00

for HELEN ELIZABETH STEWART whose birthday was December 6 ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY Lord, I told the undertaker, "Undertaker please drive slow For this body you are hauling, Lord I hate to see her go" "CAN THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN?"

STROM THURMOND b. December 5, 1902

2011-12-05T09:42:00.000-08:00

JAMES STROM THURMOND December 5, 1902-June 26, 2003 SENATOR STROM THURMOND (R-South Carolina) At age one hundred in 2002, Strom Thurmond was the oldest person ever to serve in the U.S. Senate. First appointed (in 1954), and then elected, Senator from South Carolina as a Democrat, he switched to the Republican party on September 16, 1964. As Governor of South Carolina (1947-1951), he had run

PUTIN & THE DUMA ELECTIONS, A DOZEN YEARS ON

2011-12-04T17:58:00.000-08:00

THE RUSSIAN DUMA ELECTIONS December 4, 2011 VLADIMIR PUTIN WELCOMES GEORGE W. BUSH TO DINNER AT THE PETERHOF PALACE ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA, JULY 2006 AT THE TIME OF THE G-8 SUMMIT Hosting the G-8 summit in your native land when it is your country's turn in the rotation is one of the perks of being the president (or prime minister or chancellor) of a G-8 member. To Vladimir Putin fell the prize

THE CENTRAL BUDDHA AT THE LONGMEN GROTTOES, 1981

2011-12-03T18:02:00.000-08:00

THE LONGMEN (DRAGON GATE) GROTTOES III THE BUDDHA AT THE CENTER OF THE ENSEMBLEFor more information, see here For a Buddha in a side cave, see here

ALEXANDER HAIG b. December 2, 1924

2011-12-02T18:43:00.000-08:00

ALEXANDER MEIGS HAIG, Jr. December 2, 1924-February 20, 2010 SECRETARY OF STATE HAIG IN HIS STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICE Published in Business Week, 1982 Alexander Haig has been called a "political general" and "the acting president during the final months of the Nixon administration." He referred to himself as the "vicar" of foreign policy when he was named Ronald Reagan's Secretary of State; he

THREE BOYS AT PLAY

2011-12-01T19:17:00.001-08:00

THREE BOYS AT PLAY & READING IS FUN II Reading is Fun I here

A LONGMEN GROTTO BUDDHA AND HIS SURROUND

2011-11-30T14:19:00.000-08:00

LONGMEN GROTTOES II ON THE SIDE More here

MONUMENT VALLEY II

2011-11-29T16:17:00.000-08:00

MONUMENT VALLEY II ON THE NAVAJO RESERVATION (ARIZONA-UTAH) NEAR THE FOUR CORNERS AREA Monument Valley I here

CARL SAGAN b. November 9, 1934

2011-11-09T06:54:00.000-08:00

CARL EDWARD SAGAN November 9, 1934-December 20, 1996 CARL SAGAN ASTRONOMER, ASTROPHYSICIST, COSMOLOGIST, POPULAR SCIENTIST AND SCIENCE POPULARIZER EXTRAORDINAIRE For more, see here

STEPPING UP IN LIMA, PERU

2011-11-08T06:26:00.000-08:00

STEPPING UP AT THE MAGIC WATER CIRCUIT LIMA, PERU

NINETY-FOUR YEARS SINCE THE GREAT OCTOBER REVOLUTION

2011-11-07T07:13:00.000-08:00

THE BOLSHEVIKS SEIZE THE WINTER PALACE November 7, 1917 (October 25, 1917, O.S.) THE WINTER PALACE THE HERMITAGE ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA Photographed in Leningrad, the USSR, in 1984 Power was seized in October/November 1917 not from the Tsar; Nicholas II had been overthrown in the February Revolution earlier in 1917, and not by the Bolsheviks (their leader Lenin was absent in Switzerland at the

