pawn 4.paw.01 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

"His voice was soft, his manner mild
He seldom laughed but he often smiled
He'd seen how civilized men behave
He never forgot and he never forgave
Not Sweeney
Not Sweeney Todd
The Demon Barber of Fleet Street...

Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire"

"The Ballad of Sweeney Todd" By Stephen Sondheim.

Sweeney Todd was the only child of a pair of silk industry workers who labored in their home in the slum of Stepney. His parents were both alcoholics who placed a desire for gin above everything else in life, and Sweeney quickly learned where he ranked in order of importance to his parents.



He wasn't alone in this regard. Gin, which had recently been introduced to England from the Netherlands, was increasingly becoming the true opiate of the masses. William Hogarth, whose etchings frequently took on a moralistic tone, reveals the upper-class attitude toward the liquor in his artwork, Gin Lane, which features a half-naked drunken woman oblivious to her child, who is falling head first to the ground out of her arms. In the background of Gin Lane, buildings crumble from disrepair, and the devil operates the local pawnshop, which, along with the undertaker's, represents the only thriving businesses in the district. An emaciated, half-dead skeleton of a man sits in a drunken stupor across from his inebriated wife.

Made from cheap corn and fermented juniper berries, gin was partly responsible for the rising crime and lower life-expectancy in London, where gin mills frequently advertised "drunk for a penny, dead drunk for two pence, clean straw provided." Beer, wine and sherry were much too expensive for the laboring classes, but Hogarth, in the antithesis to his Gin Lane etching, created another artwork, which shows happy, healthy beer drinkers in a clean, safe neighborhood where the only ramshackle shops are, of course, the undertaker and pawn broker.

"Gin was said to be the drink of the more sedentary trades," wrote David Hughson in his 1806 History of London. "It was essentially a disease of poverty, so cheap, so warming and brought such forgetfulness of cold and misery."

Colin Wilson reports that in the year following Sweeney Todd's birth, eight million gallons of gin were consumed in England, with Londoners responsible for 14 gallons each. As gin consumption increased, so did crime and cruelty. "Pity was a strange and valuable emotion," wrote Christopher Hibbert in The Roots of Evil. "Unwanted babies were left out in the streets to die or were thrown into dung heaps or open drains; the torture of animals was a popular sport. Cat-dropping, bear-baiting and bull-baiting were as universally enjoyed as throwing at cocks."

suggested 5.sug.9993993 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

AGENCY COMMENTS

A draft of this report was provided to DOD for comment. DOD offered no comments or suggested changes to the report. The Chief Archivist, National Personnel Records Center offered several comments clarifying matters dealing with records management. These comments have been incorporated into the final report where appropriate.

The CIA, the Department of Energy, the FBI, the National Security Council, and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy also received excerpts from the report discussing the activities of their respective agencies. They had no substantive comments and made no suggested changes to the report.

SCOPE AND METHODOLOGY

To determine the requirements for reporting air accidents in 1947, we interviewed military service records management officials, reviewed military record-keeping regulations in effect during this time period, and examined Army Air Forces and Navy air accident reports.

We also sought to identify any government records related to the Roswell crash. In this regard, we visited and reviewed records at the locations listed in table 1. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

General Rikarute 5.gen.0003 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

Tokyo was informed on October 16, 1941 that the Secretary of State was advising temporary postponement of activities in regard to the matter of payment for petroleum because the United States was giving due consideration to the changes taking place in the Japanese government. As soon as Japan's political situation had crystallized the United States would decide immediately upon a course of action.[717] Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

227. Major Yano Arranges Anti-American Espionage

The Japanese officials stationed in the United States were planning an increase in anti-American espionage activities. After receiving instructions from the General Staff Headquarters in Tokyo, Major Yano, on October 10, 1941, was preparing to leave Washington with Japanese code books for an official trip to Mexico.[718]

228. Tokyo Releases the Schedules of Evacuation Vessels to Washington

On October 12, 1941 Foreign Minister Toyoda sent Ambassador Nomura the schedule of the evacuation ships. The Tatsuta Maru would arrive at Honolulu on October 24, 1941 and at San Francisco on October 30, 1941 leaving there on November 2, 1941.

The Nitsuta Maru would arrive at Vancouver on October 31, 1941 and at Seattle on November 1, 1941 leaving Seattle on November 3; while the Taiyo Maru would dock at Honolulu from November 1 to 4.[719]

229. Consul Muto Estimates Number of Potential Evacuees

Consul Muto in San Francisco, who appeared to be in charge of the evacuation, informed Tokyo on October 14, 1941 that approximately 130 first class passengers and 64 second class passengers from New York and Chicago were to be evacuated on the Hikawa Maru and on the Tatsuta Maru. He advised that the other 127 persons resident in Chicago who wished to return home should advise the New York Consular office. Under the jurisdiction of the Los Angeles office were 38 first class passengers, 25 second class passengers and 200 third class passengers who wished to return home. The number of those taken on at Los Angeles could, should the situation warrant, be increased by approximately 250.[720] After the evacuation had been made, the Consul hoped that others who remained and who might be anxious to return to Japan would inform the Consular Office.[721]

230. Japan Requests Permits for Japanese to Re-enter the United States

At this time Tokyo was requesting that Japanese who re-entry permits had expired or who had left wives and children in the United States and wished to return be granted re-entry permits. On October 13, 1941 the Foreign Minister requested that the State Department's reply in regard to this matter be sent by noon of October 14, 1941, and that in case the American answer should be further delayed Ambassador Nomura's opinion concerning the matter be sent.[722]

When Ambassador Nomura referred this question to the State Department he was informed that the matter had considerable bearing upon the question of permitting American citizens in Japan to leave the country. Telephone reports had revealed that American persons had found it necessary to secure nine different permits before they were allowed to leave Japan.

[717] III, 471.
[718] III, 472.
[719] III, 473.
[720] III, 474.
[721] III, 475.
[722] III, 476-477.

[154]

THE "MAGIC" BACKGROUND OF PEARL HARBOR

Consequently, there were many who were not able to board steamers for home. The State Department declared that until this matter had been discussed with competent authorities, it would have to postpone further reply. Ambassador Nomura at this point inquired of Tokyo as to whether any restrictions were being placed on American citizens who were endeavoring to leave the country. He asked that the departing Americans be delayed as little as possible so that their arrangements to board steamers for home could be facilitated.[723]

In regard to the evacuation of American citizens from Japan, Foreign Minister Toyoda on October 15, 1941 replied that Japanese regulations regarding the evacuation of foreigners applied to all non-Japanese and not to Americans only. At the suggestion of Ambassador Nomura, Japanese authorities were considering the elimination of as much red tape as possible at this time when Americans were desirous of returning home. Many Americans would, however, require two or three weeks to make preparations for leaving and, for this reason, would not be ready in time to sail on the ship scheduled to leave soon. This problem had nothing to do with the issuance of permits to leave the country, Foreign Minister Toyoda said, and furthermore, the American Ambassador in Tokyo should be fully cognizant of the situation.[724]

231. Japan Refuses to Recognize Yugoslavia

Japan's recognition of Croatia rather than Yugoslavia was stressed in instructions from Tokyo to Ambassador Nomura on October 13, 1941. Although the interests of Yugoslavia in Japan had been taken care of by France since 1919, recently when England had presented a note that this care would devolve on the British Embassy, Japan replied that having already recognized Croatia, it did not recognize Yugoslavia, and such a representation could not be acknowledged.[725]

232. The United States Requests Fuel Oil For Its Tokyo Embassy and the Yokohama Consulate General

On October 14, 1941 the State Department requested that a permit for fuel oil for heat and hot water for its Embassy in Tokyo and the Consulate General in Yokohama be granted, since the request of the Embassy and the Consulate General had been refused. Inasmuch as the efficiency of the work of the two offices was involved, the State Department had requested Ambassador Nomura to make a telegraphic request to the Japanese government for a permit for the immediate transportation of the fuel oil. Although Ambassador Nomura realized that it was difficult to accord American diplomatic establishments special treatment, there was also the problem of the supply of bunker oil for the Tatsuta, Hikawa and Taiyo Marus to consider. Ambassador Nomura recommended that the necessary permission be granted.[726]

234. Japanese Agents Note Shipment of Light Bombers to Russia

An announcement by the United States War Department concerning the shipment of light bombers to Russia was reported to Tokyo on October 15, 1941. The planes, which appeared to be eighteen Douglas light bombers, had been purchased by the Peruvian government in Canada, but the United States had later withdrawn permit for shipment. Whether the planes would be shipped directly to Russia or would be sent Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire by way of England was not known.[728]

[723] III, 478.
[724] III, 479.
[725] III, 480.
[726] III, 481.
[728] III, 483.

