Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Pearl Harbor Address - Historical Background and Audience He Wanted To Reach

The Presidential Address to Congress of December 8, 1941 was delivered by the Us President Franklin Delano Roosevelt the day after the Japanese attack on the Pearl Harbor Base.

The event:

The Pearl Harbor Base, located on the Hawaiian island of O'ahu, was attacked on the morning of December 7 by 353 Japanese planes. The assault was carried out in two phases, both by airplanes and military ships. The final result was the damage of all the eight Us Navy battleships, with four of them being sunk, the destruction of eight other ships, the loss of 188 aircrafts, the death of 2402 people and the wounds for other 1247 Americans.

The speech:

Franklin Delano Roosevelt made a very brief speech, long approximately seven minutes.

He started, as usual in these occasions, with an address to the others political figures ("Mr. Vice President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the Senate, and of the House of Representatives").
The speech was later called the Infamy Speech, citing a passage in which the President indicated the date of the attack as "a date which will live in infamy".

No more others direct interactions with the audience are made, except the last sentence in which he asked to "that Congress declare ... a state of war ... between the United States and the Japanese Empire".

But, obviously, this speech was addressed to all the American citizens, primarily, and to all the International community. After this event, the Second World War became a World-wide War in the pure sense and the perspectives completely changed.

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Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Pearl Harbor Address

Here it is the written text of the speech that we analyzed.

http://www.politicalspeeches.net/us-politics/franklin-delano-roosevelts-pearl-harbor-address

There is also the tape of that day.

Enjoy it.

Aung San Suu Kyi's Nobel Peace Prize Speech: BBC's point of view

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJxhcQzGl6A)

-What happened/ The facts:

On last 16^th of June the Burmese pro-democracy campaigner, Aung San Suu Kyi, has finally given her acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize, 21 years after it was awarded¹.

In 1991, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize but she couldn't go to receive the prize because she was under house arrest (imprisonment lasted almost 24 years). She was freed in late 2010.

-What BBC points out from the speech:

BBC highlights different parts of her speech in two reports about Aung San Suu Kyi's Nobel Speech .

In the first, entitled Suu Kyi says Nobel award meant Burma was not forgotten², there is reproduced the part of speech in which she talks about the importance of Universal Declaration of Human Rights; in particular she appoints two highlights of Declaration:

“[...]disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspirations of the common people [...]”

“[...] it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law[...]”.

In these she has found her strength. She believes that democratic institutions and practices are necessary for the guarantee of human rights.

Now we can see the fruit of the endeavours of those who believe in democracy and in the human rights.

She continues the speech telling that we have to have faith in the future but she warns against blind faith and she urges the unconditional release of all political prisoners, saying "one prisoner of conscience is one too many".

The article also underlines the importance that San Suu Kyi has and has had for Universal peace. The Thorbjorn Jagland (Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee) opening ceremony words are very significant:

“In your isolation you have become a moral voice for the whole world”

“a precious gift to the world community”.

One of the most important thing that the article points out is what had meant for San Suu Kyi receiving Nobel prize.

The prize it is like“a door in her heart”

“Winning the Nobel Peace Prize made her real once again. It had drawn her back into the wider human community”.

“The Nobel Peace Prize has drew the attention of the world to the struggle for democracy and human rights in Burma”.

“Burma was not going to be forgotten”

“The Nobel Peace Prize drew her once again into the world of other beings outside her isolation" ³

We find this part of speech in the second BBC's service “Suu Kyi in Oslo for Nobel speech” reported by Fergal Keane. He talks about Burma's transition and about violence in the north of the country. Here we find also an interview with Suu Kyi where she confirms her optimism about Burma's political future but not a blind optimism. We have to be aware of the challenges that still lie ahead.

For the journalist this is the day of her celebration.

BBC gives much importance to San Suu Kyi. We can understand it through various articles dedicated to her.

On BBC site we have also a specific page about her profile and her history (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11685977).

(http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11685977)

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1  Fergal Keane, Suu Kyi in Oslo for Nobel speech in http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-18471439

2 Suu Kyi says Nobel award meant Burma was not forgotten in http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18464946

3 A part of Suu Kyi Nobel speech in Suu Kyi says Nobel award meant Burma was not forgotten in http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18464946

Aung San Suu Kyi's Speech: Euronews point of view

Aung San Suu Kyi is an important lady from Burma that 20 years ago(in 1991) won the Nobel  Prize by fighting in her own Country for more democracy. The Myanmar's pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi couldn’t receive her Nobel Prize until this June.  She has been under house arrest until  2010 when she has been released; then this year, in April, she was elected to the national parliament: she was finally able to make her speech of thanking.

