The Guild 5-28-2004 World War II Memorial

The memorial honors the 16 million who served in the armed forces of the U.S. during World War II, the more than 400,000 who died, and the millions who supported the war effort from home. Symbolic of the defining event of the 20th Century, the memorial is a monument to the spirit, sacrifice, and commitment of the American people to the common defense of the nation and to the broader causes of peace and freedom from tyranny throughout the world. It will inspire future generations of Americans, deepening their appreciation of what the World War II generation accomplished in securing freedom and democracy. Above all, the memorial stands as an important symbol of American national unity, a timeless reminder of the moral strength and awesome power that can flow when a free people are at once united and bonded together in a common and just cause.

The first step in establishing the memorial was the selection of an appropriate site. Congress provided legislative authority for siting the memorial in the prime area of the national capital, known as Area I, which includes the National Mall. The National Park Service, the Commission of Fine Arts, and the National Capital Planning Commission approved selection of the Rainbow Pool site at the east end of the Reflecting Pool between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument. President Clinton dedicated the memorial site during a formal ceremony on Veterans Day 1995.

ABMC engaged the General Services Administration’s (GSA) Public Buildings Service to act as its agent to manage the memorial project. The design submitted by Friedrich St.Florian, an architect based in Providence, R.I., was selected as one of six semi-finalists in an open, national competition. Leo A Daly, an international architecture firm, assembled the winning team with St.Florian as the design architect. The team also includes George E. Hartman of Hartman-Cox Architects, Oehme van Sweden & Associates, and sculptor Ray Kaskey. St.Florian’s memorial design concept was approved by the Commission of Fine Arts and the National Capital Planning Commission in the summer of 1998. The commissions approved the preliminary design in 1999, the final architectural design and several ancillary elements in 2000, granite selections in 2001, and sculpture and inscriptions in 2002 and 2003.

The memorial is funded primarily by private contributions. The fund-raising campaign was led by National Chairman Senator Bob Dole and National Co-Chairman Frederick W. Smith.

Senator Dole, a World War II veteran seriously wounded on the battlefield and twice decorated with the Bronze Star and Purple Heart, was the Republican nominee for president in 1996 and the longest-serving Republican Leader in the U.S. Senate.

Frederick W. Smith is chairman, president and chief executive officer of FedEx Corporation, a $17 billion global transportation and logistics holding company. He is a graduate of Yale and a former U.S. Marine Corps officer, and serves on the boards of various transport, industry and civic organizations.

The memorial received more than $195 million in cash and pledges. This total includes $16 million provided by the federal government.

Construction began in September 2001. The memorial opened to the public on April 29, 2004. The memorial will be dedicated on Saturday, May 29, 2004 -- Memorial Day Weekend.

The American Battle Monuments Commission is an independent, executive branch agency with 11 commissioners and a secretary appointed by the president. The ABMC administers, operates and maintains 24 permanent U.S. military cemeteries and 25 memorial structures in 15 countries around the world. The commission is also responsible for the establishment of other memorials in the U.S. as directed by Congress.

Pulitzer Prize winning photojournalist Max Desfor poses with his September 2, 1945 photograph (R) of Japan's formal surrender on the deck of the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, at the Memories of World War II photography exhibition in Washington, May 24, 2004. The newly published documentary photography book 'Memories of World War II' is being released to coincide with the dedication of the National WWII Memorial in Washington on May 29. REUTERS/Hyungwon Kang

These photographs will be among of the images presented in AP's exhibit 'Memories of World War II''

American soldiers, riding camels while off duty, wave to a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress in this March 1943 file photo, in Tunisia.

U.S. reinforcements wade through the surf as they land at Normandy in the days following the Allies' June 6,1944, D-Day invasion of occupied France.

U.S. troops in the Pacific islands continued to find enemy holdouts in this March 10, 1945 file photo long after the main Japanese forces had either surrendered or disappeared.

Looking north from 44th Street, New York's Times Square is packed Monday, May 7, 1945, with crowds celebrating the news of Germany's unconditional surrender in World War II.

U.S. Marines of the 28th Regiment of the Fifth Division raise the American flag atop Mt. Suribachi, Iwo Jima, on Feb. 23, 1945.

U.S. soldiers of Pennsylvania's 28th Infantry Division march along the Champs Elysees, the Arc de Triomphe in the background, on Aug. 29, 1944, four days after the liberation of Paris, France.