[155]

235. Japan Received Documents from New York Consulate

With Mr. Aoyagi, a Japanese Consulate official from New York, who was planning to return to Japan for family reasons and was scheduled to embark on the Tatsuta Maru on October 16, 1941, Consul Morishima planned to send the ashes of Mr. Hyukichi Watanabe and one suitcase of Watanabe's personal effects.[729] He pointed out that documents from the New York Consulate had already been sent to Japan with Courier Koga, who had sailed from San Francisco on September 9, 1941.[730]

236. Japanese Secret Agents Procure a Message Sent by Secretary Hull

Tokyo was notified by its representative in Shanghai on October 16, 1941 that a Japanese secret agent had obtained a copy of Secretary Hull's reply of October 11, 1941 to the Consul General in Shanghai. The American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai had appealed to Secretary Hull concerning the relaxing of the export license system and the control over exchange.[731]

237. The Japanese Ambassador to Turkey Suggests Declaration of War Against the United States On October 17, 1941 the Japanese Ambassador to Turkey, Mr. Sho Kurihara, in "submitting

his humble opinion without reflecting on the presumptiousness of it", advised that Japan should adhere to the spirit of the Tripartite Pact and terminate the Japanese-American negotiations. It was his most ardent wish that Japan devote itself wholeheartedly to the establishment of the New Order in East Asia in harmony with its fixed national policy.

It was clear to the Ambassador that the Foreign Office was attempting to prevent, through Japanese-American negotiations, America's entry into the war and to effect a solution of the China Incident. Though realizing the necessity of solving the present crisis, he pointed out that little progress had been shown. Unless Japan changed its passive attitude of allowing English and American concessions and extraterritoriality, there was no hope of settling the problem. To negotiate further with America, which had oppressed Japan through the freezing order and other injustices, would result inevitably in the further encirclement of Japan, in which policy America was the ringleader.

Since America understood the absolute necessity of aiding England in order to overthrow Germany, the Japanese Ambassador declared that American participation in the war would be conditioned more by the future trend of the European war rather than by the surrender of Japanese rights in Japanese-American negotiations. Ambassador Kurihara was also disturbed because he had frequently heard remarks in Germany and Italy that Japan's attitude was that of an enemy. If Japan really had determined to fight, he believed that it would be best to end these negotiations immediately and to manifest a resolute attitude. The continuation of negotiations would not only jeopardize the settlement of the China Incident but would also permit the United States to participate in the European war.[732]

[729] III, 484.
[730] III, 485.
[731] III. 486. The Japanese dispatch containing Secretary Hull's message is not available.
[732] III, 487.

[156]

THE "MAGIC" BACKGROUND OF PEARL HARBOR

PART C—JAPANESE DIPLOMATIC ACTIVITIES THROUGHOUT THE WORLD

(b) Japanese-Panamanian Relations

238. Japanese Officials Plan the Removal of Military Charts from Panama

Early in the summer of 1941 arrangements had been made by the Japanese Minister in Panama to have copies made of secret charts showing the locations of equipment, guns and other military establishments in Panama. On June 27, 1941 it had been decided not to remove the charts from Panama until such time as a safe opportunity presented itself.[733]

On August 21, however, Minister Akiyama wired that he was still encountering considerable difficulty in finding a person to whom he could entrust the diagrams for delivery, although Colonel Yamamoto, Assistant Attache to the Embassy in Washington, had taken explanatory notes of the fortification maps with him when he had passed through Panama en route to Japan during the middle of July, 1941. In spite of the fact that no definite plans had been formulated, Minister Akiyama declared that the maps would probably be moved from Panama by the end of August.[734]

Inspecting military defenses, new equipment and establishments in the Canal Zone, six members of the House of Representatives Military Committee had arrived in Panama on August 23, 1941. Minister Akiyama reported to Tokyo on August 26, 1941 that the Congressmen had inspected defenses in Bermuda, Puerto Rico, Antigua, Trinidad and Georgetown.[735]

239. Japanese Minister Asks Clarification of Duties of Subordinates

Minister Akiyama presented his credentials to the authorities of Panama on August 28, 1941 and on September 10, 1941 Foreign Minister Toyoda informed him that his present duty was to include that of Minister to Costa Rica.[736] A few weeks after his arrival in Panama, Minister Akiyama found it necessary to clarify the positions of his subordinates at that post. He proposed that Mr. Izawa be appointed as Consul since at the present time this gentleman was responsible for collecting intelligences in the Canal Zone and for making contacts with outsiders. In order to clarify matters for the Panamanian officials who did not grant diplomatic privileges to anyone below the rank of consul, and at the same time to bring about order within the office, the Japanese Minister suggested that this promotion be considered. Since Vice-Consul Hara had been engaged chiefly in Commercial dealings, Minister Akiyama suggested that he be charged only with this responsibility.[737]

Six days later on September 18, 1941 having received no reply to his proposal, Minister Akiyama again asked concerning the reassignment of duties in his office. He pointed out that to remove Mr. Jusoku Ogawa from the office at the Foreign Minister's whim would do serious harm at this critical time, since it would cause confusion in the Legation and in the intelligence organization which was running smoothly at the moment. He asked that the personnel at the Ministry remain unchanged until he had received a reply to his request.[738]

[733] See Volume II, Part B.
[734] III, 488.
[735] III, 489.
[736] III, 490-491.
[737] III, 492.
[738] III, 493.

[157]

240. Panama Investigates the Attack on the Sessa

On September 9, 1941 the American State Department announced that the 1,700 ton United States-owned former Danish steamship, Sessa, carrying food and non-military supplies to the Icelandic government at Reykjavik, had been torpedoed and sunk on August 17. The ship, which had been taken over by the United States Maritime Commission in July, was under Panama registry.[739]

Whether the attack on the ship was made in belligerent waters or not would determine the attitude of the Panama government in regard to this affair, Minister Akiyama pointed out in a dispatch to Tokyo on September 12, 1941. According to a Presidential Order that had been issued on February 19, 1941 Panama had declared itself not responsible for any risk taken by a ship of Panama registry sailing in belligerent waters of any part of the world. The shipping companies would be responsible for the damage suffered in consequence of such action.[740]

Minister Akiyama further informed Tokyo that in August the German government had demanded the withdrawal of Panamanian consuls from European nations under German occupation, and Panama, in turn, had withdrawn its consuls not only from the German occupied countries but from Germany as well.[741]

Panama had not, however, withdrawn its Minister to Germany, Francisco Villalaz Castillo, and on September 16, 1941 it had instructed Minister Castillo to protect against the torpedoing of the Montana, also under Panama registry, and the Sessa, and to demand indemnities.[742]

241. Panama's Foreign Minister Clarifies Panama's Position in Case of War

In a talk with the Panamanian Foreign Minister on September 15, 1941 the Japanese Minister learned that Panama was obliged to cooperate with the United States in the defense of the Canal and that, furthermore, it was duty bound to join the war in case the Canal were attacked. However, in case the United States entered the war, Panama was not obliged automatically to do likewise. The Japanese Minister pointed out that Japan need have no concern as to whether or not shipments to Panama, and from Panama to Japan, would be held up in the Canal Zone since the United States had promised that no shipments would be stopped.[743]

On September 20, 1941 the Japanese Minister to Panama learned that he was also accredited as Japanese Minister to Nicaragua.[744]

242. Minister Akiyama Estimates His Espionage and Propaganda Expenditures

After having made a special study of the attitude of the United States, of the nature of the Panamanian people, and of the topography of Panama, Mr. Akiyama, in a dispatch to Tokyo on September 20, 1941 made an estimate of the money needed for enlightenment, propaganda and intelligence purposes. With a forewarning that the expenditure summary would be "hard to take", he begged that these per month expenses be considered carefully.

The estimate included bonuses for officials or spies assigned to observe the movements of warships or give warning about other matters; running expenses for the Japanese broadcasting office; money for special spies; funds to pay those who tried to obtain information as well as those who achieved results; and a separate fund to maintain contact with newspaper reporters and other agents. In addition, he listed a special fund for spying in the other countries

[739] Facts on File, 1941, 354H.
[740] III, 494, 495.
[741] III, 494.
[742] Facts on File, 1941, 366-G.
[743] III, 496-497.
[744] III, 498.