Euronews reported some essential points of her speech as for example that many people in Burma are not been freed yet, and their only fault was (and is) to ask for more democracy. http://www.euronews.com/2012/06/16/aung-san-suu-kyi-finally-makes-nobel-acceptance-speech/



Unfortunately, Euronews is very brief in reporting news, that's why I wanted to post a video that I found on YouTube to give to her speech the importance that it deserves.
This video contains the first 6 minutes of her speech, I hope you will enjoy it....


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Aung San Suu Kyi's speech (France 24 point of view)

Aung San Suu Kyi, the son of the Burmese national hero Aung San and also the famous Burmese opposition politician, was awarded with the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. At the time, she was detained under house arrest. She was released on November 2010 and, in the last April, she was elected to the national parliament.

Due to her situation, she couldn't receive her Nobel Prize until this spring. Obviously, she couldn't make her speech in front of the Norwegian assembly. She finally did it in the last June.

http://www.france24.com/en/20120616-burma-pro-democracy-leader-suu-kyi-deliver-nobel-speech-norway-oslo-21-years-late

France 24 didn't focused on the event particularly and the reporter decided to cite some interesting quotes from the Burmese MP.
The sentences range from the Burmese situation ("There still remain such - political prisoners - in Burma. It is to be feared that because the best known detainees have been released, the remainder, the unknown ones, will be forgotten") to global aspects ("Absolute peace in our world is an unattainable goal").

http://www.france24.com/en/20120615--en-week-asia-aung-san-suu-kyi-nobel-prize-burma-afghanistan-australia%2C%20

This page contains the video of a small TV program aired weekly, "The week in Asia", where some Asian aspects are scanned. I strongly recommend you to watch this emission.

Here is the complete video of the speech. Enjoy it.

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New Hampshire: Euronews point of view

New Hampshire Elections: Euronews (LACKING) point of view.

Unfortunately Euronews didn't write any article about the election in New Hampshire even if the fact is  socially and politically very interesting. For the first time an USA's State will have an all female delegation.
In my opinion this election is important because it represents how the world is changing: people are beginning to open their own mind and to fight the male chauvinism that kept our societies stuck in a big mistake which is to underestimate the "weaker sex".
Euronews basically gave information about the general aspects of the presidential elections and then about Obama's election (here an example http://www.euronews.com/2012/11/07/obama-re-elected-as-us-president/).
Personally I'm offended by Euronews inaccuracy. I think this was a great topic of conversation that would have caught the interest of many people.


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US election: The power of women (The peculiar case of New Hampshire) - BBC’s point of view

On BBC News Magazine the journalist Kate Dailey explained in her article that women with their vote have made win Obama and at the same time lose Romney.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20231337

    “When Republican candidates were caught making clumsy statements about rape and abortion, their supporters called the ensuing uproar a "distraction" from the real issues.

 But in this election, it became abundantly clear that women's issues are not fringe issues, and women are not a special interest group. Instead it was women who cast the bulk of the votes this election - 53%, and women who proved the deciding factor, breaking in Barack Obama's favour by 11 percentage points.

 At the same time, a historic number of female representative were elected, including the first openly gay senator (Tammy Baldwin, Wisconsin), the first Asian-American female senator (Mazie Hirono, Hawaii) and the first female military veteran wounded in combat (Representative Tammy Duckworth, Illinois)”.

 ( Kate Dailey, US election: Women are the new majority, BBC News Magazine, Washington)

  The article appoints the peculiar case of New Hampshire’s elections. New Hampshire will be the first state to send an all-female delegation to Congress. This is an historic result but in the article this is only mentioned.
For BBC it is more important pointing out the different approach that the two parties have had with female electorate. We can see a criticism of how Republicans have made their campaign. They didn’t have considered women power and their point of view.

  “Mitt Romney, to his credit, tried to tap into the power of female votes during the campaign by promising that a strong economy would mean better wages for women and more opportunity for female advancement. It wasn't enough. Women, says the pollster Norm Ornstein, are just as concerned with the economy as men. But their view of the economy tends to be more complex - they want both a robust employment rate and a strong social safety net if things go wrong.”

 ( Kate Dailey, US election: Women are the new majority, BBC News Magazine, Washington)

The trump card is precisely this. In Democratic Party the majority is constituted by female and minority candidates. They are women who talk to women. In Republican Party we have many fewer women. 

