Quote for the Day

 

Henry David Thoreau (1817 – 1862) 

was an American naturalist, essayist, poet, and philosopher. 

He is best known for his reflections upon simple living in natural surroundings.

Poetry Spot - The Spell of the Yukon

I have previously spoken of my fondness for Australian bush ballads, nothing fancy, just rollicking good yarns, sometimes with humour and sometimes even with a moral or life lesson. 

Robert Service (1874-1958) does the same with his poems of the far, frozen north, so much so that he has been dubbed the Bard of the Yukon. 

Robert Service, 1905

A poem by Robert Service, The Spell of the Yukon, appears below. 

It reminds me of a saying of a friend of mine, a property developer but now departed, who would frequently declare “The thrill is in the hunt”. Once he had secured a deal, he lost interest although he would finish it off. His attention was on the next challenge and next deal. 

THE SPELL OF THE YUKON 

by Robert W Service 

I wanted the gold, and I sought it; 

I scrabbled and mucked like a slave. 

Was it famine or scurvy—I fought it; 

I hurled my youth into a grave. 

I wanted the gold, and I got it—  

Came out with a fortune last fall,— 

Yet somehow life’s not what I thought it, 

And somehow the gold isn’t all. 

No! There’s the land. (Have you seen it?) 

It’s the cussedest land that I know, 

From the big, dizzy mountains that screen it 

To the deep, deathlike valleys below. 

Some say God was tired when He made it; 

Some say it’s a fine land to shun; 

Maybe; but there’s some as would trade it 

For no land on earth—and I’m one. 

You come to get rich (damned good reason); 

You feel like an exile at first; 

You hate it like hell for a season, 

And then you are worse than the worst. 

It grips you like some kinds of sinning; 

It twists you from foe to a friend; 

It seems it’s been since the beginning; 

It seems it will be to the end. 

I’ve stood in some mighty-mouthed hollow 

That’s plumb-full of hush to the brim; 

I’ve watched the big, husky sun wallow 

In crimson and gold, and grow dim, 

Till the moon set the pearly peaks gleaming, 

And the stars tumbled out, neck and crop; 

And I’ve thought that I surely was dreaming, 

With the peace o’ the world piled on top. 

The summer—no sweeter was ever; 

The sunshiny woods all athrill; 

The grayling aleap in the river, 

The bighorn asleep on the hill. 

The strong life that never knows harness; 

The wilds where the caribou call; 

The freshness, the freedom, the farness— 

O God! how I’m stuck on it all. 

The winter! the brightness that blinds you, 

The white land locked tight as a drum, 

The cold fear that follows and finds you, 

The silence that bludgeons you dumb. 

The snows that are older than history, 

The woods where the weird shadows slant; 

The stillness, the moonlight, the mystery, 

I’ve bade ’em good-by—but I can’t. 

There’s a land where the mountains are nameless, 

And the rivers all run God knows where; 

There are lives that are erring and aimless, 

And deaths that just hang by a hair; 

There are hardships that nobody reckons; 

There are valleys unpeopled and still; 

There’s a land—oh, it beckons and beckons, 

And I want to go back—and I will. 

They’re making my money diminish; 

I’m sick of the taste of champagne. 

Thank God! when I’m skinned to a finish 

I’ll pike to the Yukon again. 

I’ll fight—and you bet it’s no sham-fight; 

It’s hell!—but I’ve been there before; 

And it’s better than this by a damsite— 

So me for the Yukon once more. 

There’s gold, and it’s haunting and haunting; 

It’s luring me on as of old; 

Yet it isn’t the gold that I’m wanting 

So much as just finding the gold. 

It’s the great, big, broad land ’way up yonder, 

It’s the forests where silence has lease; 

It’s the beauty that thrills me with wonder, 

It’s the stillness that fills me with peace.

Quote of the Day

If a working class Englishman saw a bloke drive past in a Rolls-Royce, he'd say to himself "Come the social revolution and we'll take that away from you, mate". Whereas if his American counterpart saw a bloke drive past in a Cadillac he'd say "One day I'm going to own one of those". To my way of thinking the first attitude is wrong. The latter is right. 

Kerry Packer (1937 – 2005) 

Australian media tycoon, considered one of Australia's most powerful media proprietors of the twentieth century. At the time of his death, Packer was the richest and one of the most influential men in Australia. In 2004, Business Review Weekly magazine estimated Packer's net worth at A$6.5 billion.