SUNDAY WHIMSEY: HAPPY FACE ORCHID

2011-11-06T16:59:00.000-08:00

IN A DREAR WORLD A BIT OF WHIMSEY

RUSSIAN POLITICAL SATIRE THEN & NOW

2011-11-05T06:13:00.000-07:00

ELECTIONS AHEAD "PUTIN-SAN" ON THE SATIRICAL PUPPET SHOW "KUKLY" IN THE RUN-UP TO THE 2000 RUSSIAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION With Russian parliamentary elections coming next month, and the presidential election in March 2012 (and Vladimir Putin an announced candidate), the BBC has an informative analysis of some popular pushback to Kremlin media control (here). As Stephen Ennis writes, "TV political

PRIVILEGED AIR: CHINA NOW

2011-11-04T18:42:00.000-07:00

POLLUTION FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA NATURAL AIR FILTERS IN THE GREAT HALL OF THE PEOPLE BEIJING, CHINA The news is out: "Creating clean, healthy air for our national leaders is a blessing to the people." So, according to the New York Times, says the Broad Group, which markets air-purifying machines to members of the Chinese political elite. Those machines are reported

MICHAEL DUKAKIS TURNS SEVENTY-EIGHT

2011-11-03T09:03:00.000-07:00

MICHAEL STANLEY DUKAKIS b. November 3, 1933 FANS OF MICHAEL DUKAKIS AT THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION WHICH NOMINATED HIM FOR PRESIDENT ATLANTA, GEORGIA, JULY 1988 Michael Dukakis, the longest-serving Massachusetts governor (1975-79 and 1983-91), chose Senator Lloyd Bentsen (D-TX) as his running mate (dreaming of JFK-LBJ/Boston-Austin?) in a convention "exhilarating the delegates" and leading

BARBER CONABLE b. November 2, 1922

2011-11-02T11:33:00.000-07:00

BARBER BENJAMIN CONABLE, JR. November 2, 1922-November 30, 2003 BARBER CONABLE NotablyMember, U.S. House of Representatives (R-NY), 1965-19857th President of the World Bank, 1986-1991The World Bank has a lengthy and informative retrospective of Barber Conable's time as its president here. It points out that the twenty-year Republican Representative from New York "was the first career politician

TO LIGHT THE WAY TO NOVEMBER

2011-11-01T18:11:00.000-07:00

GARDEN LAMPPOST CUSCO, PERU

SOMETHING DIFFERENT FOR HALLOWE'EN

2011-10-31T18:16:00.000-07:00

HAPPY HALLOWE'EN STEPHEN KING

THE BOLSHOI THEATER RE-OPENS

2011-10-30T10:36:00.001-07:00

THE BOL'SHOI THEN THE BOLSHOI THEATER MOSCOW, THE USSR, 1984 & NOW IT HAS HAD A GRAND RE-OPENING AFTER "SIX YEARS" AND "$680 MILLION" For photographs of the newly refurbished theater, see here and here and here and here and here For more of the story, see here and here and here

WILLIAM GUINDON, b. October 29, 1916

2011-10-29T07:23:00.000-07:00

REV. WILLIAM G. GUINDON, S.J. October 29, 1916-October 4, 2006 FATHER WILLIAM GUINDON Published in BOSTON MAGAZINE January 1972

HARVARD FOUNDED 375 YEARS AGO

2011-10-28T07:17:00.000-07:00

HARVARD UNIVERSITY FOUNDED October 28, 1636 PRESIDENTS BOK, CONANT, PUSEY (L-R) TOGETHER, THESE THREE HARVARD PRESIDENTS REPRESENT ALMOST SIX DECADES OF HARVARD'S 375 YEARS JAMES BRYANT CONANT, 23rd President, 1933-1953 NATHAN MARSH PUSEY, 24th President, 1953-1971 DEREK CURTIS BOK, 25th President, 1971-1991 & Acting President, 2006-2007

LUIZ INÁCIO LULA DA SILVA IS SIXTY-SIX

2011-10-27T12:32:00.000-07:00

LUIZ INÁCIO LULA DA SILVA b. October 27, 1945 "LULA" ON THE WORLD STAGE Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva served as president of Brazil from 2003-2010 (constitutionally limited to only two successive terms). Born poor, he came up through the labor ranks and helped found the Workers' Party ("Partido dos Trabalhadores"), gained a seat in the Chamber of Deputies, then persisted until

