Entries in history (5)
Remember Pearl Harbor
December 6, 2007 in Society 
Pearl Harbor Raid, 7 December 1941, Naval Historical Center
Guarding Washington
October 29, 2007 in Society This is a view of Washington from the Pentagon, after 9/11.
Reviewing Weiner's 'Legacy of Ashes'
September 12, 2007 in Intelligence Reading the mainstream media’s reviews of Tim Weiner’s “Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA”, one would think the book has become the definitive history of the intelligence agency. Not so fast, say Jeffrey T. Richelson and Nicholas Dujmovic. Writing in separate reviews, they blast the book as no real history at all. Richelson writes:
The nearly-unanimous praise that greeted Legacy of Ashes underscored the presumption that here was a book which would convey an extraordinary understanding of the agency. …The near-universal praise is perplexing, if only because Tim Weiner’s book cannot be even remotely characterized as a history of the CIA. …Weiner is very parsimonious when it comes to describing successful CIA endeavors. A history of the agency, according to Weiner, need only provide the vaguest details about the intelligence these assets supplied, and even less about its value and impact.
Dujmovic weighs in:
Tim Weiner’s Legacy of Ashes is not the definitive history of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) that it purports to be. Nor is it the well researched work that many reviewers say it is. It is odd, in fact, that much of the hype surrounding the book concerns its alleged mastery of available sources. Weiner and his favorable reviewers - most, like Weiner, journalists - have cited the plethora of his sources as if the fact of their variety and number by themselves make the narrative impervious to criticism. But the thing about scholarship is that one must use sources honestly, and one doesn’t get a pass on this even if he is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist for the New York Times. …anyone who wants a balanced perspective of CIA and its history should steer well clear of Legacy of Ashes.
Sins of Omission and Commission, Jeffrey T. Richelson
Review of “Legacy of Ashes: The History of CIA”, Studies in Intelligence
Stoffel Brothers In CA
March 26, 2007 in Family Browsing the web for any of my namesake, I came across these Stoffel brothers running a Goodyear Service Station in Anaheim, California. The photo is owned by the Anaheim Public Library, with information about it displayed on their site. Bernard Stoffel appears to have owned the business. This photo shows him standing in front of it with brother Edward Stoffel back in 1917.
High Wycombe: End of an Era
March 10, 2007 in Society 
The Department of Defense’s European Command has announced the closing of High Wycombe’s school and dorms for American Dependents at the end of the 2006-07 school year.
London Central High School has been located there since 1962. LCHS was located at Bushey Heath from 1952 to 1962. The base, known as USAF High Wycombe, reverts to British ownership as RAF Daws Hill. The eventual disposition of the facility is unclear, covered by the Official Secrets Act. Some facilities there were used as a secure command center during World War II, where Winston Churchill is said to have been present.
I knew students who attended LCHS at High Wycombe from American bases and posts from Oslo to Gibraltar. Now, the wisdom of schooling closer to home has prevailed. Years ago, the choice was between sending kids to local foreign schools or away to the American boarding school. The school system is now suggesting other options 
including local British schools, home study, or private British boarding schools.
London Central school to be shut down at end of academic year, Stars & Stripes
London Central Elementary High School to Close in June 2007, Message from the LCHS Principal, Theresa Barba
Closure of Department of Defense Educational Activity (DoDEA) Residential Dormitory and London Central High School, Gen. James L. Jones, Commander, United States European Command
London Central High School, Networking/Reunion Info
Pearls Before Swine
Day By Day
Cartoons Used With Permission