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Jack Thompson Threatens Take-Two Over Jack Thompson
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Jack Thompson Threatens Take-Two Over Jack Thompson
Jack Thompson has threatened Take-Two Games over a mission in Grand Theft Auto IV in which the player must kill a lawyer who, according to Thompson, is him.
According to a letter sent to Take-Two's Strauss Zelnick and Ben Feder, as well as numerous other individuals and media outlets, Thompson saw a reference in the September 2007 issue of Game Informer in which the offending mission was described. The player must kill a lawyer who, after meeting the player, says, "Guns don't kill people. Videogames do."
In his letter, Thompson says, "This faux quotation, which I have never uttered is nevertheless attributed to me at countless Internet sites obtained by googling the above quotation of the lawyer killed in GTA IV. The fact that the lawyer, kill [sic] on Niko's first mission, would bring up videogames, makes it more clearly a reference to me. Game informer finds the non sequitur reference to videogames by the assassinated lawyer a "hilarious response."
Thompson claims this is not the first time Take-Two has "targeted" him, referencing the site at www.citizensunitednegatingtechnology.org which arose as a result of his efforts against Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, but Thompson claims surprise that Zelnick would "sink this low" in its efforts to discredit him. "Now you have descended this low," Thompson wrote, "using one of your games to threaten my physical safety."
"You have until five o'clock p.m. this Friday, September 21, 2007, to inform me via e-mail that you are going to delete the above references and any other references that could reasonably be construed to be references to me in Grand Theft Auto IV and any other videogames that are pending release," he wrote.
"Govern yourselves accordingly, or else."
Gee, and I thought Al Gore held the record for humorless, dull wackos...Jack T. needs to be on some meds.....maybe a big chill pill. And, hey...he's damn lucky it's all about gamers and not Al Queda...or he wouldn't have his empty pathetic head on his neck any more.
Bah, this guy needs to be ignored, as most of what the media reports him as saying is utter non-sense...
Thank you, Jacko, for teh comedy gold. Also, for providing some future law student an excellent case study for his/her "frivolous litigation" module.
-- Steve
You know, the more I hear about this guy, the more I kind of admire him. Sure, he's absurdly litigious, he misspells something in just about every communication I've seen, and as seen here, he's rather self-centered. Nonetheless, it takes a certain courage and strength of character to stand against an industry and a consumer base in the hundreds of millions with absolute disregard for the loathing they feel toward him.
Of course, it might just be a side-effect of his being a douche. Oh well.
I'm not sure about this one. On the one hand, Rockstar is kind of backing up Thompson's statements (which I believe are ridiculous) about how video games encourage violence by inserting a character (to be killed) who could be construed as Thompson. Since he's despised by gamers and I'm assuming the industry it's a pretty good situation to "get revenge" on him.
On the other hand, it's also ridiculous to say that this lawyer character is Jack Thompson. Criminal lawyers are, by nature, lying, conniving bastards and the one in the game may have been a jackass who screwed with the wrong people. Also, why the hell would they remove this kind of content from a game on his command? It's not even feasible.
I don't think Thompson can be said to possess either courage or strength of character so much as some kind of narcissistic psychopathy.
I'll go with narcisism too, in light of his current imbroglio: Seeking an injunction against the release of Halo 3. At this late date? That takes a special flavour of superman-complex to think he can void that many contracts (pre-orders) in such a short time.
-- Steve
He's only doing us a favour, by completely "foolizing" (ugh) the opposite side.
Go Go Jack!
Ugh. I'm not happy at Rockstar for adding fuel to Thompson's fire. It's given him more crazy minded "evidence" that his paranoia is well founded.
How could they sink this low? Clearly someone ought to send their mothers strongly worded letters.
"You have until five o'clock p.m. this Friday, September 21, 2007, to inform me via e-mail... Govern yourselves accordingly, or else."
Dun Dun Dun!
I wouldn't just to see what he does.
Suddenly GTA 4 sounds even more inviting...
What a friggin egomaniac. Hes the antithesis of a fanboy, instead of wanting to be the cool badass character who rides to glory/money/hookers/other, he wants to be the bullet hungry jester of the above mentioned. Well, I'm glad hes taken the bitch rung of the totem pole of game character wannabes, cause so few of us ever truly stop there. Yes, we have the unoriginality to enjoy being the (generally) protagonist of the series, or their badass buddy with an endless amount of ammunition and endless amounts of health cause you never have to play as the bastard, or even the randomly appearing love interest, holding the good guy/girl's lifetime desire in one hand and a desert eagle in the other and making fustrating but forgivable setbacks.