Moments in History: Lillian Hellman and the House Committee on Un-American Activities

The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC), a committee of the US House of Representatives, was tasked with investigating Communist activity.  HUAC’s hearings were not the same as the McCarthy hearings, which were held by the United States Senate's Subcommittee on Investigations April–June 1954 to investigate conflicting accusations between the United States Army and U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy. 

Nonetheless both made it their mission to investigate and root out alleged communists and communist sympathisers in positions of actual or supposed influence in United States society. 

In 1947, HUAC held nine days of hearings into alleged communist propaganda and influence in the Hollywood motion picture industry. After conviction on contempt of Congress charges for refusal to answer questions posed by committee members, "The Hollywood Ten" were blacklisted by the industry. They later served prison terms after the Supreme Court in April 1950 turned down their appeal that such questioning violated their First Amendment rights. 

Eventually, more than 300 artists – including directors, radio commentators, actors, and particularly screenwriters – were boycotted by the studios. Some, like Charlie Chaplin, Orson Welles, Alan Lomax, Paul Robeson, and Yip Harburg, left the U.S or went underground to find work. Others like Dalton Trumbo wrote under pseudonyms or the names of colleagues. Only about ten percent succeeded in rebuilding careers within the entertainment industry. 

Hearings began again in March 1951, While almost half of those testifying from the entertainment industry informed on their colleagues, others invoked the Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination. This guaranteed that they would not be hired for future work in the industry. 

Noted playwright, author and screenwriter Lillian Hellman was one of the Hollywood personnel subpoenaed to testify before HUAC, which had heard testimony that she had attended Communist Party meetings in 1937. 

Lillian Hellman, 1945

In the following letter dated May 19, 1952 to HUAC’s chairman, Hellman offered to testify as to her own activities if she would not be forced to inform on others: 

Dear Mr. Wood: 

As you know, I am under subpoena to appear before your committee on May 21, 1952. 

I am most willing to answer all questions about myself. I have nothing to hide from your committee and there is nothing in my life of which I am ashamed. I have been advised by counsel that under the fifth amendment I have a constitutional privilege to decline to answer any questions about my political opinions, activities, and associations, on the grounds of self-incrimination. I do not wish to claim this privilege. I am ready and willing to testify before the representatives of our Government as to my own opinions and my own actions, regardless of any risks or consequences to myself. 

But I am advised by counsel that if I answer the committee’s questions about myself, I must also answer questions about other people and that if I refuse to do so, I can be cited for contempt. My counsel tells me that if I answer questions about myself, I will have waived my rights under the fifth amendment and could be forced legally to answer questions about others. This is very difficult for a layman to understand. But there is one principle that I do understand: I am not willing, now or in the future, to bring bad trouble to people who, in my past association with them, were completely innocent of any talk or any action that was disloyal or subversive. I do not like subversion or disloyalty in any form and if I had ever seen any I would have considered it my duty to have reported it to the proper authorities. But to hurt innocent people whom I knew many years ago in order to save myself is, to me, inhuman and indecent and dishonorable. I cannot and will not cut my conscience to fit this year’s fashions, even though I long ago came to the conclusion that I was not a political person and could have no comfortable place in any political group. 

I was raised in an old-fashioned American tradition and there were certain homely things that were taught to me: To try to tell the truth, not to bear false witness, not to harm my neighbor, to be loyal to my country, and so on. In general, I respected these ideals of Christian honor and did as well with them as I knew how. It is my belief that you will agree with these simple rules of human decency and will not expect me to violate the good American tradition from which they spring. I would, therefore, like to come before you and speak of myself. 

I am prepared to waive the privilege against self-incrimination and to tell you everything you wish to know about my views or actions if your committee will agree to refrain from asking me to name other people. If the committee is unwilling to give me this assurance, I will be forced to plead the privilege of the fifth amendment at the hearing. 

A reply to this letter would be appreciated. 

Sincerely yours, 

Lillian Hellman 

The Committee refused her request. she took the Fifth and was blacklisted.

Quote for the Day

"I do not object to people looking at their watches while I am making a speech. But I strongly object when they start shaking them to make certain they are still going."