HILLARY CLINTON TURNS SIXTY-FOUR (Cue the Beatles)

2011-10-26T10:02:00.000-07:00

HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON b. October 26, 1947 HILLARY CLINTON Mme. Secretary More here and here State Department Biography here The Beatles' "Sixty-Four" here and here

DAVE COWENS TURNS SIXTY-THREE

2011-10-25T07:19:00.000-07:00

BASKETBALL HALL OF FAMER DAVID WILLIAM COWENS b. October 25, 1948 DAVE COWENS in his BOSTON CELTIC years Photographed for BOSTON Magazine From the BOSTON Magazine article: Cowens "drives around in a sturdy International Harvester wagon, which is good for negotiating the dirt road at the house he rents in Weston, and for doing work in the summer at the farm he owns with his family in Kentucky. A

PAUL VOLCKER IN THE NEWS -- AGAIN

2011-10-24T13:04:00.000-07:00

THE VOLCKER RULE IS IN THE NEWS AGAIN PAUL VOLCKER AS CHAIR OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD Published in the February 20, 1984, issue of BUSINESS WEEK (p. 28) Volcker's time as Fed Chair seems to grow brighter as that of his two immediate successors, Alan Greenspan and Ben Bernacke, becomes more problematic, and Volcker is still around to enjoy it. Having supported Senator Obama at a time when the

JOHN HEINZ b. October 23, 1938

2011-10-23T09:23:00.000-07:00

HENRY JOHN HEINZ III October 23, 1938-April 4, 1991 SENATOR H. JOHN HEINZ III (R-PA) Photograph published in the May 23, 1983, issue of BUSINESS WEEK (p. 44) The late Senator Heinz's Congressional biography is to be found here; the website in his memory is here. A bit about his widow, now Teresa Heinz Kerry, is here.

"SOMETIMES I FEEL LIKE A MOTHERLESS CHILD"

2011-10-22T08:50:00.001-07:00

SOMETIMES I FEEL LIKE A MOTHERLESS CHILD

NIKITA MIKHALKOV WINS AN OSCAR NOMINATION AND TURNS SIXTY-SIX

2011-10-21T08:56:00.000-07:00

NIKITA SERGEYEVICH MIKHALKOV-KONCHALOVSKY b. October 21, 1945 NIKITA MIKHALKOV PHOTOGRAPHED IN MOSCOW IN 1999 WHEN THE BARBER OF SIBERIA WAS BEING PREMIERED AND MIKHALKOV WAS SAID TO BE THINKING OF RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT (He did not.) BURNT BY THE SUN won an Oscar for filmmaker Mikhalkov in 1994. The sequel, BURNT BY THE SUN: THE CITADEL, has been nominated for the 2012 foreign-language film

HE GUOQIANG TURNS SIXTY-EIGHT THIS MONTH

2011-10-20T12:15:00.000-07:00

HE GUOQIANG b. October 1943 HE GUOQIANG #8 OUT OF NINE IN THE RULING CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY HIERARCHY (POLITBURO STANDING COMMITTEE) CHAIR, CENTRAL DISCIPLINE INSPECTION COMMITTEE THE ANTI-CORRUPTION "CZAR"

ROBERT STRAUSS TURNS NINETY-THREE TODAY

2011-10-19T11:14:00.000-07:00

ROBERT S. STRAUSS b. October 19, 1918 BOB STRAUSSIN HIS HOTEL SUITE AT THE 1980 DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION NEW YORK CITY Photograph published in the August 25, 1980, issue of BUSINESS WEEK (p. 28) Robert S. Strauss has been "Counselor" to presidents both Democratic and Republican over the course of a long career that has seen him in official positions as diverse as Special Trade

FRANK CARLUCCI TURNS EIGHTY-ONE TODAY

2011-10-18T10:12:00.000-07:00

FRANK CHARLES CARLUCCI III b. October 18, 1930 FRANK CARLUCCI ON THE HILL IN THE REAGAN ERA {details to follow}