Honor the doushebag, for he has proudly set himself as the foundation of the stairs all of us climb over to so much as enjoy a game for five minutes...
Damn that's one hell of an ego.
So Jack sees himself as the only lawyer who's ever done anything relating to videogames?
(Ok, we all know Rockstar ARE aiming this parody material at Jack, but hey, surely it needs to be rock solid, set in stone PROVED to be a legal case?)
If he sues them, he cannot (or at least shouldn't) win it. There's just not enough proof, in my opinion.
Good thing it was 2 years ago though right?
Wait Jack Thompson reads game informer? Man the guy isn't as wacko as I thought, he's just like me!... wait a september 2007 issue?.... he must have been in a hurry to find something to read while takeing a dump so he naturly turned to his stack of out of date game informer magazines, again just like me!
Dude this guy has his priorities straight man.
Maybe he'll sue every WWII game developer next cause the Thompson machine gun was clearly named after him out of pure spite on the game developers part.
Awww, poor Jack is lonely without his lawyer job...poor baby.
How the hell do mouth-breathers like him get bloody university degrees?
You think you're the only lawyer against video games, Jacko? Oh wait...
I will buy every take two game i can find if they simply write an email saying
Dear Jack Thompson
Fuck you.
Love, Take Two Games
I think it has more to do with him not giving two shits about what the gamers think of him rather then any sort of courage and strength of character.
That plus the fact that he is an idiot.
I would call the game, "Go suck a fat veiny one Jack Thompson" Out of spite. And then, like in Law and Order, add in the back of the box the warning saying any similarities to real people are purely coincidental.
So he says that they quoted something that he would have said. THAT MAKES NOE SENCE. im going back to ending humanity now, Just remeber Thompson, your on The List.
HE'S NOT A FRAKKING LAWYER ANYMORE. Does he or does he not understand this? What's he going to do, drive up to Take-Two's headquarters and scream at them until the men in the white coats come?
Yes. Or else!
To Jack Thompson: No one likes you. You are more hated than Twilight. Now STFU!
Here's hoping that he does just so they can finally stick him in the funny farm and call it a day.
Why did someone necro a 2 year old story?
I think i might just fire up gta4 again just to play through that mission again.......and again........and again
I dont think Jack T would walk down a dark alley if there were video gamers at the other end. I think he believes that we would all kill him any chance we got. Gotta love paranoid people and the shit they believe.
Okay...gonna take a really unpopular stance on this one. I think Jack Thompson is right.
Legally, of course, he doesn't have a leg to stand on. If the sole identifying feature of the lawyer character is a quote that Jack Thompson never actually said, he would be hard-pressed to prove that it's in any way based on him. But that's not the point. It probably is a reference to him, and judging by some of the above comments a lot of us know it. Now just take a second to put yourself in his neurotic, excessively litigious
Of course The Oracle is right, Thompson is not a ("frakking", hehe) lawyer anymore, but back when this story was still relevant--in 2007--he was.
Next on GTA's case. Joel Gardiner AKA FPS_Doug writes a letter to Rockstar about a case of identiy theft.
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Peter Mark Hair Stylist Kilkenny
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234 days ago

subset: commoncrawl


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Morning Five: 04.27.12 EditionPosted by rtmsf on April 27th, 2012
- Yesterday we mentioned that Luke Winn had written a piece handing out eight different coaching awards based on efficiency metrics from the entire season. His follow-up article published on Thursday broke down six more awards based on the data from the 2012 NCAA Tournament. Several of the usual suspects populate this list, but you might be surprised at which head coach had the best after-timeout numbers in the Dance this year — he's widely considered a very good coach, but probably not to the extent he deserves.
- Assistant coaches around the country must have thrown up in their mouths Thursday after it was reported that Illinois State head coach Tim Jankovich would leave his position to become a "coach-in-waiting" at SMU under new top man Larry Brown. The reported salary that Jankovich will earn while he waits for the itinerant 71-year old to get bored and retire again is over $700,000 per year, nearly double his pay at ISU. Jankovich went 104-64 (.619) in five seasons as a Redbird but despite four 20-wins seasons, he never broke through to the NCAA Tournament there (settling for four NIT appearances instead). The sound that you now hear murmuring in the background is the collective scrum by the nation's top assistants clamoring to renegotiate their compensation packages. Wow.