- Lord Birkett (1883 – 1962) 

British barrister, judge, politician and preacher who served as the alternate British judge during the Nuremberg Trials. As an alternate judge, Birkett was not allowed a vote at the Nuremberg Trials, but his opinion helped shape the final judgment.

Street Art

 

Quote for the Day

 "As usual the Liberals offer a mixture of sound and original ideas. Unfortunately none of the sound ideas is original and none of the original ideas is sound."

Harold Macmillan (189 - 1986)

Speech to London Conservatives, 7 March 1961

Harold Macmillan (1894 – 1986)

British Conservative politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963. Caricatured as "Supermac", he was known for his pragmatism, wit and unflappability.

Bonus Harold Macmillan repost, from the vault:

This story may or may not be urban myth. It has been examined by snopes.com, which states that whilst it has the hallmarks of an urban legend (unsourced, multiple versions and non-specific), it cannot establish one way or another whether it is true.

Nonetheless, some quotes are just too good to let pass, even if there is a question mark hanging over it... 

At the end of a long and probably very boring meal at a formal dinner, British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan turned to Madame de Gaulle and asked politely what she was looking forward to in her retirement. Quick as a flash the elderly lady replied: "A penis." Macmillan had been trained all his life never to appear shocked, but even he was a bit taken aback. After drawling out a series of polite platitudes, - "Well, I can see your point of view, don't have much time for that sort of thing nowadays" - it gradually dawned on him to his intense relief that what she was trying to say, under a heavy French accent, was “happiness.”

 

 

Genius Solutions, Part 1

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Regular readers will know that I have from time to time posted pics and readers’ comments from a very entertaining website called Bored Panda. Today’s item is in the same vein – headings, pics and comments – insofar as the items are too good not to share. 

The post on Bored Panda is called 50 Genius Solutions To Everyday Problems That You Probably Didn’t Know Existed and it van be accessed by clicking on: 

https://www.boredpanda.com/genius-solutions/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Newsletter

When you look at the solutions featured you will either think that they are so obvious that you wonder why it hasn’t been done before, or you are amazed at the innovation and great ideas. 

Here are are selections, with reader comments . . . 

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A Discreet Way Of Calling For Help 

Reader comments: 

This should be common practice at every health center. 

If it was common practice, then the abusers would know - and the victims would be too afraid to use the red marker in front of them... 

Great, but only if your partner lets you go see your doctor. 

This is a brilliant idea. 

My healthcare provider always asks my partner to leave the room for a few minutes on all of my appointments. I thought this was common practice? 

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How The Ruins Are Displayed In Serbia 

That is cool! 

I have seen places in the UK that have done this using VR on people's phones so they can actually walk around the reconstruction rather than stand in only one place. Very cool stuff. 

Those windows exist in all European countries and can be found in previously fortified cities with remains of the walls and gates.. 

I've seen a similar thing in France. What a great idea! 

I like this but in some cases I still think some ruins should be restored to their former glory. 

The problem is who decides what they are reconstructed to when we don't really know what they would have looked like? (I worked as a professional archaeologist for 20+ years, and this was a big issue.) 

Knowing my country, that glass panel would be shattered as soon as it was put up. 

Have graffiti sprayed on it or shot with a gun (US) 

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In Norway, You Get A Small Amount Of Money For Recycling Bottles/Cans. A Lot Of Our Trash Cans Have These Holders So Poor And Homeless People Don't Have To Search Through The Trash To Collect Them 

Because of this, my brother put a bottle next to a trash can once and he got fined 50€ for that 🤦🏽‍♀️ 

The problem with doing that, is that you'll risk the bottle roll away from the bin and end up somewhere else. 

What the hell? That's awful! Indeed, our bins here say "Pfand geht daneben!", meaning that all those cans and bottles should be put next to the bins. 

Was that perhaps in a country that does not have "Pfand" for Recycling bottles? Otherwise it should of course be common sense to put sich bottles next to the bin, not into it 

There have been trials of that in Germany and result was that people, seeing the "trash" next to the bin, just threw their own trash next to it instead of into the bin. This Norwegian solution looks like it might not suffer from the same issue. 

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This Furniture Hardware Is Sorted By Step Rather Than By Type 

I know myself... I would open everything at the same time 

To be fair, the first step in many instructions for things like this is to inventory all the parts to see if anything is missing before you start putting the thing together. 