 Men and women split between the candidates: overall, 55% of women voted for Mr Obama, 44% for Mr Romney. For men, 52% voted for Mr Romney and 45% for Mr Obama.
In 2008, Mr Obama gained a higher percentage of the male vote (49%) and a similar percentage of the female vote (56%).
However, there was a division between married and unmarried women: 53% of married women voted for the Republican candidate, while Mr Obama won unmarried women two-to-one: 67% to 31%.
Overall, women make up more of the electorate - 53% - slightly more than their share of the US population.

These women made up 23% of the electorate this year, and they broke overwhelmingly for Obama, 67-31. (Married women preferred Romney 53-46.)

  ( Kate Dailey, US election: Women are the new majority, BBC News Magazine, Washington)

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New Hampshire Elections: France 24's point of view

For the first time, one of the federated state of the United States will be represented by an all-female delegation, id est two Congresswomen, two Senators and the State's Governor.

France 24 completely ignored this particular news; in fact, this media focused the work mostly on the pre-election, describing how the two candidates concluded their campaigns.

During the last Tuesday, the channel's website opened a liveblog (here, http://www.france24.com/en/20121106-liveblog-usa-votes-after-bitter-battle-tightly-fought-race-obama-romney-election-day) in which journalists and bloggers reported news, updates and impressions. The New Hampshire's situation wasn't cited neither in this page, with only a reference about the biggest-ever amount of  female Senators.

I find the France 24's choice to drop an aspect like this very unfortunate because minor stories often can help to complete the big scheme of the events.


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New Hampshire Elections: Al Jazeera's point of view

'Women win big in New Hampshire vote', this is the main title of the article appeared on the Official Al Jazeera Live Blog on the 7th November 2012. A short article, based on 'Reuters' news agency, talking about the election of a female Democrat governor, Maggie Hassan, and two women to represent New Hampshire in the US House of Representatives, Democrats Ann McLane Kuster and Carol Shea-Porter.

The article ends with a curt quote by Governor Hassan, saying that "Together, we will build a stronger, more innovative New Hampshire".

We can see that the language used by the journalist (whose name is not even specified) is impersonal and hasty, maybe because the news has just been copied from the Reuters Agency.

The article was in the Official Al Jazeera Blog, and not in the Official Website, and no photos or insights have been added.

http://blogs.aljazeera.com/topic/us-election-2012/women-win-big-new-hampshire-vote

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Annecy shootings (Euronews point of view)

Annecy murder. As Euronews report the fact.

Euronews made the first article about Annecy's massacre on 6 September 2012.

http://www.euronews.com/2012/09/06/young-girl-found-alive-at-scene-of-massacre-in-france/

The article talks principally about a car discovered with inside a family murdered. Only one member survived unhurt at this massacre: a little girl (only 4 years old). The police say that probably the young girl survived only because she was hiding under her mom's legs. Another girl, about 7 years old, was found alive but in a critical condition.
This massacre happened near the village of Chevaline, in the French Alps. Nobody really saw anything important for the investigation.
The family was from England, the father of the family was an Iraqi-born whose name was Saad Al-Hilli.
The investigators have no idea of the reason why this family was killed.
Close to the car, another corpse of a cyclist whose only fault was probably to be in the wrong place at the wrong moment.

The second article is dated 7 September 2012.

http://www.euronews.com/2012/09/07/french-alps-attack-three-victims-shot-in-the-head

The car was discovered by an English cyclist who also saw a car and a motorbike leaving the crime scene.
On the Al-Hilli's car there wer five people: two women, a man and two young girls.
The investigators questioned the 4 year old girl and she confirmed she was with her mom, dad and sister but she didin't recognize the other woman.
The police said that Al-Hilli's family was murdered with no apparent reason. Saad's brother contacted the police, from which now he'll be questioned.

The third article is dated 8 September 2012.

http://www.euronews.com/2012/09/08/brother-of-french-alps-murder-victim-rejects-dispute-claims

The article is centered particularly on the oldest girl. She is on artificial coma. The police hopes she will get better so she will be able to give important information for the investigation. The brother of Saad Al-Hilli affirmed he wasn't in a bad relationship with his brother.

Another article about Annecy massacre is the one dated 12 September 2012.

http://www.euronews.com/2012/09/12/french-alps-murder-investigators-say-clues-are-in-the-uk

The article talks about Zeena's return to Britain and how impatiently the police are waiting to interrogate Zainab.
The victims bodies were returned to their family.

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Annecy shootings (France 24 point of view)

France 24 has been particularly involved in this case, not only because the fact happened in France.

http://www.france24.com/en/20120905-five-found-fatally-shot-french-alps-haute-savoie-chevaline-uk-bmw

The day after the manslaughter France 24 reports the fact describing it in a journalistic way and with a first impression from the local police.

http://www.france24.com/en/20120906-british-driver-killed-france-iraqi-origin-annecy-maillaud-france
http://www.france24.com/en/20120907-france-murder-police-exploring-family-feud-motive-french-alps-killings-savoie-crime

The Annecy prosecutor acquaints the press with their first investigtion; he also informs that, probably, the killer didn't act alone. A familiar feud can be an eventual reason, according to the journalist.