- It's the offseason and although we're still only about three weeks removed from the national championship game, some of the key questions heading into the 2012-13 season are already apparent. In this piece by Mike DeCourcy, you get a double-dip of the Cincinnati Kid (replete with goatee) through both his writing and a video clip discussion of some of those issues. Will UCLA improve its defense with their additions? Can Louisville find a reliable shot-maker? Can Thad Matta find someone to replace Jared Sullinger in the post? These and a couple other answers await if you click on over to TSN.
- Roy Williams did a Q&A with UNC fans in Charlotte on Wednesday night, leading to some interesting comments from the venerable coach who is heading into his 10th full season as the head coach of the Tar Heels. Of note: his team considered cutting down the nets in Cameron Indoor Stadium after winning the ACC regular season title, but thought that such a display "might cause a scene" (ya think?); recruiting the Wear Twins over Mason Plumlee was "one of the dumbest things I've ever done" (um…); and he has not completely bought into the 1-and-done methodology for winning a championship, making "some decisions over the last four or five years to not recruit certain kids, because it's just going to be a one and done" (hey, John Wall).
- Finally, we'd be remiss as we close out this week if we didn't at least mention the strong possibility that the BCS will move away from its incomprehensible system of choosing a football national champion and finally, inexorably, move toward a four-team playoff system beginning in 2014. There aren't many policy decisions in public life that are complete no-brainers, but this is one of them. A decade from now people will mostly wonder why such an elementary solution to a complex problem took so long to implement. They'll find the answer in the pocketbooks and vacation homes of bowl executives, but once January Madness takes hold and they realize that the real dollars lie in capturing casual fans (see: Bowl, Super), they too will realize the error of their ways. Congrats to our college football brethren for finally joining the 20th century.


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Last year, Rhizome awarded a $500 microgrant to Lena NW and Costcodreamgurl to create a game "that parodies celebrity status games (i.e. Kim Kardashian: Hollywood... but focuses on the concept of becoming an internet celebrity via social media." Their game is now here, and it carries with it one hell of a trigger warning: "graphic sexual violence, cultural appropriation, scat, bestiality, feminism, patriarchy, sexualization of school shooters, inconsistant use of fonts." Click here to play.
From the artists' statement:


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Of all the countries in the world, there is none more magical than Italy. We have combed the cities and countryside of Italy, rejecting many, to offer our LIST OF ITALY HOTELS , Italy Inns, bed and breakfasts, agriturismos and resorts as well as other Italy lodging choices. These Italy accomodations reflect what we consider to be the best in their respective classifications. Our slections range from inexpensive farm stays to piggybank breaking luxury hotels in Italy. Each of our selections will provide a different experience of Italy travel.
One of the reasons Karen Brown is considered among the best travel guides is her in depth itineraries throughout a country or region. Once again, Karen has outdone herself producing 7 wonderful and exciting ITINERARIES throughout Italy. Each of the itineraries has been traveled as we describe them allowing the traveler to depend on their pacing and selection of sites to see and experience.Italy is truly a tourists paradisea travelers dream destination. No one could be so blasé that within Italys narrow boot there would not be something to tantalize his fancy. For the archaeologist, there are some of the most fascinating and perfectly preserved ancient monuments existing today, just begging to be explored. For the gourmet, there is the finest food in the world. For the outdoors enthusiast, there are towering mountains to conquer and magnificent ski slopes to enjoy. For the lover of art, the museums are bursting with the genius of Italys sons such as Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and Raphael. For the architect, Italy is a school of designyou are surrounded by the ancient buildings whose perfection still inspires the styles of today. For the history buff, Italy is a joy of wondersher cities are veritable living museums. For the wine connoisseur, Italy produces an unbelievable selection of wine whose quality is unsurpassed. For the adventurer, Italy has intriguing medieval walled villages tucked away in every part of the country. For the beach buff, Italys coastline and lakes hold the promise of some of the most elegant resorts in the world. For the religious pilgrim, Italy is the cradle of the Christian faith and home of some to the worlds most famous saints. The miracle of Italy travel is that all these treasures come packaged in a gorgeous country of majestic mountains, misty lakes, idyllic islands, wonderful walled villages, and beautiful cities. In addition, the climate is ideal and the people warm and gracious. Italy is truly a perfect destination.
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Posted by Editoress on 08/5/13
Two-time Canadian Champion and Olympian Max Plaxton (Sho-Air Cannondale) is registered to race the Canada Cup Final in Whistler, which will be held Wednesday August 14th. The Canada Cup event, for only the second time since 2006, is part of the internationally-acclaimed Crankworx mountain bike festival.