Where is step 3? *panicking* 

Not all steps will require hardware. 

Watch and learn IKEA!!! 

This would have been so much easier when setting up the kids swing set. 

LEGO does the same thing 

I don't want to know about anything that requires that many screws to put together. 

Ever tried assembly instructions written in China ? 

Just need to use a more easily recyclable packaging 

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They Put Rails Under The Benches In This Park So You Can Always Be In The Shadow 

Pfft, shade, shmade. I wanna go toot toot on the bench train. 

Me too, it looks so fun to be on! 

Wheeeeee 

That'd be me happy for hours! All aboard! Choo choo! 

I'm going to do this in my garden so I can scoot along and tend to my plants. 

This is the most genius thing I’ve ever seen! 

So odd - I'd always be looking for the sunny spot! 

The rails are dirty and full of stones, I doubt it can move now. 

Wouldn't it be cheaper to just install multiple benches? 

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Our Refrigerator Has Revolving Levels So You Can Reach Everything Easily 

Whilst in one way it is convenient, the fact that the fridge is round means it wastes space. 

I wouldn't call it a "waste" if it saves so much time and energy, but your point is valid. 

I designed one like this for a project in college (I'm a graphic designer), and my teacher said it looked great but would be a nightmare to engineer. It was also penguin-shaped, and had a tiny fridge on its head! 

Looks great, but I'm not sure it's so great in reality. Looks like a nightmare to clean, the round shape means it won't fit in most kitchens, and it looks like an extremely poorly insulated design, so it fails on energy efficiency too. 

I've also never had a fridge so big that I couldn't reach the back of the shelf - and I always try to buy as big a fridge as possible. 

Yes! no more removing 14 things get to the milk! 

That’s why the milk goes in the rack on the inside of the door! 

Forgetting about something at the back of the fridge for 2 years 

Ok, I love this but wouldn't it look awkward in a standard kitchen? Edit- nevermind. I just realized the whole unit isnt circular. I'll take 2 please! 

It is. Look at the edging along the top. 

And clean up that sticky stuff that's been on the shelf for umpteen months. 

Another case of "Why did I not have this idea?!" 

Good for small spaces, however, where's the freezer compartment? 

Great, but you use a little too much force and those bottles will go flying 

where do you get it and what is it called? 

GE made something very similar in the 1950's, called the GE Combination Here is a good look at one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZy-xscPqck

No more stuff rotting at the back of the shelf! 

It's convenient, but what a waste of space! 

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Crosswalk Projected On A Dirty Winter Road 

Actual genius 

This would provide great visibility all year round! At least in my country, the paint comes off after couple of months so unless you aren't familiar with the area, there is no way you can know where crosswalks are most of the time. 

Now that is genius. Too bad they don't have that for all the lines. I know that I've been straddling the line in bad snowstorms, but can't really tell. I wish they could project them from the streetlights. 

I get that it works well on snow, but they should be on all roads at night... 

Although not much use in Russia as most drivers ignore crosswalks, and road signs and pretty much all traffic laws and regulations as well as often driving while intoxicated. 

Note to my wife, Kate: 

That is why I like watching Stop a Douche Bag. 

Byters: 

Well worth watching for a look at social action to prevent douche bag drivers using the sidewalks as roadways in Russia and to look at Russian society. Link: 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQMs9pijXYAdqvkEMJyCM4g

That could be implemented on more places. Like parking lots. 

Snow is so beautiful at first...then this. Great cross walk. 

Brilliant! 

Does anyone know which country this is? 

Because this is going to make such a difference in Russia.. they see pedestrians as bonuspoints.. 

Russia👍 

The sign "caution children" is in Russian, so probaby yes 

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These Notched Chairs To Hold Bags 

It’s so stupidly brilliant it almost angers me it hasn’t been done more. 

Seriously..... i get so frustrated when my purse falls on the dirty floor 

Love the idea, but even better with a latch on it to stop your bag from being stolen. 

Yeah, like a latch that is usually open, but when you sit on the chair a mechanism would then close the latch making impossible to be removed by someone else. Hey, wanna go into business together?! 

I'm sure my bag gets dirty but it goes on the floor in front of my legs so it isn't stolen from being an easy target on a seat. but with the notch it is probably a bit harder to steal 

This isn't a good idea in a public situation. So easy to dip the bag, and if the person isn't leaning back, to lift it off while an accomplice distracts everyone. I've worked in restaurants. 