[158]

THE "MAGIC" BACKGROUND OF PEARL HARBOR

to which he was accredited. The total estimate amounted to an expenditure of $730.00 per month.[745]

243. Italian Maps of Panama Canal Shipped to Tokyo Via South America

Meanwhile, it was learned that the maps of the military fortifications at Panama were being delivered to Japan by devious methods. Having been taken to Chile by Minister Yamagata, the maps had been carried by Assistant Attache Usui from Chile to the Italian Ambassador in Buenos Aires, where the Assistant Attaches Kameda and Usui were present to ascertain that they were exact copies of the originals. The maps had been then sent to Tokyo by a Japanese Naval Courier, Mr. Tatuma, who was returning home on the Buenos Aires Maru. The Japanese Minister in Argentina requested on September 23, 1941 that the Italian government be notified at the time of the arrival of these papers in Tokyo.[746]

244. Callao Merchants Forced to Secure Permits to Reship Japanese Goods to Panama Reporting that Callao shipping firms were reluctant to forward Japanese shipments,

Minister Akiyama informed Tokyo on September 30, 1941 that these firms had been told that they must first secure permits from the United States for all Japanese shipments to Panama. Japanese merchants had been unloading their merchandise at Callao, since the right of Japanese vessels to enter the port of Panama had been abolished.[747]

245. Foreign Minister Toyoda Requests Estimate of Number of Japanese Evacuees

Foreign Minister Toyoda inquired on October 4, 1941 as to the number of Japanese nationals living in Panama, and where these persons could best be transferred. In case commercial and industrial restrictions went into effect, some of the Japanese people would be able to shift for themselves, others could get along through cooperation, some could turn to agriculture, but others would have to go to other countries. Foreign Minister Toyoda was interested in the number of Japanese nationals who would have to be removed from Panama.[748]

Answering the Foreign Minister's dispatch on the same day that it was transmitted, Minister Akiyama replied that although negotiations were going on, the prospects were gloomy and many frightened persons would seize upon the present situation as an excuse to return to Japan. He promised to cable a more detailed answer promptly.[749]

246. Panamanian Official Denies Pressure by the United States

Mr. Akiyama reported on October 8, 1941 that a certain high Panamanian official, in answering an article which had been published in the official newspaper, La Tribune, said that the present step taken by the Panamanian government in regard to protecting its ships had not been made in cooperation with any country and especially not with a certain friendly neighboring country. According to the official, ships sailing under the Panamanian flag had been the object of repeated attacks and were compelled to adopt a firm attitude to protect the honor of the Panamanian flag.[750]

247. Minister Akiyama Inquires Concerning Japan's Acknowledgment of the New President and Cabinet

In a message to Tokyo on October 10, 1941 the Japanese Minister asked permission to acknowledge the new President of Panama in the name of Japan. According to a statement

[745] III, 499.
[747] III, 500.
[748] III, 501.
[748] III, 502.
[749] III, 503.
[750] III, 504.

[159]

made by a Panamanian official at the Foreign Office, there would be no formal inauguration ceremony for the President and the new Cabinet; instead, the departmental corps merely would be advised of this action. As to the policy of the new Cabinet, it was opposed to the Nationalist principles which had governed previous Cabinets and had issued a statement that it would place primary emphasis on democratic plans and personal freedom. Since it would, at the same time, work in close cooperation with the United States, the Foreign Minister believed that it was virtually a puppet in the hands of this government.[751]

[751] III, 505.

[160]

THE "MAGIC" BACKGROUND OF PEARL HARBOR

PART C—JAPANESE DIPLOMATIC ACTIVITIES THROUGHOUT THE WORLD

(c) Japanese-Philippine Relations

248. Japanese in Philippine Islands Request Passage to Japan

Mr. Katsumi Nihro, Consul to the Philippine Islands, reported to Tokyo on August 6, 1941 that approximately 1700 Japanese had requested accommodations to Japan. The unrest in the Philippines which had quieted down after the freezing order had been instituted, was now being revived since Japanese ships were gradually ceasing to come to the Philippines. Although the Consul was doing everything in his power to discourage the departure of Japanese nationals, he nevertheless advised that the Foreign Minister dispatch evacuation ships immediately to the Philippine Islands.

Of the evacuees, the greater part were women and children who would require third class accommodations. In case only one or two ships were available, it might be possible to ferry passengers between the Philippine Islands and Formosa. It was possible that American and French vessels could be used between Manila and Shanghai, but only a small portion of the Japanese nationals were able to purchase first and second class passage on these vessels. Because there were many in the Philippine Islands who "in their innermost hearts would like to return to Japan because of the present situation and the poor business conditions", and who had not yet applied for passage home, he felt that those who had applied should be dispatched as soon as possible.[752]

The Japanese Consul in Manila again reported on August 8, 1941 that in comparison to the Filipinos, Japanese who had come to Manila from outlying districts had, on the whole, maintained a calm which was astonishing to Americans and Filipinos alike. The Japanese women and children who had solemnly expressed their desire to be evacuated, felt that it was the responsibility of Japan to effect the evacuation even though it might cause inconvenience. The forbidding of Japanese passenger ships to enter the port of Manila had greatly increased the unrest. For this reason, the Japanese Consul asked that the Foreign Minister consider carefully this request.[753]

After learning of the suspension of overseas shipping by Japan on August 9, 1941 the Consul General continued to be very much concerned about the safety of the Japanese in the Philippine Islands in view of the inadequacies of the police system. Because of the possibility of war with the United States, he urged that ships be kept available for prompt evacuation.[754]

249. Consul Kihara Discusses Plight of Japanese Nationals with President Manuel Quezon

To present the problem of obtaining protection for Japanese residents in the event of war between the United States and Japan, the Japanese Consul to Manila, Mr. Jitaro Kihara, called on Mr. Manuel Quezon, President of the Philippine government. When the Japanese Consul said that he would appreciate being advised of any plans which had been drawn up in this respect, President Quezon replied that Japanese residents might be forced to experience considerable hardships, depending upon the character of the person selected as the Commander-in-Chief of the Far Eastern forces. Although he had experienced many anxious moments concerning the situation, the appointment of General Douglas MacArthur had dispelled his worries, President Quezon said, for he felt that they could work together in harmony. He had not been able to get along with High Commissioner Francis B. Sayre.

[752] III, 506.
[753] III, 507.
[754] III, 508.

[161]

President Quezon pointed out, however, that if war did actually come, he and his Cabinet would be subordinated to the United States. In a recent conference with General MacArthur, he had stated that he was particularly interested in giving foreign residents every possible protection. President Quezon believed that it was quite possible that the United States would deem it necessary to place those persons in concentration camps. Jitaro Kihara then declared that as long as the Japanese nationals were not subjected to undue pressure, they would cause no trouble for they had been urged to remain calm and patient. Because of American propaganda and the anti-Japanese attitude of the general public, however, he could not guarantee that the Japanese residents would not take some measures to defend themselves, if war should break out.[755]

250. Consul Kihara Plans to Protect Japanese in Case of War

According to a tentative plan advanced by Consul Kihara, Japanese residents should be congregated in school, business and club buildings to facilitate their protection by the Philippine officers. President Quezon agreed with Mr. Kihara that such a plan would be mutually beneficial and added, that until the termination of the hypothetical war, or until the Japanese forces took the area over, there was need to store about six months supply of food for these people. President Quezon said that he would again confer with General MacArthur on this subject.[756]

251. Consul Nihro Reports Trend Toward Philippine Independence

In an intelligence dispatch sent on August 6, 1941 the Japanese Consul reported that the question of Philippine independence had been raised again in the American Congress. In spite of the fact that General Aquinaldo had openly supported the proposal, the American government and influential politicians in the Philippine Islands had not commented on it.[757]

The Philippine government and Congress had already approved the policy of granting Philippine independence in 1946, and according to a newspaper comment, political independence was already a "closed" question. By the time actual independence had been reached, it was felt that conditions would somehow have adjusted themselves in spite of the critical conditions in the Far East.

The Consul felt assured of the coming of Philippine independence in spite of Mr. Paul V. McNutt's opposition to it in his speech of July 7, 1941. In addition, a United States Congressman had said that Mr. Elisalde, a Philippine official in the United States, had been in favor of a resurvey of the movement for Philippine independence and that this movement was gradually becoming stronger in the United States Congress and in the American government. It was possible that this question would be reviewed in the American-Philippine conference, scheduled to be held in 1944, which was stipulated by the Tydings-McDuffie Act. For this reason, the Japanese Consul felt that it was necessary in the future to pay full attention to the attitude of the United States.[758]

252. Filipinos Predict Japanese Occupation of Thailand

On August 7, 1941 an intelligence report of the Philippine reaction to the occupation of French Indo-China was made to Tokyo. In general, Consul Nihro said, the people took it for granted that the Japanese occupation of Thailand could not be prevented. This move, the Filipinos felt, would probably take place after about two months, since that amount of time would be required for Japan to solidify her occupation of French Indo-China.

[755] III, 509
[756] Ibid.
[757] III, 510.
[758] Ibid.

