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04 Dec 2011 09:30

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World: German town discovers WWII bombs hiding in Rhine River

  • 45,000 people evacuated over old bombs source
  • » They were hiding in a river: In one of the weirder discoveries since the end of WWII, record-low water levels in the Western German city of Koblenz exposed old bombs from the latter part of the war — including a 1.8-ton bomb that would be big enough to destroy the city center. It’s a very sensitive situation and one that officials are very careful to handle only without people nearby. “Only when we are sure that all of the 45,000 Germans have left the town (can) the regional bomb-disposal squad start to operate,” said brigade spokesman Ronald Eppelsheim.
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12 May 2011 10:03

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World: John Demjanjuk convicted after lengthy Nazi death camp trial

  • before John Demjanjuk, a 91-year-old retired U.S. autoworker, is reportedly a notorious Nazi death camp prison guard. As a result of this he lost his U.S. citizenship and has been tried on various charges since the 1980s.
  • now After his extradition to Germany in 2009, he was tried in a lengthy trial that ended with his conviction as an accessory to murder at a death camp. He was sentenced to five years in prison. Note that he’s 91.
  • next He was released pending appeal. As Demjanjuk no longer has a country to call his own (he’s literally a citizen of nowhere), he’s pretty much stuck in Germany until the appeals go through. Again, he’s 91. source
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23 Aug 2010 10:51

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World: Anne Frank’s favorite tree falls down during depressing storm

Want to be a tree that hits the international news in its obituary? Just create a strong impression on Anne Frank, enough so that she writes about you again and again. source
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23 Jun 2010 10:44

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Culture: Obit: Lady who got a really good kiss after World War II

  • Remember this lady? Remember this kiss? Of course you don’t. You weren’t in Times Square that day; you probably weren’t born. And based on a check of our demographics, you probably didn’t serve in World War II. But the nurse in this famous Alfred Eisenstaedt photo, Edith Shain, died Tuesday at 91. This lucky moment was never to be re-kindled. Some random guy, so happy about V-J Day, just came up and kissed her. His identity has never been discovered. If he’s alive, he’s probably thinking about the kiss right now. source
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24 Apr 2010 12:36

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Offbeat: Clam factory gets a lot more explosives than it bargained for

  • 126 old WWII grenades just hangin’ with the clams source
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21 Apr 2010 10:38

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Culture: The downfall of the “Downfall” meme: Hitler won’t be happy, guys

  • Way to take the fun out of Hitler, guys. You’ve seen this meme probably a million times. (We know we have.) Anyway, the rise of the “Downfall” meme has hit a dead-end, after producers of the film started ordering clips from the film be taken down. Probably is, these clips are almost all across-the-board parodies of the original clip, where Hitler learns that he’s about to lose the war. Above is a super-meta clip that makes fun of the DMCA takedown notices. source
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10 Apr 2010 10:12

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World: Polish President Lech Kaczynski’s death has huge symbolic value

  • It is a damned place. It sends shivers down my spine. First the flower of the Second Polish Republic is murdered in the forests around Smolensk, now the intellectual elite of the Third Polish Republic die in this tragic plane crash when approaching Smolensk airport. This is a wound which will be very difficult to heal.
  • Former Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski • Regarding the plane crash that killed the current Polish president today. Lech Kaczynski and dozens of other Polish leaders and members of the elite were killed on their way to a ceremony commemorating the deaths of many Polish officers at the hands of the Red Army during World War II. This incident feels just as sad. source
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18 Dec 2009 09:46

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World: Did vandals set it free? Infamous Auschwitz sign stolen

  • This sign is infamous. It says “arbeit macht frei,” or “work sets you free.” It’s hung up over the Auschwitz memorial. Well, it was until someone stole it in the middle of the night last night. Who did it? Holocaust deniers? Neo-Nazis? A couple of stupid kids looking to cause some trouble? People who hate being reminded of what happened in Auschwitz? Either way, this sign needs to be returned. (Photo by Flickr user Pawel Sawicki) source
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11 Nov 2009 11:11

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U.S., World: Veterans Day is today; don’t forget to honor the fallen

Today’s Veterans Day. 11/11. Obama celebrated at a ceremony at Arlingtion National Cemetery. How did you celebrate? source
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24 Aug 2009 20:41

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Culture: Does “Inglourious Basterds” play too fast and loose with WWII?

  • The great, sick joke of the film’s grindhouse logic is that even though what it shows us didn’t happen, in a larger, almost abstract sense it did happen. (I mean, it’s not as if the Nazi high command, in the end, wasn’t destroyed.)
  • Entertainment Weekly film reviewer Owen Gleiberman • Discussing the possibility that Quentin Tarantino’s latest film might be the birth of a backlash. He notes that one of his reviewer friends found the end of the movie to be extremely offensive. Glieberman’s unnamed friend “thought Tarantino had stepped over a line of historical veracity, and that audiences, especially younger ones, might be led by Inglourious Basterds to embrace the idea that World War II was just another meaningless pulp fantasy.” Our thought? Tarantino’s only doing what his inspirations did – play fast and loose with history for entertainment’s sake. • source
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