Great for thieves. 

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These Public Benches Are Reversible, So You Can Choose To Look At People, Or Boats 

Boats boats boats 

I'd choose boats any day 

I remember riding a ferry in Penang Malaysia which had these reversible benches a long time ago. The ferry never turn itself around because it can be driven in both ways (forward and reverse); making these benches necessary. 

These are great. If the bench is full of oldies, you just swipe the back across and you have space to rest : ) 

People watching is more fun 

The funny thing is that benches like these, with a back that you can flip over to face one way or the other, have been around since at least the early 1500s! Also, BOATS! 

And here in America they design our benches so that they are impossible for homeless people to sleep on. 

Oooh this is my hometown, Whangarei, New Zealand.... little thrills hehe 

That's a dilemma if you want to look at people on boats. Hmm, I might be wrong. :D 

Wait till two people sit there with opposing views 

They have had these in my towns for years. The specific spots happen to have both amazing sunrises and sunsets so the adjustable benches let people enjoy the views comfortably 

Why not just put 2 benches? There's enough space and more people can sit. 

Umm, I can see two benches. 

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This Shirt Has A Piece Of Lens Cloth Sewn On The Inside For Your Glasses 

I can SEE myself using that 😂🤣 

I don't. I can't see anything if I'm not wearing my glasses. 

Most fishing shirts have this feature. It is very handy. 

I own a t-shirt like this. Now I know what the little cloth is for. Thanks! 😊👍 

Anything that makes me say spontaneously "Well Holy S**t!" aloud must be a good idea. 

My Helly Hansen winter coat has a small zipper pocket on the inside left wrist, and I didn’t notice it until I bought it. It has a cloth like this on a string inside that is detachable so you can wipe your snow goggles 

Common feature in mountain biking jerseys 

wth??? why is this not on every shirt everywhere???? 

___________ 

This Soap Bottle Lists A Purpose For Each Ingredient 

Now I have something mildly interesting to read in the shower besides having made-up debates in my head that will never happen. 

I'm probably guilty of wasting quite a bit water because of all the time I spend thinking about random stuff in the shower. 

It's dishwashing detergent! 

Please everyone, try not to waste water. 😭 I live in rural Australia and we are in drought - I put my washing water on my garden just so it gets a minuscule scrap to drink. We need rain so badly. 

I mean ... yay? But the problem is a lot of those chemicals (PEGs, in particular) are horrible for your health. Better to use a product without them. 

And it's alphabetical 

All products should have that. 

Dawn is famous for being used to clean animals trapped by oil spills 

Yes, though worryingly the Environmental Working Group gave Dawn a 'D' grade because of it containing methylisothiazolinone, which is a "High Concern: acute aquatic toxicity; Some Concern: skin irritation/allergies/damage. They have to ensure it is carefully diluted of course. 

A trifle alarmed by the length of that list. 

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If You’re An Elderly Or Disabled, You Will Receive A Card That Enables You To Cross The Road With A Longer Countdown Time (Singapore) 

I wish they had these in the UK. 

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) have made recommendations for local councils to increase times and there are initiatives in some areas. It is happening, just needs to be more widespread. 

It would be cool to have this for school cross guards too when kids cross the street in big groups 

this is so nice and thoughtful! 

I have a mixed feeling about this one..of course it is good to have this, yet at the same time other side of me can't help but think how rushed world we are living in, that even a traffic signal does not keep green long enough for elderly / slow-walker to be able to cross safely without rush.. 

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My Spatula Has A Little Stand So It Doesn’t Touch The Counter 

What a beautiful counter! 

Alas it's not very useful: hard to notice a spilled water or any crumbs on the surface... 

And hang it on the rim of the pot! neat! 

Wait so that’s what the thing is for, we have a spatula like that and I was always confused as to why. Now that you think about it I really should’ve realized 

Yeah but it still drips on the counter 

I didn't even know I needed this until this post. Get in my life spectacular spatula! 

lots of them have those? 

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Quote for the Day

 

The Pulitzer and World Press Photos of the Year, continued: 1992

----------oOo-------- 

It’s been a while since we had a Pulitzer and World Press Photo of the Year post so . . . 

