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HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — The siren's wail at the historic Metropole Hotel sent American folk singer Joan Baez and other guests scampering across a garden and into an underground bunker. Even through five feet of concrete, they could still hear the roar of American bombs raining on parts of Hanoi. [...]

Journalism: After the eulogies, the fact remains that "the most trusted man in America" betrayed that trust. He helped snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in Vietnam and tried hard to do the same in Iraq.President Obama on Friday praised Walter Cronkite as a journalistic icon, calling the CBS anchor the "voice of certainty in an uncertain world." More to the point, he was the father of advocacy journalism, the patron saint of media bias. He went from reporting news to recreating it in his own image. Far from the image of the patriotic war correspondent, Cronkite was a...

(snip) "I'm saddened to learn of the passing of Walter Cronkite, one of the most influential newsmen of our time," said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. "I will never forget our memorable visit together to Hanoi on the 10th anniversary of the fall of Saigon."(snip)

June 14, 2009Obama's Other Controversial ChurchBy Andrew Walden "This is a guy (former Weatherman terror-bomber Bill Ayers) who lives in my neighborhood ... the notion that somehow as a consequence of me knowing somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago - when I was 8 years old - somehow reflects on me and my values doesn't make much sense." -- Barack Obama on the Campaign trail, 2008 As President Obama prepared to commemorate D-Day, the Associated Press dug up old details and photos to write a warm fuzzy story about the WW2 service record of Obama's maternal grandfather...

HANOI, Vietnam -- Sen. John McCain paid a quiet visit to the "Hanoi Hilton" prison where he was held for more than five years during the Vietnam War on Wednesday, making a few deadpan remarks as he made his way through dark corridors and past musty cells. McCain allowed reporters to follow him while he escorted Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina through the prison. -snip-

WASHINGTON - Republican US Senator John McCain leaves Washington on Friday on a week-long trip to Asia that will take him to Hong Kong, Hanoi, Beijing and Tokyo, his office said on Monday. . . . . . Details of the trip were not immediately available, but the Arizona senator, planned to hold several public events. On his online Twitter feed, Mr McCain revealed Monday that he had met with China's ambassador to the United States in preparation for the trip.

NEW YORK — It's been decades, but Jane Fonda still can't shake her "Hanoi Jane" image from the Vietnam War. About a dozen Vietnam veterans and other protesters on Saturday picketed the theater where the 71-year-old actress is starring in the Broadway play "33 Variations," telling passers-by that she had once visited their communist enemy in Hanoi.

Gathering of Eagles Action Alert Who: Hanoi Jane Fonda in NYC What: Support Our Vietnam/Iraq Veterans Rally Where: 230 West 49th Street, Between Broadway and 8th Avenue When: Saturday, February 21, 2009, 1 pm to Whenever

Does anyone know if there is a memorial to US troops that I can visit while in Hanoi? I know it seems unlikely, but you never know. If not, anyone in Hanoi this month?

"John McCain spent more time in the Hanoi Hilton than Barack Obama has spent in the US Senate." Rudy Giuliani from today's JSND Conference Call.Be sure you vote November 4th. And remember, Country B4 Party. NObama! NO DEAL!

An almost ten minute excerpt from a 1982 Canadian Broadcasting Corp. documentary on the KGB. The posted section focuses on Communist Cuba's involvement in training, funding and giving orders to the Weathermen.Much of the info comes from an interview with Larry Grathwohl, who is in the film No Place to Hide.The CBC documentary ties the Weathermen, the Cuban government and a French-Canadian seperatist group,the FLQ.The documentary also features an interview with an unnamed Cuban and an unnamed figure involved with the FLQ and a 1965 plot by balck radicals to bomb the Statue of Liberty.The video was just posted today....

In what is believed to be the biggest public protest since 1954, over 10,000 people have gathered in Hanoi to protest the demolition by the Vietnamese government...

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) -- Communist authorities in Hanoi have threatened to take legal action against the city's archbishop unless he immediately disbands illegal prayer vigils to demand the return of former church lands, state media reported Monday. The government campaign against Archbishop Ngo Quang Kiet escalated over the weekend, with state television calling into question his patriotism in an apparent attempt to turn public opinion against him. State-controlled newspapers on Monday quoted a letter to Kiet from Hanoi Mayor Nguyen The Thao, accusing the cleric of instigating unrest. "Stop your illegal acts immediately or you will be dealt with according...

New Film released By the Swedes Showing McCain’s release in 1973 to the US Military in Hanoi. (Video Included in post)

There is a statue in Hanoi where McCain was shot down. I am amazed this exists: taken from http://www.everywheremag.com/places/4940/ The inscription apparently says " on October 26, 1967, John McCain was shot down here. Thirty-one other U.S. aircraft were also downed on this day, according to the inscription. " very strange. I guess they want tourism.

Former Vietnamese Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet, an economic reformer who led the Communist nation away from poverty and isolation and backed the normalization of ties with the United States, died Wednesday... Kiet, who was prime minister from 1991 to 1997... Impatient with Communist Party functionaries trying to protect their own turf, Kiet argued that the party could only stay in power if it loosened its tight hold over the government and business.

This needs to be widely distributed.I can't post the video clip so you will have to go the the link. It's a clip of John McCain appearing on Des Moines' WHO radio last July, when on-air talent Jan Mickelson played him Tom Harkin's comments from earlier that month, recorded on the floor of the Senate: And if we leave, there will be a bloodbath in Vietnam. All of the people who supported us will be slaughtered in the streets. Well, it didn't happen.

COPYING (not linking, it uses my bandwidth) and circulation is encouraged. http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/message/index.php?messageDate=2004-04-14 is the reference for the Michael Moore quote.

To: info “at” barackobama.com, media “at” barackobama.com, watchdog “at” barackobama.com cc: Multiple blogs, with encouragement to circulate as viral E-mailDear Mr. Obama, It is one matter to oppose a war or criticize the manner in which it is being fought. It is another matter to call terrorists who are murdering our soldiers–and we use the word “murder” deliberately, because only a uniformed combatant who is fighting according to the laws of war can legally kill an opposing soldier–”Minutemen” who are fighting the American “occupation” of Iraq. Michael Moore, whose endorsement you have refused to reject, has done exactly this on...

Record-setting cold weather has killed more than 8,000 cattle and 100,000 hectares of paddy rice in northern Vietnam since mid-January, officials said Tuesday. Most of the cattle have died in northern mountainous provinces, where temperatures during the month-long cold spell have sometimes dropped to below zero Celsius, a rarity in Vietnam. "We fear that the number of cattle killed by coldness and shortage of food in northern provinces will keep rising in the coming days," ... The cold spell, which the National Hydrometeorology Forecast Center says is the longest ever in Vietnam, has also killed up to 100,000 hectares of...