[162]

THE "MAGIC" BACKGROUND OF PEARL HARBOR

Although people were watching the British military fortifications and construction work in the Far East and though much was being made of Britain's stiffened policy, it was generally believed in the Philippines that the attitude of the United States was not strong. For the substantiation of this belief, the people pointed to the speedy settlement of the Tutuila incident. Local newspapermen in the Philippines believed that war between Japan and the United States was a possibility but that it could be avoided if the French Indo-China and Thailand incidents were settled by an agreement.[759]

253. Consul Nihro Suggests Japanese Propaganda Against American Business Methods

According to Consul Nihro, many unfortunate problems were arising in regard to goods purchased in the Philippine Islands, and important people were gradually being aroused. In case licenses for iron ore were denied and Japanese ships detained, Japanese officials could use such action in their propaganda to convince the Filipinos that the United States had caused Japan to stop business dealings with them. This would anger the Filipinos and would harm the United States.

On the other hand, if Japan obtained permits, ships must be made available to transport the materials. In this event, the yearly amount of Japanese exports would total 900,000 tons, which could be brought in by monthly installments.[760] In the matter of the purchase of hemp, although permits were being withheld at the present time, the Japanese Consul believed that Japan could eventually procure as much of it as America did not consume.

As to the purchase of molasses, it was doubted that the United States would include this product among quota goods since Japan had been the chief molasses consumer. Considering the fact that there was an annual exportable amount of 50,000 tons of molasses, Japan could continue its purchases for the time being. The Japanese Consul suggested, however, that these dealings take place as inconspicuously as possible.[761]

254. Consul Nihro Requests Continuance of Japanese Shipping

That Japan endeavor by every means possible to maintain trade with the Philippine Islands was suggested by Consul Nihro in a summary of the Japanese-Philippine trade situation on August 12, 1941. If the lack of Japanese shipping to Manila and Davao persisted, the Philippines might become antipathetic so that if Japan wished to resume its purchase of such items as iron ore, it would be unable to do so. For this reason, Consul Nihro urged that ships should be dispatched immediately to the Philippine Islands to get the iron ore and other quota goods, and at the same time permits should be procured to bring in a corresponding amount of Japanese goods.[762]

255. Consul Nihro Urges Protection of Japanese Trade

That American ships plying between Japan and the Philippine Islands be exempt from the application of trade restrictions was suggested to Tokyo by Consul Nihro on August 12, 1941. Not only did the regulations apply to Japanese companies making their headquarters in the Philippine Islands, but also to foreign companies with offices in Japan. Therefore, in order that all trade between these two points not be discontinued entirely, he felt that the American companies should be exempted.[763]

Emphasizing the fact that it might become necessary for all trade between Japan and the Philippine Islands to be shut off, the Japanese Consul pointed out that in spite of the regu-

[759] III, 511.
[760] III, 512.
[761] Ibid.
[762] Ibid.
[763] III, 513.

[163]

lations for the freezing of funds, comprehensive permits were yet obtainable. He disapproved any plan for stopping the export of Japanese goods, since it would result only in the closing down of approximately 600 Japanese retail companies in the Islands. Furthermore, since the textile industry looked to Japan for raw materials, any order calling for the stoppage of this supply would endanger the existence of many Japanese factories.

Other factors which he felt should be considered in any decision in this matter were: "there was little danger that Japanese ships would be seized; the stoppage of Philippine export quota goods would have a bad effect on the attitude of the Filipinos toward Japan; permits could still be secured for the exporting of iron ore and hemp; and Japan was only a few days distant by sea from the Philippine Islands".[764]

256. Consul Nihro Request Permits Be Granted to Receive Funds in Japan

Another suggestion forthcoming from Japanese Consul Nihro on August 12, 1941 was that the requiring of permits for relatives in Japan to receive money from Japanese residents in the Philippines be abolished. It was possible for Japanese nationals to secure permits to send between 200 and 400 pesos to their families in Japan, but since persons in Japan receiving these drafts must first secure permits to receive the money, the Japanese in the Islands were afraid that their families would be unable to obtain the necessary permits.[765]

257. Consul Nihro Plans to Agitate Against the United States

Consul Kihara was advised by two confidential sources on August 8 and 10, 1941 that the time was ripe for agitation in the Philippines against the "landlords". Following out previous instructions which had been sent by Tokyo, Mr. Kihara had made arrangements to begin the agitation. Consul Nihro declared that in view of the current changes in the Philippine government and the great concern which was felt in the Philippines over the international situation, Japan should now take a firm position.[766]

258. Foreign Minister Toyoda Restrains Consul Nihro from Disturbing the Diplomatic Situation

On August 15, 1941 Foreign Minister Toyoda directed Consul Nihro to drop all plans to make the Filipinos antagonistic towards the United States. The Japanese Consul was told to endeavor to maintain the status quo until such time as a solution could be reached on the main problem.[767]

259. Japanese Plan Broadcast to the Philippines Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

On the occasion of President Quezon's birthday a discussion of Japanese-Philippine relations was to be the subject of a radio address in Spanish by General Rikarute, a political refugee residing in Japan. Consul Nihro was directed to make arrangements for publicizing the 10 minute broadcast, which was to be heard at 10:50 P.M. on August 19, 1941.[768]

260. Japanese Businessmen Return to Japan

In reassuring Foreign Minister Toyoda on August 16, 1941 that there was little need for concern in regard to Mr. Nagao and Mr. Uyeno, members of the "Kinyo Kai", a Japanese association, Consul Nihro said that both would return to Japan aboard the French Steamship Marshal Joffre, sailing on August 18, 1941. They were returning home, partly for the purpose

[764] III, 514.
[765] III, 515.
[766] III, 516.
[767] III, 517.
[768] III, 518.

164

THE "MAGIC" BACKGROUND OF PEARL HARBOR

of making a report, and would leave again when the political situation had become more stable and future prospects more certain. Many Japanese businessmen had already returned to Japan, the Consul reported, since it had become impossible for them to engage in their work.[769]

261. Japanese Consul Requests Housing Facilities in Shanghai for Japanese Evacuees

On August 19, 1941 the Japanese Consul in Manila requested temporary housing in Shanghai for transient Japanese enroute from Manila to Japan. Owing to recent developments in international relations and the resulting unrest, as many as 370 Japanese had applied for passage on the French steamer, Marshal Joffre. Since approximately 200 of these had no connections in Shanghai, Japanese groups in Shanghai were asked to provide lodging facilities for these passengers in primary schools and other buildings. Furthermore, it was requested that staterooms be reserved on ships sailing from Shanghai to Japan.[770]

262. State Department Official Discusses American Policies

In reporting a conversation between Mr. L. E. Salisbury, State Department aide to the High Commissioner, and a Japanese official in Manila, Consul Nihro advised Tokyo on August 21, 1941 that America seemed to have no intention of altering its policy toward the Orient. According to the Japanese Consul, America's attitude as expressed by Mr. Salisbury conveyed the impression that there was nothing to do but await the impoverishment of Japan which was expending all its strength in French Indo-China and Thailand. Since America's objective was the destruction of "Nazism", it was necessary to extend aid to Russia. However, after the overthrow of Germany there would immediately be a change in American-Russian relations.

The Japanese official learned from Mr. Salisbury that there was great dissatisfaction in the United States regarding the aid to Russia program, but in the Philippines attention was focused on the steps Japan would take in regard to American shipment of materials to Russia.[771]

263. Ambassador Nomura Encounters Difficulty in Handling Japanese-Philippine Problems

On August 22, 1941 Ambassador Nomura in Washington notified the Japanese Minister in Manila that at present Japanese-American relations were being handled as political problems, which was not a simple procedure. He requested, therefore, that the matter be taken care of in Manila as the Japanese Minister thought best. In the present situation, Ambassador Nomura found it impossible to negotiate for such things as Filipino cotton goods agreements even though this matter was handled by leading American businessmen.[772]

264. American Officials Apply Freezing Regulations Leniently

Extreme leniency in the application of the freezing order in the Philippine Islands was reported by Consul Nihro to Tokyo on August 22, 1941. Although the authorities had demanded that the banks submit statements of balance as of August 11, 1941, they had evinced interest only in business amounting to more than 2,000 pesos. Furthermore, they had been extremely cautious in the investigation, fearing that they might interfere with the banking business. Frozen accounts of small amounts had been ignored, though particular attention had been paid to banking businesses in which 5,000 or more pesos were involved.

Even in case of frozen funds the authorities had permitted the issuance of comprehensive licenses for remittances necessary for paying family expenses. Leniency had been shown in classifying Japanese nationals, and the practice of carrying on trade without remittances or

[769] III, 519.
[770] III, 520.
[771] III, 521.
[772] III, 522.

mental operation 4.men.9976 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

Hub systems may be frustrating for airline travelers, but a central hub keeps the brain connected and humming, a first-ever wiring diagram of the human brain reveals.

Nearly all of the information transmitted from one brain region to another passes through a core located in the center and back of the brain along the crack that separates the two hemispheres, an international group of researchers reports in the June 30 PLoS Biology.