The race, which will be held on the Lost Lake Trails at the world-class resort, will be the last one of the 2013 Canada Cup season, crowning the newest Canada Cup Champions.
"It's always good to race at home, in your province. I don't get the chance that often to race close to home, especially in such a beautiful place like Whistler. In addition, it's great preparation for the upcoming world championships in South Africa. I'm really excited about this race on the west coast, and it would be nice to have this event become a fixture on the Canada Cup circuit year after year," said Max Plaxton.
The Series leaders entering this final race of the 2013 Canada Cup Series are Antoine Caron (Specialized Racing) and Sandra Walter (Liv/Giant Canada), who both won medals at the recent Canadian Championships in the Elite categories, with Félix Burke and Canadian Champion Rachel Pageau leading in the Junior categories.
Caron, with 485 points, currently has a 75 points lead over Evan McNeely (Norco Factory) in the Elite Men category, while American racer Stephen Ettigner (BMC Mountain Bike) sits in third with 400 points. Evan Guthrie, could ride away with the title with a strong performance in Whistler, is currently sitting in fourth at 350 points.
In the women's Elite standings, Walter is enjoying a perfect season at 600 points. Her closest competitor is Andréanne Pichette (Opus/OGC) with 505 points, while Frédérique Trudel (Specialized Racing Canada) is sitting third at 415 points. It will take a very strong performance for Pichette to dislodge Walter from the top spot, but second place is not guaranteed as Trudel, in her rookie season in the Elite category, is still within reach of second place.
The tightest race might very well be within the Junior men's category, with three riders separated by only 50 points. Félix Burke (CVM 2 Vals) is leading with 255 points, but right behind is the red-hot Peter Disera (Team Ontario / CSAJCC p/b Norco) with 230 points. In third is Félix Belhumeur (Lessard Bicycles). All three have just been named to the Canadian team headed to the World Championships in South Africa.
The women's Junior competition is currently an all-Quebec affair, with the current Junior Canadian Champion Rachel Pageau (Club Cycle D'alma / Ekoi Devinci) leading the pack with 285 points. Marine Lewis is sitting in second place, only 15 points out of the top spot of the series. Sarah-Claudie Dostie-Ménard (CVM ProCycle Hull/Aylmer-Specialized) is sitting in third place, with 200 points
Registration recently opened for the Canadian Open XC / Canada Cup Final. All race information is available at the event page: www.crankworx.com
Although the race is sanctioned by the UCI and Cycling Canada, every participant will be able to take part to the Crankworx mountain bike festival, as a complimentary event licence will be provided by Crankworx in collaboration with Cycling BC. All the cycling community for Whistler and Vancouver area will have the chance to ride this amazing course alongside of Olympians.
Courtesy Cycling Canada
|Return to Canadian Cyclist homepage | Back to Top


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Do you remember the episode of the ODD COUPLE television series where Felix explains to Oscar what happens when you assume (you make an ass out of u and me)?
Making false assumptions when choosing a tax preparer can be costly.
1) Don't assume that because a person has the initials "CPA" after his name he is an expert when it comes to federal and state income taxes!
The CPA designation means that a person took a very difficult test at the beginning of his career, possibly many, many years ago, only a small part of which dealt with federal income tax. It is no guarantee that he is current on federal and state tax law.
Whenever I get a new client I ask to see his or her last three (3) years' tax returns, to make sure I do not miss any carry-forwards and to see if there are any errors that I could correct on an amended return. In my 35 years of preparing tax returns I have found more mistakes on 1040s prepared by CPAs than by any other class of preparer, including the taxpayer himself.
Some 25+ years ago I was a "para-professional" in the Small Business Services Department of one of the then "Big Eight" accounting firms. While reviewing the prior year's federal and state tax returns of a client whose current returns I was preparing I found a very obvious error on the state tax return that caused the client to pay more tax than necessary. Under the firm's policy, the return, which had been originally prepared by a CPA, was reviewed by his "manager" (also a CPA), and signed-off on by the head of the department (a CPA) and a member of the Tax Department (a CPA). Not one of these CPAs picked up the obvious error!
The only thing you can be sure of with a CPA is that you will be charged twice the price for half the service.
A student in one of the tax planning/preparation courses I taught at local adult schools many years ago asked me what was the difference between a tax return prepared by a CPA and one prepared by me (I am obviously not a CPA). My answer was "at least $100.00" (that number needs to be adjusted for inflation!).
