History - still with us

the Central Intelligence Agency is demanding extensive cuts from the memoir of a former F.B.I. agent who spent years near the center of the battle against Al Qaeda. ... Ali H. Soufan, argues in the book that the C.I.A. missed a chance to derail the 2001 plot by withholding from the F.B.I. information about two future 9/11 hijackers living in San Diego.... gives a detailed, firsthand account of the C.I.A.'s move toward brutal treatment in its interrogations, saying the harsh methods used on the agency's first important captive, Abu Zubaydah, were unnecessary and counterproductive....

Hiroshima and Nagasaki were nuked 66 years ago. 30 years ago Paul Fussell wrote this important essay, 'Thank God for the Atom Bomb'. 21 year old 2nd Lt. Fussell commanded infantry in WWII France. Later, he had to sit around waiting to invade Japan and die. That was the general expectation of the vets of the European theater - they didn't think they'd survive Japan. Then Aug 6th happened.

Interestingly, that congressional inquiry went on to state that the Founding Fathers "did not intend to spread over all the public authorities and the whole public action of the nation, the dead and revolting spectacle of atheistical apathy." And make no mistake, there are no better words to describe a lawsuit to obliterate the 9/11 cross than "revolting spectacle."

Jane Fonda's scheduled appearance on QVC to promote her new memoir was canceled after the cable shopping channel got calls threatening boycotts over her Vietnam War protests, the actress wrote Saturday on her blog. ... Fonda blamed the cancellation on the "far right."

The FBI has not found videotapes from the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that are being sought by a Utah lawyer and do not believe another records search is reasonable or will uncover the information, the agency has told a federal judge. FBI officials are "unaware of the existence or likely location of additional tapes" that would fulfill the Freedom of Information Act request filed by Salt Lake City attorney Jesse Trentadue, agency attorneys said in court papers filed last week.

In recent years, however, I've come to think of that day as more than just the birthday of a nation. It also commemorates the only true philosophical revolution in all history.

In a response filed yesterday to a federal judge's order May 11, an FBI official offered no denials about the existence of video images captured by more than 20 surveillance cameras operating prior to 9:02 a.m. on April 19, 1995, in the vicinity of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City. Instead, he explained that officials at the bureau merely cannot find the tapes and raised the possibility that they "might have been misfiled and thus could be located somewhere other than in the OKBOMB file (though it would be impossible to know where)."

Survivors from a World War II-era minesweeper sinking have traveled from across the state and country to celebrate their reunion in the City of Legends this week. During their stay in Bartlesville, the veterans — who survived an attack on the USS Salute on June 8, 1945 — will see local hot spots such as Discovery 1 Park, Frank Phillips Home and Woolaroc.

United Airlines ad across the street from ground zero that reads "You're going to like where we land"

MUNICH (Reuters) - A German court convicted John Demjanjuk on Thursday for his role in the killing of 28,000 Jews in the Sobibor Nazi death camp, then set the 91-year-old free because of his age. ... Stephan J. Kramer, secretary general of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, told Reuters that the verdict was "not revenge but the execution of justice, even 65 years later." Victims' groups said the main point for them was the guilty verdict and they refrained from criticizing the decision to set Demjanjuk free.

After admitting a role in the Oklahoma City bombing, Terry Nichols gave conflicting statements about whether another conspirator, John Doe No. 2, existed, recently released FBI reports show.

In one interview, on May 26, 2005, "Nichols declined to identify John Doe #2," the FBI reported. "Nichols advised John Doe #2's name had not been mentioned during the investigation and, as a result, he feared for his life and his family's well being should it become public." In an interview the next day, "Nichols declined to provide any significant new information. Nichols advised he would pass a polygraph examination," the FBI reported. A month later, though, Nichols told a U.S. congressman during a prison interview that "he did not know 'John Doe,'" the FBI reported. Nichols told the congressman someone else was involved but would not name the other person at this time, the FBI also reported.

Dick Biedermann is an 88-year-old who refuses to let age get the best of him. A World War II Navy veteran, Biedermann is on a mission to spread the word that more donations are needed to carry on the Honor Flights program in Oklahoma. The national program provides World War II veterans with an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C., so they can visit the nation's memorial that honors their generation's fight against tyranny. Also included in the daylong trip are visits to the Iwo Jima Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery. Oklahoma joined the program last year, with two flights out of Oklahoma City to the National World War II Memorial. Each flight held 110 veterans, along with about 60 chaperones.

The author of a book on the Oklahoma City bombing says a man arrested in Quincy after a street fight is the same man she wrote about in her book, "The Third Terrorist: The Middle East Connection to the Oklahoma City Bombing."