ANOTHER POSTING FROM THE PAST: A PARIS GENDARME

2011-10-17T18:53:00.000-07:00

BACK IN THE DAY GENDARME PARIS, FRANCE JUVENILIA

RIDING THE RAILS, BACK IN THE DAY

2011-10-16T21:34:00.000-07:00

TRAINING IN GERMANY BACK IN THE DAY FROM GERMANY TO HOLLAND More JUVENILIA

ORCHIDS FOR SATURDAY NIGHT

2011-10-15T20:22:00.000-07:00

IT IS SATURDAY NIGHT ORCHIDS FOR A GRACE NOTE

AL GORE WINS NOBEL PEACE PRIZE Four Years Ago

2011-10-12T07:09:00.000-07:00

AL GORE & THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE WIN THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE October 12, 2007 REP. ALBERT A. GORE, JR. (D-TN) Photograph published in the October 13, 1982, issue of CHEMICAL WEEK (p. 40) Got to give the man credit for consistency on this ('The child is father to the man'?): Gore in 1982 was said by CHEMICAL WEEK to be "widely regarded as one of the nation's most powerful

DONALD TSANG TURNS SIXTY-SEVEN

2011-10-07T08:14:00.000-07:00

SIR DONALD TSANG b. October 7, 1944 DONALD TSANG YAM-KUEN HONG KONG CHIEF EXECUTIVE For more on the leader of Hong Kong, see here

SUNSET ON THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER YAN: CHINA THEN

2011-10-06T18:58:00.000-07:00

CROSSING THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER YAN AT SUNSET YAN'AN, CHINA, 1981

TERESA KERRY TURNS SEVENTY-THREE

2011-10-05T13:39:00.000-07:00

TERESA HEINZ KERRY b. October 5, 1938 MICHAEL J. FOX & TERESA HEINZ KERRY PHOTOGRAPHED AT THE 2004 DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION ON DUELING TVs Teresa Heinz Kerry is a philanthropist, the wife of one Senator (and Democratic presidential nominee), John F. Kerry, and the widow of another (Republican) Senator, John Heinz.

NOT MONUMENT VALLEY, BUT MORE BEAUTY FROM THE FOUR CORNERS AREA

2011-09-15T14:46:00.000-07:00

IF YOU PUT UP A SIGN . . . NEW MEXICO CLIFF FOUR CORNERS AREA USA When there is so much beauty to be seen just from the road, is it appreciated as much as if had been designated as a scenic area, maybe even as a national park? MONUMENT VALLEY also in the FOUR CORNERS area here

BEAUTY & SERENITY FOR SEPTEMBER 11

2011-09-11T13:05:00.000-07:00

SWAN LAKE THE KIROV BALLET Leningrad, USSR, 1984 More Kirov (now Mariinsky) here and here

AFGHANISTAN AND LOST TREASURE

2011-09-10T14:49:00.000-07:00

ON THE EVE OF SEPTEMBER 11 From a photograph of a CBS report on Afghanistan, close-captioned NOW A DECADE-LONG WAR IN AFGHANISTAN On the eve of September 11 + ten years, Reuters reported that "For the nearly $450 billion Congress estimates the U.S. alone has spent waging war there, every Afghan man, woman and child could have been handed $15,000. That sum is 10 years' earnings for an average

LEO TOLSTOY b. September 9, 1828

2011-09-09T11:58:00.000-07:00

LEO TOLSTOY September 9, 1828-November 20, 1910 ONE OF THE "PEACE" SCENES FROM LEO TOLSTOY'S "WAR & PEACE" Sergei Prokofiev's Opera Staged by Sarah Caldwell The lengthy New York Times obituary for Count Tolstoy can be found here.

SAM NUNN TURNS SEVENTY-THREE

2011-09-08T12:37:00.000-07:00

SAMUEL AUGUSTUS NUNN b. September 8, 1938 SENATORS SAM NUNN (D-GEORGIA, left) & JOHN WARNER (R-VIRGINIA, right)