There has been some concern in the past about the practice of CPA firms "outsourcing" the preparation of 1040s to India. This should not be a cause for concern. Between you and me - you are much more likely to have your 1040 prepared properly and accurately by a contracted preparer in India than by a CPA here in the United States!
CPA firms obviously outsource their 1040 preparation to save money. But you can be damned sure that a CPA will not charge you less for a return prepared in India that he would for one prepared here in the USA.
The only initials that have any meaning when it comes to tax preparation are "EA" - Enrolled Agent (I am also not an "EA"). The name is misleading. An EA is not an agent of the Internal Revenue Service, but a private tax professional who is "enrolled" to act as a taxpayer's "agent" in proceedings with the IRS and in tax court. To become an Enrolled Agent one must pass a difficult test that is 100% federal tax law. In order to maintain their enrolled status, EAs must have a mandatory number of continuing education credits in taxation each year. You can find an EA in your area at the National Association of Enrolled Agents website.
2) Don't assume that H+R Block will charge a reduced, or even reasonable, fee for preparing your tax return!
When my mentor and I got a hold of the H+R Block fee schedule back in the late 1980s we were in complete shock. Henry and Richard ain't cheap! In my opinion they are very expensive. They charge fancy restaurant prices for fast food service! Plus they will attempt to squeeze even more money out of you by trying to push you into a usurious "Refund Anticipation Loan" or to make your IRA contribution to a Block-sponsored high-fee, low-yield investment that is practically guaranteed to lose money.
Returns prepared by the employees of Henry and Richard are second to CPAs in terms of errors I have discovered on 1040s over the years. My mentor always said that he wished H+R Block would move next door to our office - we would make a fortune fixing their mistakes!
Last year the Government Accountability Office (GAO) conducted a study which resulted in a report to Congress titled "Paid Return Preparers: In a Limited Study, Chain Preparers Made Serious Errors". The GAO sent undercover agents with two different tax scenarios to a total of 19 offices of 5 "fast-food" commercial tax chains, including H+R Block, in a metropolitan area. In only 2 instances was the correct refund calculated, but all 19 returns contained errors.
Some of the more serious errors included -
I was told by the GAO that not one of the 19 preparers in the study had asked to see the undercover taxpayer's prior year's return!
The GAO agents also discovered unethical sales practices related to Refund Anticipation Loans (RALs). The annualized interest rate for the RALs offered to the "taxpayers" ranged from 380% to 470%. Henry and Richard have been sued repeatedly throughout the US because of these RALs, and have paid millions of dollars in settlements (probably why they are so expensive – they need to cover their legal and settlement costs somehow).
When looking for a tax professional, as with any other professional, it is best to get a referral from a trusted friend or relative.
To be perfectly fair, over the years I have come across some CPAs who actually knew their "stuff" when it came to income taxes, and even some who charged reasonable fees. But in my experience this is the exception and not the rule. And I am sure that there are probably one or two competent, ethical and professional H+R Block preparers out there somewhere, too – although you couldn't prove it by me.
While it may actually be possible that the best tax preparer, at the best price, for your particular situation is either a CPA or an H+R Block employee, this is only because of the education, experience, ability, temperament, and other factors that are specific to that individual preparer.


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Normal cleaning
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Clean the surface with a soft cloth dampened with a quality cleaner formulated for wood furniture. Wipe the surface in the direction of the wood grain to remove dirt and fingerprints. Wipe dry with a clean, dry cloth.Twice a year
Apply a good quality furniture polish with a soft cloth.
Do not use aerosol-powered cleaners or polishes. Also, do not use polishes containing waxes or abrasives, or polishes that are oil based.
Rub the surface lightly in the direction of the wood grain using No. 000 steel wool. Apply a scratch-removing polish with a color and value that simulates the veneer. If the scratches are deep, consult a professional furniture refinisher.


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The Nanking Massacre or Nanjing Massacre, also known as the Rape of Nanking, is a mass murder and war rape that occurred during the six-week period following the Japanese capture of the city of Nanjing (Nanking), the former capital of the Republic of China, on December 13, 1937 during the Second Sino-Japanese War. During this period, hundreds of thousands of Chinese civilians and disarmed soldiers were murdered and 20,000–80,000 women were raped by soldiers of the Imperial Japanese Army.
A group of foreign expatriates headed by John Rabe had formed the 15-man International Committee on November 22 and mapped out the Nanking Safety Zone in order to safeguard civilians in the city, where the population numbered from 200,000 to 250,000. Rabe and American missionary Lewis S. C. Smythe, secretary of the International Committee and a professor of sociology at the University of Nanking, recorded the actions of the Japanese troops and filed complaints to the Japanese embassy.