Earlier research pinpointed an area of the brain called the default network — a group of brain regions that are active when a person is thinking about nothing in particular. The new map of the brain’s anatomy showed that, in fact, the default network also resides in this physical hub, the core of the brain.

“Our map is a very crude one,” says Olaf Sporns, a computational neuroscientist at Indiana University in Bloomington. But the wiring diagram is a first step toward understanding how the brain is structured and how it communicates. Such diagrams could help therapists design strategies to improve recovery of stroke victims or people with other brain injuries.

The new study “takes the idea of the intrinsic organization of the brain to a new level,” says Marcus Raichle, a neurologist at Washington University in St. Louis. The research reveals that “there are hubs in the brain and some hubs are more important than others. This one rises to the top of the pile.”

Differences among individuals in brain wiring may also affect how people think, and may influence how vulnerable people are to certain diseases and disorders. For instance, the core structure identified in the new study is the part of the brain most susceptible to Alzheimer’s disease.

Raichle first described the default network in 2001. He had noticed that when subjects in functional MRI studies were asked to do a specific task, such as remembering a string of words, certain parts of their brains became less active while others increased activity. Most researchers are interested only in “what goes up,” Raichle says, but he was interested in the areas that decreased activity.

He started a file on the “Medial Mystery Parietal Area”: the medial parietal area, or center and back of the brain. The mystery is why this part of the brain had lower activity when a person was actively thinking.

Deepening the mystery, Raichle and colleagues found that the area is part of the network of brain areas most active when the brain is at rest.

Of course, brains never really rest. When not actively engaged, they reflect on personal history, mind-wander, daydream or think about nothing in particular.

“It’s not resting at all. It’s going full-tilt,” Raichle says. In fact, although the brain makes up about 2 percent of an average adult’s body weight, it consumes 20 percent of calories burned each day. And the default network uses about 30 percent more energy than average for other brain regions.

“It is running very hot,” Sporns agrees.

Sporns and his colleagues Patric Hagmann at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland and Van Wedeen at Harvard University used a technique called diffusion spectrum imaging to map the connections between different parts of the brain. The technique traces the path of water moving along axons, long fibers that extend from a neuron’s main body and carry electrical signals.

The researchers were gratified to find that their structural map matched the networks revealed by fMRI, Sporns says.

Computer models of the connections suggest that the brain’s activity may be a product of its anatomy. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

“The fact that we engage in certain mental operations at certain times may emerge naturally from the way the brain is wired,” Sporns says. He and his colleagues plan to test whether mental illness and degenerative brain disease can be traced to short circuits in the wiring diagram.

weeks or longer 8.wol.1 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

Oh what a tangled web we weave, when trying to determine who deceives. Virtually everyone, even those experienced at dealing with deceivers, detect others’ lies no better than would be expected by chance.

Those sobering conclusions come from the first large-scale analysis of individual differences in deception detection. It takes two to tangle in deceptive encounters, note Charles Bond Jr. of Texas Christian University in Fort Worth and Bella DePaulo of the University of California, Santa Barbara. The two psychologists say their analysis of the findings to date suggest some people are relatively easy to read, while others shroud their intentions in mystery.

A person’s perceived credibility, as reported by volunteers on questionnaires, rather than honesty, plays a major role in whether that person gets branded as a liar, Bond and DePaulo report in the July Psychological Bulletin. Certain people appear either honest or dishonest from the get-go, whether or not they’re telling the truth, the psychologists assert. Earlier research has found that baby-faced people seem credible whereas people who look nervous or avert their gaze typically get labeled untrustworthy.

The new analysis shows that participants more often believe liars perceived as high in credibility than truth-tellers regarded as low in credibility.

“When all the evidence is statistically analyzed, deception judgments depend more on the liar than the judge,” Bond says.

The new investigation challenges a view, championed by psychologists Maureen O’Sullivan of the University of San Francisco and Paul Ekman of the University of California, San Francisco, that a small number of individuals with considerable experience in unraveling certain kinds of lies do so with great accuracy. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire O’Sullivan and Ekman have found that a minority of psychotherapists quickly discerns lies about what a person says he or she is feeling, whereas insightful police officers readily discern a suspect’s crime-related deceits.

“There are significant differences among individuals in lie detection accuracy if you pick your subjects appropriately,” O’Sullivan says.

Bond and DePaulo disagree. They devised a new statistical method for estimating the range in the percentage of lies and truths that groups of volunteers would accurately identify if a lie-detection test was infinitely long. The technique corrects for measurement errors that occur on standard lie-detection tests, especially those requiring only a few true-or-false judgments.

The researchers applied this statistical tool to data from 142 earlier laboratory studies of lie detection. In these investigations, 19,801 judges assessed the veracity of 2,945 people conveying either true or false information. Many studies involved only college students as either judges or potential liars, but a substantial minority consisted of people with real-world lie-detection experience who were making deception judgments relevant to their professions.

Overall, participants accurately detected lies an average of 54 percent of the time, when an overall average of 50 percent would be expected by chance. This figure aligns with what researchers already knew.

But Bond and DePaulo focused on an individual’s performance, not a group average. They found that the highest detection rate achieved by an individual in these studies, which peaked at about 75 percent, did not exceed the maximum rate that guessing would have yielded, the researchers say. Individual differences in lie-detection accuracy were small, with scores clustering near the overall average of 54 percent correct.

Experienced judges displayed no lie-detection advantage over inexperienced ones. Neither did judges show greater accuracy in evaluating highly motivated liars, such as crime suspects, compared with less-motivated liars, such as college students pretending to have stolen money.

The researchers also found that the tendency to label someone as a liar also depended on whether a judge regarded other people as generally truthful or not.

Bond and DePaulo call for experiments that examine the complexity of real-world lie detection. Outside the laboratory, people infer deception from many lines of information, not just a person’s immediate behavior and speech, they say. In these situations, lies get identified over days, weeks or longer, rather than at the time a lie is told.

O’Sullivan also sees a need for research that addresses such issues. But she maintains that some people, due to their professional experiences, can quickly detect certain types of lies. In a new study submitted for publication, she and her colleagues find that experienced police officers rapidly identify high-stakes lies told by actual crime suspects far more often than they identify low-stakes lies told by students.

biomedicine 1.bio.001 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

As people wait expectantly for answers from John McCain and Barack Obama to the Science Debate ’08 questions, some clues of what might be coming can be gleaned from the senators’ answers to a written questionnaire sent the candidates by Research! America. This group bills itself as the nation's largest not-for-profit public education and advocacy alliance. It should be noted, however, that the Alexandria, Va.-based group has a definite bias. http://LOUIS2J2SHEEHAN.US It’s stated mission: “making research to improve health a higher national priority.”

Earlier this week, I spoke with Stacie M. Propst, the organization’s vice president for science policy and outreach about McCain and Obama. “There are some commonalities between the candidates that come through loud and clear,” she said. “Both would shift to a health-care system that addresses and preempts disease.” Both also value research as the foundation of innovation, back stem-cell research (though McCain with caveats), want to reform the H-1B visa program to allow in more non-immigrant foreign workers with specialty skills (that include but are not limited to engineering, mathematics, physical sciences and medicine), and favor digitizing medical records to streamline costs and limit medical errors.

“We do a lot of opinion research,” Propst says, “and we started to see a trend emerge from the public — that although Americans say they would back a candidate who supports greater funding for research, they don’t actually know that much about the positions on this by their elected officials and candidates.”

Obama sent in his responses to Research! America’s 17 questions late last year. McCain’s answers arrived much later — this summer. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire The group also has responses from Chuck O. Baldwin (the Constitution party candidate from Palmyra, N.Y.), Rep. Bob Barr (the Libertarian party candidate from Atlanta), Rep. Cynthia McKinney (the Green party candidate from Atlanta), and Ralph Nader (the Independent candidate from Washington, D.C.).

You can view the whole list of responses on the group’s website. Below, I’ve digested what seemed the salient elements of responses from Obama and McCain for people who are more generally interested in the research.

CNTNAP2 8.cnt.004 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

Genes speak to each other in their own molecular dialect. By tracking one such conversation, scientists have identified a genetic relationship that may contribute to the common childhood language disorder known as specific language impairment, or SLI.

A gene called FOXP2 communicates with another gene, contactin-associated protein-like 2, or CNTNAP2. http://Louis-J-Sheehan.de That process hampers the CNTNAP2 ability to make a protein that helps to direct prenatal and later brain growth, say geneticist Simon Fisher of the University of Oxford, England, and his colleagues.

What’s more, children with specific language impairment frequently inherit certain versions of the CNTNAP2 gene, Fisher’s team reports online November 5 in The New England Journal of Medicine. The team suspects that these CNTNAP2 variations are particularly susceptible to FOXP2 regulation.