NAPOLEON WINS THE BATTLE OF BORODINO, SEPTEMBER 7, 1812; LOSES THE WAR

2011-09-07T20:02:00.000-07:00

THE BATTLE OF BORODINO September 7, 1812 DONALD GRAMM AS MARSHAL KUTUZOV IN SARAH CALDWELL'S STAGING OF PROKOFIEV'S OPERA OF WAR AND PEACE, BASED ON THE NOVEL BY LEO TOLSTOY Kutuzov was the Russian field marhsal who opposed Napoleon Bonaparte in the Battle of Borodino, September 7, 1812, which Napoleon won, but at a cost in men and material so high that Kutuzov ultimately won the War of 1812 ("

JACQUES CHIRAC EXCUSED FROM ATTENDING HIS OWN TRIAL

2011-09-06T12:26:00.000-07:00

JACQUES CHIRAC ON TRIAL IN ABSENTIA for corruption THE FORMER FRENCH PRESIDENT (1995-2007) IS SAID TO SUFFER FROM FUZZY MEMORY More on the story here and here Another photograph of Chirac here

JOHN DANFORTH TURNS SEVENTY-FIVE

2011-09-05T11:55:00.000-07:00

JOHN "JACK" DANFORTH b. September 5, 1936 Published in BUSINESS WEEK October 3, 1983 (p. 45) SENATOR JOHN DANFORTH (R-MISSOURI) December 27, 1976 – January 3, 1995 AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS July 1, 2004 – January 20, 2005 George W. Bush's second choice for Vice President Big Clarence Thomas booster for Supreme Court Justice Ordained Episcopal minister, and lawyer

GEORGE EASTMAN PATENTS "KODAK" BOX CAMERA, September 4, 1888

2011-09-04T18:43:00.000-07:00

KODAK KID PHOTOGRAPH ITALIAN MARKET STALL Kid's eye view in honor of September 4, 1888, the day George Eastman patented the "Kodak" box camera (my first camera was a Kodak Brownie, given to me by my father when I was eight).

VLADIMIR RYZHKOV TURNS FORTY-FIVE

2011-09-03T13:45:00.000-07:00

VLADIMIR RYZHKOV b. September 3, 1966 VLADIMIR RYZHKOV IN HIS POLITICAL HEYDAY A very fast rise in the first decade of post-Soviet Russia (up to first vice speaker of the Duma) was followed by a move to the opposition after Vladimir Putin came to power.

ALAN SIMPSON TURNS EIGHTY

2011-09-02T18:44:00.000-07:00

ALAN K. SIMPSON b. September 2, 1931 SENATOR ALAN SIMPSON (R-WYOMING) 1979-1997 Photograph published in the June 21, 1982, issue of BUSINESS WEEK (p. 38) Senator Simpson was the Republican Whip from 1985-1995 (his Congressional biography is here). His most recent notable post was as co-chair of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, appointed with Erskine Bowles in February

ANN RICHARDS b. September 1, 1933

2011-09-01T20:42:00.000-07:00

ANN RICHARDS September 1, 1933-September 13, 2006 ANN RICHARDS, THEN STATE TREASURER, & LATER GOVERNOR OF, TEXAS (1991-1995), AS KEYNOTE SPEAKER AT THE 1988 DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION, ATLANTA, GEORGIA It was one memorable speech. Michael Dukakis and Lloyd Bentsen were the presidential and vice presidential nominees of the the Democratic party, running against Ronald Reagan's two-term

SOLIDARITY ESTABLISHED IN POLAND, THIRTY-ONE YEARS AGO

2011-08-31T12:00:00.000-07:00

SOLIDARNOŚĆ b. August 31, 1980 KATOWICE (POLAND) COAL MINE Published in the February 15, 1982, issue of BUSINESS WEEK (p. 68) On August 31, 1980, Lech Walesa, representing the striking workers in the Gdansk shipyard, signed the August Accords wrenching certain rights from the Polish communist government. The development of what became a ten-million-strong movement growing out of the strike,

THE NAZIS ATTACK LENINGRAD, SEVENTY YEARS AGO

2011-08-30T09:47:00.000-07:00

THE GERMANS REACH THE NEVA RIVER August 30, 1941 THE NEVA RIVER LENINGRAD, USSR Now St. Petersburg, Russia, again Nine hundred dark days were to follow, with catastrophic casualties. The Wehrmacht cut off the last rail connection to Leningrad on August 30, 1941, and the last land connection on September 8, 1941, which seems to be taken generally as the start of the Siege of Leningrad.