Finally! Julia's preggy woman

By GEORGE RUSH and BILL HUTCHINSON
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

Actress Julia Roberts is preparing for her biggest role yet - mom - as she and hubby, Danny Moder, are expecting twins.
Julia Roberts is sporting a "Momma Lisa Smile."

The Oscar-winning actress, who has reportedly been trying to have a baby for years, is pregnant - with twins, her spokewoman confirmed last night.

Marcy Engelman, who last week denied the "Pretty Woman" star was pregnant, told People magazine that Roberts, 36, is expecting her babies early next year.

Roberts and her husband, Danny Moder, 35, conceived about nine weeks ago thanks to an $18,000 in vitro fertilization procedure, in which embryos were implanted in her womb, a source close to the couple told Star magazine.

The source said Roberts is carrying a boy and a girl.

Rumors about Roberts being pregnant have proven false in the past. But this seems like the real swell.

In an interview this year, Roberts conceded she was in a hurry to have kids, but said it is out of her hands.

"I think children fall into the category of the will of heaven, and I don't really have a timetable for that," the "Mona Lisa Smile" star said.

Now, Star claims, she's been privately telling relatives, "I'm pregnant."

Roberts decided to go public with her pregnancy after setting off a new round of rumors last week when she and Moder took a walk on an Italian beach and there appeared to be a bump on her belly.

Roberts also has given other hints in recent weeks, such as giving up cigarettes and dying her hair, and taking up yoga.

The Hollywood sweetheart met Moder, a cameraman, on the set of "The Mexican" in 2000. They were married two years later. Shortly after they were married, Roberts was seen leaving a Manhattan fertility clinic.

Roberts' pregnancy might help smooth things over with Moder's family. They have reportedly never forgiven her for stealing Moder from his first wife, makeup artist Vera Steinberg, who had a miscarriage just before he left her.

When they met, Moder had been married for five years and Roberts was with actor Benjamin Bratt, her lover of three years.

Despite her condition, Roberts isn't planning to ease up on her busy schedule just yet. She is scheduled to start filming next week in Italy on "Ocean's 12," which also stars George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon.

Luckily for Roberts, her character in the film is pregnant.

Engelman said twins do run in Roberts' family. Her great-grandmother was a twin and a pair of cousins are twins.

The 41st President of the United States has stepped up to defend his son, the 43rd President of the United States, against "slimeball" filmmaker Michael Moore.
"I have total disdain for Moore," George H.W. Bush told us when we saw him at the T.J. Martell Foundation Awards gala, where he was honored along with Stevie Wonder and Dr. Daniel Vasella the other night.

"41" has heard enough about "Fahrenheit 9/11," Moore's documentary indictment of President Bush, to know "it's a vicious attack on our son.

"It's a free country, so he's free to say whatever he wants," the former Oval Officer went on. "But I don't appreciate it. I don't like it.

"[My son] served with honor, and to get knocked down by this guy, " he huffed. "But you got to put up with it. That's what I'd say to [my son]."

We asked what he thought of Moore's use of the comment Barbara Bush made at the start of the Iraq war: "Why should we hear about body bags, and deaths? ... Why should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that? And watch [my son] suffer."

Said her furious husband: "For him to take on Barbara is just beyond the pale. She's a decent, wonderful person, and to have to answer anything about what that slimeball says is just too much."

Informed of Bush's tirade, Moore told us he had "fond memories" of "41" asking for a print of his movie "Roger & Me" to show at Camp David in the winter of 1990.

Moore, whose film explores the financial ties between the Bush family and the Saudis, said, "I appreciate all reviews of my films from the Bush family. And if they love the film this much, without having seen it, I can't wait for the reviews when they actually see it. I'd be more than happy to set up a White House screening."

Recalling the Bushes' nickname for Saudi Ambassador to the U.S. Prince Bandar, he added, "I hope they invite Bandar Bush!"
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/198719p-171525c.html

Could that grotesque creature be any more loathesome than he is?

US Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry (news - web sites) plans to focus on US security while de-emphasizing promotion of democracy in dealings with countries like Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, China and Russia, if he is elected president.

"How fast you can do that and how rapidly others can embrace it and what can be expected over a period of time varies from place to place," Kerry told the Washington Post newspaper in an interview.

"Beware of the presidential candidate who just sort of says with a big paintbrush we're going to make everything all right overnight," the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee is quoted as saying.