--------oOo-------- 

Pulitzer Prizes for Photography: 

Between 1942 and 1967 a Pulitzer Prize for Photography was awarded for photojournalism, that is, for photographs telling a news story. In 1968 that award was replaced by awards in two new categories: 

- the Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography (photography in the nature of breaking news, as it has been called since 2000); and 

- the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography (human interest and matters associated with news items). 

World Press Photo of the Year: 

From 1955 World Press Photo has awarded prizes for the best photographs in 10 categories, with an overall award for the image that "... is not only the photojournalistic encapsulation of the year, but represents an issue, situation or event of great journalistic importance, and does so in a way that demonstrates an outstanding level of visual perception and creativity". 

The photographs are interesting not only in their own right but for being windows on history. 

--------oOo-------- 

Award:  

Pulitzer Price for Breaking News Photography 

Year:   

1992 

Photographer:  

Staff, Associated Press 

Photograph(s):  

Photographs of the attempted coup in Russia and the subsequent collapse of the Communist regime. 

The Photographs: 

Boris Yeltsin reading a speech on a tank during the August 1991 communist coup, one of the events leading to the breakup of the Soviet Union. Boris Yeltsin, president of the Russian Federation, makes a speech from atop a tank in front of the Russian parliament building in Moscow, U.S.S.R., Monday, Aug. 19, 1991. Yeltsin called on the Russian people to resist the communist hard liners in the Soviet coup. The attempted coup was one of the events leading to the breakup of the Soviet Union. 

Comments: 

A summary of the 1991 coup, known as the August Coup, from the History Channel website at: 

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/coup-attempt-against-gorbachev-collapses

Just three days after it began, the coup against Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev collapses. Despite his success in avoiding removal from office, Gorbachev’s days in power were numbered. The Soviet Union would soon cease to exist as a nation and as a Cold War threat to the United States.

The coup against Gorbachev began on August 18, led by hard-line communist elements of the Soviet government and military. The attempt was poorly planned and disorganized, however. The leaders of the coup seemed to spend as much time bickering among themselves—and, according to some reports, drinking heavily—as they did on trying to win popular support for their action. Nevertheless, they did manage to put Gorbachev under house arrest and demand that he resign from leadership of the Soviet Union. Many commentators in the West believed that the administration of President George Bush would come to the rescue, but were somewhat surprised at the restrained response of the U.S. government. These commentators did not know that at the time a serious debate was going on among Bush officials as to whether Gorbachev’s days were numbered and whether the United States should shift its support to Russian President Boris Yeltsin. Yeltsin’s stock rose sharply as he publicly denounced the coup and organized strikes and street protests by the Russian people. The leaders of the coup, seeing that most of the Soviet military did not support their action, called off the attempt and it collapsed on August 21. 

The collapse of the coup brought a temporary reprieve to the Gorbachev regime, but among U.S. officials he was starting to be seen as damaged goods. Once a darling of the U.S. press and public, Gorbachev increasingly was viewed as incompetent and a failure. U.S. officials began to discuss the post-Gorbachev situation in the Soviet Union. Based on what had transpired during the August 1991 coup, they began a slow but steady tilt toward Yeltsin. In retrospect, this policy seemed extremely prudent, given that Gorbachev resigned as leader of the Soviet Union in December 1991. Despite the turmoil around him, Yeltsin continued to serve as president of the largest and most powerful of the former soviet socialist republics, Russia. 

--------oOo------- 

Award:  Pulitzer Feature (Human Interest) Photograph 

Year:  1992 

Photographer:  John Kaplan, Block Newspapers, Toledo, Ohio, 

Photograph(s):  Photographs depicting the diverse lifestyles of seven 21-year-olds across the United States. 

The Photographs: 

Phil: A Teen Idol But a Mother’s Worst Fear. 

With boyish bravado, Phil Anselmo, the lead singer of Pantera, shows off his pet boa before the start of the band’s first tour. 

Rodney's Crime. 

Rodney Woodson, 21, stands in shame as detectives uncover the gun he used in a Pittsburgh Hill District killing. Completed before the Pulitzer Prize entry, the story led to the Robert F. Kennedy Award and Nikon Sabbatical Grant, enabling the rest of the essay. 

Frank. 

Just 21 and a high school dropout, Frank Cline's face is already weathered from a life of poverty. 

Beatriz. 

An illegal immigrant living in San Diego, Beatriz came to America to provide a better life for her children. 