The press conference held by the Gendarmerie has been live covered by the news channel and a report has been published on the web site at this link http://www.france24.com/en/20120907-live-France-alps-chevaline-annecy-police-hunt-killer-behind-murder-guns-live-updates

http://www.france24.com/en/20120908-french-police-shift-alps-murder-probe-britain-chevaline-annecy-killing-shooting-al-hilli

The French police, with the Scotland Yard's cooperation, searches the home of murders while the familiar motive is described carefully by the reporter, citing also a letter written an year ago by Saad al Hilli, the man assassinated.

http://www.france24.com/en/20120909-france-alps-murder-al-hilli-zeena-zainab-daughter-murdered-alps-couple-set-fly-home-chevaline-annecy-surrey

It is reported that Saad al Hilli worked for Surrey, an aerospace company , for two years as an engineer. Meanwhile, the young survivor starts to talk with the police, describing her memories.

http://www.france24.com/en/20120911-france-chevaline-annecy-claygate-alps-murder-witness-like-scene-film-murder-al-hilli
http://www.france24.com/en/20120913-france-alps-murder-british-cyclist-william-brett-martin-speaks-hollywood-scene

A week after the murder, the first man to alert emergency talks to the press, describing the crime scene as a film scene. The young survivor, he says, was not immediately found due to her hiding place, which was just behind her mather.

http://www.france24.com/en/20121005-swiss-bank-link-alps-murders-annecy-chevaline-claygate-shooting-al-hilli-investigation

After a month, it has been confirmed that Saad al Hilli visited a bank in Geneva few hours before his death. It is unknown what he did and the mystery goes on.

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Annecy shootings (Al Jazeera point of view)

Al Jazeera's reaction to the Lake Annecy's slaughter :

Al Jazeera's first online article about this massacre is dated 07/10/2012. It's a simple and direct report about the episode : it talks about the victims, 3 members of an Iraqui-British family, who have been shot with several bullets, and a French cyclist who was passing by and has been killed for being 'in the wrong place at the wrong moment'. The only survivors are two sisters, aged 7 and 4. The elder one was severely injured, she had been shot in the shoulder and beated in the head. Her little sister managed to hide herself under her mother's skirt. The police found her 8 hours after the shooting and she was completely shocked. After reporting the dynamics of the massacre, the journalist inserts a comment by public prosecutor Eric Maillaud saying that the slaughter was probably accomplished by non-professional criminals.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2012/10/2012102071717637204.html

The second Al Jazeera's article about this episode is dated 20/11/2012. It adds some details, for example, it says that investigators think that only one person was involved in the shootings. Moreover, it reports that, according to the French newspaper Le Parisien, the French cyclist, Syilvain Mollier, has been the first to be shot. It suggests that he, and not the Iraqui family, may be the target of the killer. The journalist strenghtens the previous hypotesis about the non-professionality of the killer, who is described as 'disorganised'. The article ends reporting that Saad al-Hilli, the 50year old father of the Iraqi family, worked as a mechanical design engineer with the Surrey Satellite Technology firm.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2012/09/2012965316547370.html

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Annecy shootings (BBC point of view)

Annecy's massacre

BBC:

On 13rd September 2012 BBC did a short summary of what happened the last 5th September near the Annecy lake.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19506889

It points out the possibility that the murder could be linked with Saddam Hussein. The article talks about an "Iraqi link".

On 27th September BBC did a radio report about Annecy killings

BBC Radio 4 report

In the next article, on 4th October, BBC did  an interview with chief prosecutor Eric Maillaud. 

He said that there is no hope of solving the murders in the near future. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19831615

On 19th October the BBC's report explains that police believes that the cyclist found dead at the scene was shot first, according to a leaked provisional scenario.

The police thinks also that the killer has worked alone but without much logic and that the identity or motive of killings hasen't been cleared yet.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20009542

On 22nd October BBC did an interview with the uncle of a woman shot. He thinks that the French prosecutor also focused on the family without presenting any evidence. In his opinion it is a kind of wild speculation.

It also did a summary of provisional scenario.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20024581

On BBC news there aren't more information about this murder.

I notice that BBC doesn't highlight the link with Iraq or Saddam. Instead, the broadcaster is very cautious and it prefers to concentrate the report about how the massacre was done on the dynamics.

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