He said securing all nuclear materials in Russia, integrating China in the world economy, achieving greater controls over Pakistan's nuclear weapons or winning greater cooperation on terrorist financing in Saudi Arabia trumped human rights concerns in those nations, The Post reported.

"Sometimes we are dealt a set of cards that don't allow us do everything we want to do at once," he said.

The Massachusetts senator also rejected setting a date for the withdrawal of US soldiers from Iraq (news - web sites), according to the report.

Kerry said setting such a date "is not a good idea just in a vacuum" because the timetable for reducing US troops must be dictated by success in holding elections and establishing security and stability.

The candidate also accused the administration of President George W. Bush (news - web sites) of having an "Iraq-centric preoccupation" that has left little opportunity to deal with other pressing problems.

"Do you think they know where Latin America is? It is all part of the same problem," he said. "It is the distinction between what is cosmetic and what is real. In the 20 years that I have been here, I have learned to distinguish between the two. This stuff going on is mostly rhetoric."

Kerry also called the Bush administration's efforts to address North Korean nuclear ambitions through six-nation talks a "fig leaf" designed to cover up its failure to have a coherent policy. (AFP)

************************************

Then there's this.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry (news - web sites) on Tuesday outlined measures he contended would dramatically reduce the possibility that terrorists could attack the United States with nuclear weapons, which he called the greatest threat facing the nation.

"We need to employ a layered strategy to keep the worst weapons from falling into the worst hands," Kerry said in an appearance at the Port of Palm Beach in Riviera Beach, Fla.

Kerry called for building and leading a new era of alliances, modernizing the U.S. military, making full use of American diplomatic, intelligence and economic power, and freeing the nation from its dependence on Mideast oil.

"If we secure all bomb-making materials, ensure that no new materials are produced for nuclear weapons, and end nuclear weapons programs in hostile states like North Korea (news - web sites) and Iran, we will dramatically reduce the possibility of nuclear terrorism," he said.

Kerry said securing weapons and materials in the former Soviet Union would be a priority in relations between the United States and Russia, and he proposed working with U.S. allies to establish global standards for safekeeping nuclear materials. As president, Kerry said, he would also lead an international coalition seeking a global ban on production of material for new nuclear weapons.

To help reduce existing stocks of nuclear materials and weapons, the United States should stop developing a new generation of nuclear weapons and speed up reductions in the U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals, Kerry said.

Ending nuclear weapons programs in Iran and North Korea also would be a priority, Kerry said, and he proposed closing the loophole in the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty that allows those countries and others to use civilian nuclear power programs as cover for weapons development.

Toughening export controls, stiffening penalties and strengthening law enforcement and intelligence sharing would help the United States prevent trafficking in bomb-making materials and components, Kerry said. He pledged to appoint a national coordinator to focus on securing nuclear weapons and materials around the world.

"We have to do everything we can to stop a nuclear weapon from ever reaching our shore — and that mission begins far away," Kerry said. "We have to secure nuclear weapons and materials around the world so that searching the containers here at the Port of Palm Beach isn't our only line of defense, it is our last line of defense."

Both Kerry and Bush are underscoring the importance of Florida in the electoral politics of 2004 with frequent visits to the state. Kerry is making his 17th visit to Florida since he began campaigning for the presidency. Bush has visited the state 21 times since he was elected.

Bush campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt dismissed Kerry's plan as embracing objectives already laid out by the president. "His failure to accept the success of negotiations with Libya and his criticism of a multilateral approach to confront the threat from North Korea demonstrate that John Kerry can't help but play politics with national security," Schmidt said.

Ashton Carter, former assistant secretary of defense for international security policy in the Clinton administration, said Bush pursues nuclear supplies a bit at a time and country by country. Kerry would accelerate the process by getting rid of all supplies at once, Carter said in remarks on behalf of the Kerry campaign. [But, but didn't Effin' just say in the May 30th story: "Beware of the presidential candidate who just sort of says with a big paintbrush we're going to make everything all right overnight," the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee is quoted as saying. ]

Kerry is delivering a series of speeches on national security during an 11-day tour that ends Sunday, the 60th anniversary of the Allied invasion at Normandy, France, during World War II. AP

Things must be very tight on the new plane.

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites), D-Mass., speaks to members of the media on his plane before attending the Portsmouth Memorial Day Parade in Portsmouth, Va., on Monday, May 31, 2004. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

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