THE END. OF THE PARTY. TWENTY YEARS AGO. AND THE ROLE OF BORIS YELTSIN.

2011-08-29T08:35:00.000-07:00

THE SUPREME SOVIET OF THE USSR SUSPENDS ALL ACTIVITIES OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF THE SOVIET UNION (CPSU) August 29, 1991 BORIS YELTSIN IN HIS SEAT AT THE 28TH (AND LAST) CONGRESS OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF THE SOVIET UNION (CPSU), MOSCOW, JULY 1990 YELTSIN WALKING OUT OF THE PARTY, here Twenty years ago today, the USSR Supreme Soviet, then the highest government authority in the then Soviet

WILLIAM S. COHEN IS THREE SCORE AND TEN PLUS ONE

2011-08-28T09:08:00.000-07:00

WILLIAM S. COHEN b. August 28, 1940 CHAIRMAN & CEO, THE COHEN GROUP Photographed as U.S. Senator (R-Maine) at a hearing of the Armed Services Committee William S. Cohen was the highest ranking Republican in the administration of Democrat Bill Clinton, a former Senator (and earlier, Representative) from Maine chosen to be Secretary of Defense (SecDef) in Clinton's second term (1997-2001). His

HERBERT STEIN b. August 27, 1916

2011-08-27T10:58:00.000-07:00

HERBERT STEIN August 27, 1916-September 8, 1999 Author, PRESIDENTIAL ECONOMICS Reviewed in the March 5, 1984, issue of BUSINESS WEEK (photograph on p. 10), "A Conservative Rebuff to Reagaonomics," by Seymour Zucker Herbert Stein was on the Council of Economic Advisers (including as Chair) under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, and professor of economics at the University of

ZHOU JI TURNS SIXTY-FIVE

2011-08-26T08:51:00.000-07:00

ZHOU JI b. August 26, 1946 PRESIDENT, CHINESE ACADEMY OF ENGINEERING Minister of Education, People's Republic of China (PRC) 2003-2009 Poster here Some discussion of the controversy over Zhou's losing his post as Minister of Education, here

EDWARD M. "TED" KENNEDY GONE TWO YEARS

2011-08-25T11:34:00.000-07:00

EDWARD M. KENNEDY February 22, 1932-August 25, 2009 Simplicity THE GRAVESITE OF SENATOR & FORMER PRIVATE "TED" KENNEDY Arlington National Cemetery The obituary and much more; multi-media stories of a life; from the Boston Globe, here

GORBACHEV RESIGNS AS GENERAL SECRETARY OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF THE SOVIET UNION, August 24, 1991

2011-08-24T09:51:00.000-07:00

GORBACHEV GIVES UP ON THE PARTY LOOKING OUT ON THE KREMLIN THROUGH A WINDOW IN THE PALACE OF CONGRESSES ON A RAINY DAY DURING THE TIME OF THE 28TH CONGRESS OF THE CPSU MOSCOW, JULY 1990 Mikhail Gorbachev, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), was still planning in the summer of 1991 to hold a 29th Congress. Even after the coup that targeted him collapsed

WAR & PEACE II: SARAH CALDWELL'S & SERGEI PROKOFIEV'S & LEO TOLSTOY'S

2011-08-23T10:10:00.000-07:00

WAR & PEACE II SARAH CALDWELL'S PRODUCTION OF PROKOFIEV'S OPERA WAR AND PEACE Boston 1974 For a photograph of Donald Gramm as Marshal Kutuzov, see here

BORIS YELTSIN "THE OBSCURE" & THE COUP III

2011-08-22T08:51:00.000-07:00

'THE COUP MADE BORIS YELTSIN' BORIS YELTSIN OUT IN TYUMEN' TEN DAYS BEFORE THE COUP WORKING ON BUILDING A NEW RUSSIAN STATE (see here and here) August 22, 1991: Mikhail Gorbachev arrives back in Moscow from his imprisonment in the Crimea, and fails to notice the new realities on the ground. Boris Yeltsin does. Why the coup plotters did not actually grab Yeltsin, however, puzzled him. Now