Tanya. 

On the runway at the Oscar de la Renta show, Tanya, a former victim of child abuse, has suddenly emerged as one of New York's top models. 

Marc. 

NFL rookie Marc Spindler grimaces in pain during the national anthem at his debut with the Detroit Lions. A recurring knee injury would end his first year after just three games. 

Malli. 

A senior at Harvard, Malli Marshall dreams of a career as a doctor while maintaining a long distance relationship with her boyfriend. 

Brian. 

Working as a prostitute to support his drug habit, Brian shoots up speed at a Hollywood, California hotel. "I need to get high...high as a kite and then deal with the world," he says.

--------oOo------- 

Award: World Press Photograph of the Year 

Year:   1992 

Photographer: David Turnley 

Photograph(s): 

Gulf War 

US Sergeant Ken Kozakiewicz mourns the death of fellow soldier Andy Alaniz, killed by friendly fire. 

The Photograph: 

Comments: 

From Amateur Photographer at: 

https://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/iconic-images/casualties-of-war-david-turnley-icons-of-photography-21246

The 1991 Gulf War created a new benchmark in reporting restrictions, and the images photographers were allowed to publish were strictly controlled. At the time of the war, David Turnley was an acclaimed photojournalist. In 1988 he had won the top prize at the World Press Photo competition for his photograph of a man mourning his son, killed in the 1988 Armenian earthquake. Two years later he won a Pulitzer Prize for his photography covering the political uprisings in China and Eastern Europe. 

When the Gulf War began, Turnley was one of a pool of photographers attached to the US Air Force. However, he found that his work was being restricted. “We were accompanied by a public affairs officer whose job was to make sure we stuck to Pentagon restrictions,” he recalled in a BBC interview in 2005. “This meant we would not be allowed to photograph casualties of war and certainly not war dead.” 

“While out in the field I got wind that much of the TV coverage was portraying a kind of sanitised war, one in which big technology was being used but that no human life, and particularly not American life, was at risk. It became clear to me that it was going to be very difficult for me to document the reality of the war.” Later, Turnley joined an elite MASH (mobile army surgical hospital) unit, which, by chance, didn’t have a public affairs officer attached to it. 

After the fierce bombing raids of Operation Desert Storm and the later Allied invasion of Iraq on 24 February 1991, the brief but devastating war was coming to an end. During one of the final battles, Turnley was on board a military helicopter when it picked up the three-man crew of a Bradley Fighting Vehicle. It had taken a direct hit in a missile attack that was later revealed as “friendly fire”. The vehicle’s driver, Andy Alaniz, was killed instantly and had been carried into the helicopter in a body bag; the two surviving men, who included Sergeant Ken Kozakiewicz, were both wounded and disorientated. 

Turnley watched as a medical staff member handed Alaniz’s identity tag to the Sergeant. He photographed the moment that Kozakiewicz, seen in the picture on the left, realised that his friend and comrade was dead and began to cry. This image captures the tragedy of the soldier’s death on what turned out to be the last day of fighting. 

“I knew this was going to be a good picture and I wanted to get it back to my editors in Saudi Arabia quickly,” Turnley later remembered. “My only option was to send the film through the military. When I got to Saudi Arabia, I found out that my editors hadn’t received the film.” 

When he questioned the US military officials about the film, he was told that it was being held until the next of kin were informed, although this had already happened. Turnley recalled that he went to the Lieutenant in charge and said, “You know what happens in war and you are depriving these men of their due heroism, the fact that they had to risk their lives to fight in this war.” The film was subsequently given back to Turnley and this one image was published in newspapers and magazines worldwide. 

The photograph later won the Picture of the Year prize at the World Press Photo awards and confirmed Turnley’s reputation as one of the best contemporary photojournalists. He believes it has provoked such a strong reaction, and for many people has become symbolic of the war itself, because of its raw emotional power. “It is an unbelievably intimate photo,” he has said. “It reveals the vulnerability of otherwise strong men.” 

“It is not necessarily a photograph about American soldiers. It’s about war and the young men who go to war. There is a certain nobility and dignity on the faces of these soldiers. I think that Ken Kozakiewicz touches chords that are deeply emotional in terms of his grief and his heroism. There is a certain everyman quality that becomes a very strong icon for the reality of war, which is always a tragic reality.”