Analyses of the neural consequences of CNTNAP2’stweaking by FOXP2 should begin to illuminate the roots of language problems that characterize not only SLI but also other childhood disorders, such as autism, the researchers assert.

Language problems characteristic of autism closely resemble SLI. “The same genetic effects on language impairments can operate across distinct developmental disorders,” Fisher says.

Fisher’s new study “shifts the focus from a ‘language gene’ to ‘networks of language-related genes,’ ” comments developmental psycholinguist Mabel Rice of the University of Kansas in Lawrence. Rice agrees with Fisher that common genetic pathways may underlie language impairments observed in different developmental disorders.

In defense of that possibility, Fisher notes that studies published earlier this year by two separate teams found an association between CNTNAP2 variants and autism. Those researchers also noted that high levels of CNTNAP2’s brain protein accumulate in language-related areas, suggesting the protein is related to language development.

Specific language impairment consists of unexplained difficulties in producing and understanding language, often revolving around delayed vocabulary and grammar skills in healthy, intelligent children. An estimated 7 percent of 5- to 6-year-olds exhibit SLI.

Since 2001, researchers have tried and failed to link FOXP2 variants directly to specific language impairment, without considering how FOXP2 regulates other genes. That quest was inspired by a report that members of an extended family diagnosed with symptoms of SLI and with speech and intellectual impairments had inherited a specific FOXP2 mutation. It turned out that this genetic alteration, which deactivates the gene, occurs extremely rarely and is not a cause of SLI.

Psycholinguist Karin Stromswold of Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J., calls the new findings “a bold step in the elucidation of the genetic underpinnings of language impairment.” She emphasizes that the new study is also a first step toward examining the roles of numerous FOXP2-regulated genes in language disorders.

Versions of FOXP2 appear in many animals, including primates, birds, bats and mice. This gene has been linked to song production by birds, learning of movement sequences by mice and use of echolocation by bats.

In earlier studies of human neurons grown in the laboratory, Fisher’s group identified more than four dozen brain-related genes potentially regulated by FOXP2.

In their new study of genetic material isolated from laboratory-grown brain cells, the researchers found spots on the CNTNAP2 gene that received FOXP2’s protein. CNTNAP2’sability to generate its own protein in these human neurons dropped sharply when the regulatory gene’s protein was present.

A second phase of the investigation examined CNTNAP2 mutations in the members of 184 nuclear families. Each family consisted of two parents and as many as four children, at least one of whom had been diagnosed with specific language impairment before entering the study. Family members who performed especially poorly on a test of ability to repeat spoken nonsense words received an SLI diagnosis from Fisher’s group. Difficulty with this task is a strong marker of SLI, Fisher says.

Participants who carried either one or two copies of certain CNTNAP2 variants displayed specific language impairment more frequently than did those who lacked the same variants. One key set of CNTNAP2 mutations occurred in 40 percent of those who scored extremely poorly on the nonsense-word task, versus 29 percent of those who scored extremely well on the same task. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

It will be important to determine whether brain effects of the FOXP2- CNTNAP2 pathway promote all or only some components of SLI, Rice notes. Other evidence suggests that different genetic roots influence difficulties in repeating nonsense words versus struggling with vocabulary and grammar.

“The genetics approach used in Fisher’s study is like opening a new bag of tools to sort out the ways different genes can interact to influence language acquisition and impairment,” Rice says.

memories genetic 4.gen.002 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

Sleep not only refreshes the body, it may also push the reset button on the brain, helping the brain stay flexible and ready to learn, new research shows.

Whether it is slow-wave sleep or rapid eye movement (REM), sleep changes the biochemistry of the brain, and the change is necessary to continue learning new things, suggests research presented November 18 at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience.

Hundreds of genes behave differently when an animal is asleep rather than awake, says Chiara Cirelli of the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Cirelli and her colleagues are trying to settle a long-standing debate about why sleep is necessary. http://LOUIS-J-SHEEHAN.ORG One theory is that sleep helps solidify memories by replaying information learned during the day. Another idea holds that sleep is for energy restoration.

Cirelli and other researchers presented evidence at the neuroscience meeting suggesting that sleep may perform both functions.

In a study in rats, Cirelli and her colleagues discovered that a molecule that works with the brain chemical glutamate becomes more and more abundant the longer rats are awake. The molecule, the glutamate receptor GluR1, helps forge connections, called synapses, between neurons. When rats are awake, the amount of GluR1 in the brain may climb up to 40 percent higher than levels found when the animal has been asleep for a few hours.

A new study in fruit flies showed that all areas of the brain have much higher levels of molecules found at synapses. Normally, strengthening a synapse is a good thing. It is one of the steps thought to be important in memory formation. But brains can’t continue to build up existing connections forever, Cirelli says.

“We cannot afford to keep growing our synapses one day after another, because very soon they would become unsustainable,” she says. “Stronger synapses come at a very high price.”

It takes a lot of energy, cellular supplies and other resources to maintain the connections. And if a neuron puts all of its energy into continually strengthening old synapses, it will never form new ones, making it impossible to learn new things.

Cirelli’s group found that sleep breaks down the molecules that form synapses. In particular, slow-wave sleep was important for reducing the amount of the synapse-forming molecules in the brain. The group also showed in a new study of people that disrupting slow-wave sleep by playing a quiet sound while people were sleeping impaired performance on one type of learning task.

Disrupting slow-wave sleep may also disrupt REM sleep, says Gina Poe, a sleep researcher at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, so more research is needed to show that slow-wave sleep is the critical stage needed to clear the mind. But it is clear that sleep is critical for clearing out old memories to make way for new information, she says.

“Sleep is not only for building things, it’s for tearing them down,” says Poe.

Memories associating names and faces, for instance, are forged first in the hippocampus, a seahorse-shaped part of the brain. But the hippocampus is used only for short-term memories. Memories are stored in other parts of the brain and the hippocampus must be cleared to make new memories.

Poe and her colleagues found that REM sleep turns off the brain chemicals norepinephrine and serotonin, both used for stabilizing synapses. Injecting serotonin into the brains of rats during sleep disrupted the rats’ ability to form certain kinds of memories, suggesting that the ability to remove old connections during sleep is important for making new memories.

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Comments 2

* The researchers speculate that little sleep leads to an increase in the production of a hormone that stimulates appetite such as ghrelin, and at the same time decreases the production of a appetite-suppressing hormone such as leptin. They didn’t find a relationship between sleep and appetite, however. According to the researchers, this was because the group of women they used was too small. http://www.focusfinancialcorp.com
Melissa Len Melissa Len
Mar. 26, 2009 at 5:53pm
* Sleep And Memories, Blueprints And Organisms


A. "Sleep makes room for memories"

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/38692/title/Sleep_makes_room_for_memories
Sleep erases old memories to make way for new learning...sleep changes the biochemistry of the brain...


B. Sleep neither erases nor inscribes memories

Sleep does not change the biochemistry of the brain. Memories are inscribed in the brain, and maintained or erased, in genetic biochemical processes.

Again and again. Genes are organisms, even as now interdependent members of their genome communal cooperative, they were born with the environmental habit and need to sleep.

The need to sleep is innate in genes, as evidenced by the Circadian Rhythm. It was daylight's energy that trans-phased the pre-alive RNA oligomers into individual living polymers, the primal genes, and it was daylight's energy that continued being the ONLY source of energy for the early genes, organisms, in the pre-biotic Earth surface. And this state of affairs persisted along the course of evolution of genes into communal cooperative genomes, with chromosomes enclosed in cells and later also in nuclei. It took many many following years for Earth to start evolving its biosphere and to furnish to its life alternative energy sources, as life evolved the capability to exploit the additional types of energy.

Organisms' "biological clock" is thus an inherited matter, an innate characteristic.


C. Sleep does effect the functionality of genes and of chromosomes

On pre-biotic Earth the functionality of the primal genes, and chromosomes, was decreased or impaired at daylight's energy switch-offs. This is life's innate phenomenon that carried into multicelled organisms.


D. Genes-genomes are NOT "DNA sequences, materials, genetic blueprints..."

It is necessary to overcome a reflective resistance to conceive certain polymers as living, as organisms. However, the plain simple fact of life is that genes are organisms, the primal organisms of Earth, the LIFE of Earth. All other organisms evolve and live temporarily to promote and maintain the genes, to promote and maintain the temporary store of energy by Earth's biosphere. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

The common sad observation is that the science establishment and its publications refer to, and comprehend, genes-genomes organisms in pre-Copernicus pre-Galileo term "genetic codes"... with stubborn insistence on seeing the naked emperor's new clothes, on seeing genes-genomes not as the organisms they obviously are but as "DNA sequences, genetic materials, genetic blueprints..."

teachers 8.tea.00299 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

ver the next four years, more than a third of the nation’s 3.2 million teachers could retire, depriving classrooms of experienced instructors and straining taxpayer-financed retirement systems, according to a new report.

The problem is aggravated by high attrition among rookie teachers, with one of every three new teachers leaving the profession within five years, a loss of talent that costs school districts millions in recruiting and training expenses, says the report, by the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future, a nonprofit research advocacy group.

“The traditional teaching career is collapsing at both ends,” the report says. “Beginners are being driven away” by low pay and frustrating working conditions, and “accomplished veterans who still have much to contribute are being separated from their schools by obsolete retirement systems” that encourage teachers to move from paycheck to pension when they are still in their mid-50s, the report says.

To ease the exodus, the report says, policy makers should restructure schools and modify state retirement policies so that thousands of the best veteran teachers can stay on in the classroom to mentor inexperienced teachers. Reorganizing schools around what the report calls learning teams, a model already in place in some schools in Boston, could ease the strain on pension systems, raise student achievement and help young teachers survive their first, often traumatic years in the classroom, it says.

“In the ’60s we recruited many baby-boom women and men, and the deal we made was, ‘You’ll have a rewarding career and at the end, pension and health benefits,’ ” said Tom Carroll, the commission’s president. “They signed up in large numbers and stayed, and now 53 percent of our teaching work force is getting ready to collect. If all those boomers walk into retirement, our teacher pension systems will be under severe strain, with the same problems as the auto industry.”

This is not the first report to predict widespread teacher shortages unless policy makers took quick action. In 1999, an Education Department study warned that the impending retirement of millions of teachers could lead to chaos, a dire outcome that never materialized. http://Louis2J2Sheehan2Esquire.US

One economist who spoke out skeptically then was Michael Podgursky, who studies teacher retirement at the University of Missouri. The latest report, too, may overstate the case somewhat, Dr. Podgursky said in an interview. “There’s a bit of hyperbole” in the assertion that the teaching career is “collapsing at both ends,” he said. http://Louis2J2Sheehan2Esquire.US

The recession may help ease potential teacher shortages because the profession’s relative job security and generous health benefits will probably attract more new college graduates and career-changers than when plenty of good jobs were available.

“Still, the authors make a credible case that the number or teachers who retire will rise in coming years,” Dr. Podgursky said, “and it makes a good deal of sense to develop phased retirement systems that permit retired or semiretired teachers to mentor new teachers.” Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

HANDLE 9.HAN.2234 LOUIS J. SHEEHAN, ESQUIRE

LOUIS J. SHEEHAN, ESQUIRE Heart-felt perils await people who hold disapproving attitudes about the elderly, a new study suggests.

Young and middle-aged adults who endorse negative stereotypes about older people display high rates of strokes, heart attacks and other serious heart problems later in life, compared with aging peers who view the elderly in generally positive ways, say Yale University psychologist Becca Levy and her colleagues.

“We found that age stereotypes, which tend to be acquired in childhood or young adulthood and carried over into old age, seem to have far-reaching effects on cardiovascular health,” Levy says. http://LOUIS-J-SHEEHAN.ORG



Her team describes evidence for a connection between attitudes toward aging and eventual heart health in a paper published online February 13 and set to appear in Psychological Science. Reasons for this association remain unclear. http://LOUIS-J-SHEEHAN.ORG

In earlier studies, Levy found that elderly volunteers who reported negative stereotypes about old people were more likely to display heightened physiological responses to stress and to report unhealthy habits, such as cigarette smoking. LOUIS J. SHEEHAN, ESQUIRE

Levy’s new report “is the latest in a series of well-conducted studies by various scientists that demonstrate that individual psychological differences assessed early in life predict various health and longevity outcomes many years later,” remarks psychologist Howard Friedman of the University of California, Riverside.

Further work should examine whether psychological traits already linked to physical health as people age, such as conscientiousness, influence attitudes toward the elderly, Friedman says. It’s an open question whether an association also exists between negative age-stereotypes and non-heart-related illnesses, or dying at an unusually early age, he adds.

Levy’s team studied 386 people, ages 18 to 49, who were participating in a larger, long-term study of aging. In 1968, these volunteers — none of whom had experienced any heart ailments — completed a questionnaire that measured the extent to which they agreed with 16 negative age-stereotypes. These stereotypes included beliefs that elderly people are “feeble” and “helpless.”

Thirty years later, 25 percent of those reporting negative age-stereotypes had suffered a heart ailment or a stroke, compared with 13 percent of those who rejected the age stereotypes. Heart-related problems commonly occurred about 11 years after participants entered the study.

To get a better handle on those whose heart-related problems did not show up for decades, Levy and her coworkers winnowed their sample down to 225 individuals, ages 18 to 39 at the study’s start, who experienced an initial heart ailment or stroke after their 60th birthdays. Those who had a poor regard for the elderly were much more likely to have heart-related problems in their early 60s, before those volunteers who viewed old age positively.

These findings held after the researchers accounted for other factors that can influence heart disease, including blood pressure, family health history, depression, education, sex, marital status, total cholesterol level and cigarette use. LOUIS J. SHEEHAN, ESQUIRE

Absent any detailed understanding of the ways in which age stereotypes may ultimately affect heart health, it’s too early to recommend any preventive programs aimed at altering negative attitudes toward the elderly, Friedman cautions. http://LOUIS-J-SHEEHAN.ORG

Possible mechanisms to explain why age stereotypes affect heart health include temperament, behavior and physiological traits.

crusty 4.cru.0009 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire. http://members.greenpeace.org/blog/purposeforporpoise Two meteorites retrieved from West Antarctica contain a type of rock commonly found in Earth’s crust but previously unseen in meteorites. Analyses suggest that the meteorites, the oldest rocks of their type yet found, are fragments of an asteroid that coalesced early in the solar system’s history. http://www.blog.ca/user/Beforethebigbang

When asteroids collide, fragments of their surfaces spray into space and can make their way to Earth, where they fall as meteorites. The composition of many such objects indicates that, like Earth and other rocky planets of the solar system, some asteroids formed crusts of dense, basaltic rock akin to cooled lava soon after they coalesced, says James Day, a geochemist at the University of Maryland in College Park. Now, in the Jan. 8 Nature, Day and his colleagues describe the first meteorites discovered that are composed of a relatively light type of rock similar to those that make up Earth’s continents. http://www.blog.ca/user/Beforethebigbang

Chemical analyses indicate that the meteorites came from the same parent body and “are clearly unique,” says Day. “This is what Earth’s earliest crust may have looked like,” he adds. While remnants of Earth’s crust from that era have been consumed by erosion and tectonic activity, asteroids were small enough to essentially be frozen in time, their makeups still reflecting their early composition. Furthermore, the meteorites are the first hard evidence that asteroids could form an Earth-like crust.
access
Enlargemagnify
COLD STORAGESpecial scientific expeditions to Antarctica find many meteorites atop the continent’s ice sheet. Two found there offer new insights on asteroids of the early solar system.J. Day

Minerals rich in volatile elements such as sodium, potassium and sulfur make up more than 75 percent of the two meteorites. This recipe means that, overall, the chemical composition of the rocks is similar to that found in silicate rocks generated by Earth’s tectonic activity. The ratios of lead isotopes in the objects hint that their minerals cooled about 4.52 billion years ago, less than 50 million years after the solar system formed.

The extreme age of the meteorites strongly suggests that they didn’t originate on any of the solar system’s rocky planets, says Day.

For example, scientists estimate that Mercury’s crust is less than 4.4 billion years old, and the average age of the crust on Venus is less than 1 billion years. Furthermore, high concentrations of rare metallic elements such as platinum and osmium in the meteorites hint that their parent body wasn’t large enough to completely melt and thereby form a dense, metal-rich core.

Day and his colleagues speculate that the meteorites’ unusual mineralogy resulted from a two-stage process. First, the team suggests, materials in the objects’ parent asteroid partially melted when it first coalesced, a process that allowed relatively light silicate minerals to rise to the surface of the asteroid. Then, after the asteroid cooled somewhat, the heat released by the decay of short-lived radioactive isotopes such as aluminum-26 baked the rocks further to produce additional minerals.

The presence in the meteorites of micrometer-sized crystals of a mineral called pyroxene indicates that these rocks formed at a relatively shallow depth, between 15 and 20 meters, says Day — additional evidence that the meteorites are fragments of an ancient asteroid crust.

The team’s new report “is a plausible, comprehensive explanation of where these [meteorites] may have come from,” says Robert Hazen, a geophysicist at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington, D.C. http://members.greenpeace.org/blog/purposeforporpoise

It’s not surprising why such meteorites haven’t been described before, Hazen continues. First of all, the fraction of asteroids that could have produced such meteorites is very tiny — “a very small part of the solar system inventory,” he notes. Plus, the veneer of crust that would have formed on such planetesimals is “not terribly thick, probably no more than a few tens of meters,” he notes. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire.

teach 4.tea.002003 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire . In 1981, when I was 6, about 10 million American children daily tuned in to the PBS show “Sesame Street.” That same year, one of the writers for “Sesame Street,” my real-life neighbor, asked if I’d like to appear on the show. It was my golden ticket, but crossing over to the other side of the television screen can be a demystifying journey. The “Sesame Street” soundstage looked like a facsimile of the televised world — small and (surprisingly) indoors. The Muppets were controlled by operators; we were told not to look down at them. And there was Big Bird, stored in the middle of the set on a massive hook. When I reached out to pet him, a voice came from the sky: “Don’t touch those feathers!” admonished one of Big Bird’s creators, the remarkably named Kermit Love.

The address of 123 Sesame Street was never quite the same. Yet to be cast out of the garden of television-land can be a learning experience. “Street Gang: The Complete History of ‘Sesame Street,’ ” by Michael Davis, a former columnist for TV Guide, now offers the behind-the-lens story, the first comprehensive account, of this 39-year-old show.

The book details the awesome lengths that “Sesame Street,” undoubtedly the most workshopped and vetted program in the history of children’s television, went through to captivate its young audience. The show’s music and quick cuts concealed its educational ambitions. “Commercial breaks” advertised numbers and the alphabet through Jim Henson’s Muppet pitchmen: the Count, Grover and Cookie Monster. Kermit the Frog, wearing a trench coat, told fairy tales through news flashes from Rapunzel’s tower. Meanwhile, the urban street scenes at the center of the show communicated the social values of a progressive culture. Here was TV at its most sublime, but also an entrancing product of a liberal age, something Mom was happy for us to watch.

The “Sesame Street” story begins on a Sunday in December 1965. At 6:30 in the morning, 3-year-old Sarah Morrisett tuned in to the test patterns while awaiting her cartoons to begin a half-hour later. Her father, Lloyd Morrisett, an experimental psychologist and a vice president of the Carnegie Corporation, took note. “It struck me there was something fascinating to Sarah about television,” he says.

“Sarah Morrisett had memorized an entire repertoire of TV jingles,” Davis writes. “It is not too far a stretch to say that Sarah’s mastery of jingles led to a central hypothesis of the great experiment that we know as ‘Sesame Street’: if television could successfully teach the words and music to advertisements, couldn’t it teach children more substantive material by co-opting the very elements that made ads so effective?” http://louis0j0sheehan0esquire.wordpress.com

The thought of using the trappings of television for progressive ends seemed anathema to most intellectuals, who were wholly skeptical of this mass-culture medium, but Morrisett brought up his observation at dinner with Joan Ganz Cooney, the future creator of “Sesame Street.”

In the mid-1960s, as one of his grand social initiatives, Lyndon B. Johnson took up the cause of National Educational Television (later known as the Public Broadcasting Service), a lackluster confederation of chalk-dusted channels. Like the show she developed for PBS that would define the network, Cooney was steeped in the ideals of Johnson’s Great Society. In New York, while working in publicity for commercial television, she was introduced to William Phillips, co-founder of Partisan Review, the small but vastly influential journal of highbrow leftist opinion. In her spare time, Cooney did publicity for Partisan Review and produced a fund-raiser at Columbia that was attended by Norman Mailer, Mary McCarthy and Lionel Trilling.

Cooney’s ability to transcend the divisions between high and low culture defined her success at “Sesame Street,” which brought Madison Avenue advertisers and game show creators together with New York intellectuals and the education department of Harvard. Lloyd Morrisett, through his connections at the Carnegie Foundation, helped Cooney line up the millions in grants to cover the research, writing and production needed to create a show that could compete with the commercial networks. McGeorge Bundy, one of “the best and the brightest” in the Kennedy administration and by then president of the Ford Foundation, sharpened the show’s political edge by homing in on the children of the urban underclass. “Sesame Street” would be the television equivalent of Head Start, the federal child-welfare program founded by Johnson in the belief, Davis writes, that “the tyranny of America’s poverty cycle could be broken if the emotional, social, health, nutritional and psychological needs of poor children could be met.”

In its high ideals and comprehensive approach, “ ‘Sesame Street’ came along and rewrote the book,” Davis says. “Never before had anyone assembled an A-list of advisers to develop a series with stated educational norms and objectives. Never before had anyone viewed a children’s show as a living laboratory, where results would be vigorously and continually tested. Never before in television had anyone thought to commingle writers and social science researchers.”

“Sesame Street” turned the entertainment of children’s television into a science, as the program was extensively tested with nursery school audiences through a “distracter” machine that gauged children’s eye focus second by second during the run of each show. It is no coincidence that the program proved to be so popular. http://louis0j0sheehan0esquire.wordpress.com When early studies determined that its street scenes were faltering, Jim Henson brought about a final breakthrough. At the time, his Muppets were relegated to the “commercial” segments as cut-aways from the street-based story line. http://louis0j0sheehan0esquire.wordpress.com For this, Henson drew on his own experience. He had originally developed Kermit and the Muppets for commercial work; his 1950s show “Sam and Friends,” with its zany ads for Wilkins coffee, has now found a second life on YouTube. Over the objections of researchers, who had advised against mixing the fantasy of the Muppets with the reality of the street, Henson developed Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch to be central characters on the main stage, both driving and subverting the program’s self-seriousness.http://louis0j0sheehan0esquire.wordpress.com

Davis tracks down every “Sesame” anec­dote and every “Sesame” personality in his book, and the result is more an oral history than a tightly organized narrative. The development of the show’s characters, as well as the performers’ own lives, can be illuminating. Bob McGrath, who has played Bob from the start, once enjoyed a pop singing career in Japan. Gordon, the neighborhood’s black role model, played by Matt Robinson and then Roscoe Orman, was named for the photographer Gordon Parks. The character Susan, Gordon’s stay-at-home wife, was once denounced by feminists. Emilio Delgado and Sonia Manzano joined the cast in the ’70s as Luis and Maria after protests against the show’s lack of Hispanic characters. Will Lee, who played the store owner Mr. Hooper, came through the Yiddish theater and the radical Group Thea­ter, and was blacklisted in the ’50s; Lee’s death in 1982 became a defining moment when “Sesame Street” chose to address the news directly on the air. Northern Calloway, who played Mr. Hooper’s young assistant, David, proved to be an even more tragic case: by the time I appeared on camera with him, according to Davis, Calloway was medicated with lithium after a violent psychotic breakdown; a manic-depressive in and out of treatment, he remained on the show through the late ’80s, but died in 1990 after suffering a seizure in a psychiatric hospital.

Davis lingers on such gossip. I could do without dwelling on the drinking habits of Captain Kangaroo (Bob Keeshan, forever jealous of the acclaim for “Sesame Street”) or several of the book’s other trivial details. Do we really need to know that Cooney served boeuf bourguignon, “a traditional French country recipe . . . on Page 315 of the first volume of ‘Mastering the Art of French Cooking,’ ” to Lloyd Morrisett at their 1966 dinner?

Far more interesting are the failings and criticisms of the lavishly praised show. Terrence O’Flaherty, a television critic for The San Francisco Chronicle, accused “Sesame Street” of being “deeply larded with ungrammatical Madison Avenue jargon.” Carl Bereiter, a preschool authority, said, “It’s based entirely on audience appeal and is not really teaching anything in particular.” And Neil Postman complained that it relieved parents “of their responsibility to teach their children to read.”

The real challenge to the show came in the 1990s, around the time Joan Cooney retired as chairwoman of the Children’s Television Workshop, the program’s nonprofit governing body. Once revolutionary, “Sesame Street” came to be seen as a dated reminder of urban decay, while the purple dinosaur Barney took children’s television out to the clean suburban schoolyard. “None of Barney’s friends lives in a garbage can, and none grunts hip-hop,” National Review cheered. In response, “Sesame Street” made an ill-fated attempt at urban renewal, developing an extension to the set called “Around the Corner” that seemed “less like Harlem and more like any gentrified up-and-coming neighborhood in America,” Davis writes. Professional child actors were regularly employed for the first time.http://louis0j0sheehan0esquire.wordpress.com

The broken-window theory may have worked to clean up New York, but not so for “Sesame Street” — as its empire expanded abroad, ratings eroded at home, and the gentrified set was abandoned. “Sesame Street” ceased to be a reflection of its surroundings. Early on, the writer-producer Jon Stone rejected the traditional trappings of children’s television: “Sesame Street” would have “no Treasure House, no toy maker’s workshop, no enchanted castle, no dude ranch, no circus,” Davis says. But this is what “Sesame Street” had become, and perhaps what it really always was: an urban fantasy world born of ’60s idealism. Davis has written a tireless if not altogether artful history of this unique place. Here, finally, we get to touch Big Bird’s feathers