On 19 December 1937, Reverend James M. McCallum wrote in his diary:
I know not where to end. Never I have heard or read such brutality. Rape! Rape! Rape! We estimate at least 1,000 cases a night, and many by day. In case of resistance or anything that seems like disapproval, there is a bayonet stab or a bullet ... People are hysterical ... Women are being carried off every morning, afternoon and evening. The whole Japanese army seems to be free to go and come as it pleases, and to do whatever it pleases.
On March 7, 1938, Robert O. Wilson, a surgeon at the American-administered University Hospital in the Safety Zone, wrote in a letter to his family, "a conservative estimate of people slaughtered in cold blood is somewhere about 100,000, including of course thousands of soldiers that had thrown down their arms".
Here are two excerpts from his letters of 15 and 18 December 1937 to his family:
The slaughter of civilians is appalling. I could go on for pages telling of cases of rape and brutality almost beyond belief. Two bayoneted corpses are the only survivors of seven street cleaners who were sitting in their headquarters when Japanese soldiers came in without warning or reason and killed five of their number and wounded the two that found their way to the hospital.Let me recount some instances occurring in the last two days. Last night the house of one of the Chinese staff members of the university was broken into and two of the women, his relatives, were raped. Two girls, about 16, were raped to death in one of the refugee camps. In the University Middle School where there are 8,000 people the Japs came in ten times last night, over the wall, stole food, clothing, and raped until they were satisfied. They bayoneted one little boy of eight who have [sic] five bayonet wounds including one that penetrated his stomach, a portion of omentum was outside the abdomen. I think he will live.
In his diary kept during the aggression to the city and its occupation by the Imperial Japanese Army, the leader of the Safety Zone, John Rabe, wrote many comments about Japanese atrocities. For the 17th December:
Two Japanese soldiers have climbed over the garden wall and are about to break into our house. When I appear they give the excuse that they saw two Chinese soldiers climb over the wall. When I show them my party badge, they return the same way. In one of the houses in the narrow street behind my garden wall, a woman was raped, and then wounded in the neck with a bayonet. I managed to get an ambulance so we can take her to Kulou Hospital ... Last night up to 1,000 women and girls are said to have been raped, about 100 girls at Ginling College Girls alone. You hear nothing but rape. If husbands or brothers intervene, they're shot. What you hear and see on all sides is the brutality and bestiality of the Japanese soldiers.
There are also accounts of Japanese troops forcing families to commit acts of incest. Sons were forced to rape their mothers, fathers were forced to rape daughters. One pregnant woman who was gang-raped by Japanese soldiers gave birth only a few hours later; although the baby appeared to be physically unharmed (Robert B. Edgerton, Warriors of the Rising Sun). Monks who had declared a life of celibacy were also forced to rape women.
On 13 December 1937, John Rabe wrote in his diary:
It is not until we tour the city that we learn the extent of destruction. We come across corpses every 100 to 200 yards. The bodies of civilians that I examined had bullet holes in their backs. These people had presumably been fleeing and were shot from behind. The Japanese march through the city in groups of ten to twenty soldiers and loot the shops (...) I watched with my own eyes as they looted the café of our German baker Herr Kiessling. Hempel's hotel was broken into as well, as almost every shop on Chung Shang and Taiping Road.
On 10 February 1938, Legation Secretary of the German Embassy, Rosen, wrote to his Foreign Ministry about a film made in December by Reverend John Magee to recommend its purchase. Here is an excerpt from his letter and a description of some of its shots, kept in the Political Archives of the Foreign Ministry in Berlin.
During the Japanese reign of terror in Nanking – which, by the way, continues to this day to a considerable degree – the Reverend John Magee, a member of the American Episcopal Church Mission who has been here for almost a quarter of a century, took motion pictures that eloquently bear witness to the atrocities committed by the Japanese .... One will have to wait and see whether the highest officers in the Japanese army succeed, as they have indicated, in stopping the activities of their troops, which continue even today.On December 13, about 30 soldiers came to a Chinese house at #5 Hsing Lu Koo in the southeastern part of Nanking, and demanded entrance. The door was open by the landlord, a Mohammedan named Ha. They killed him immediately with a revolver and also Mrs. Ha, who knelt before them after Ha's death, begging them not to kill anyone else. Mrs. Ha asked them why they killed her husband and they shot her. Mrs. Hsia was dragged out from under a table in the guest hall where she had tried to hide with her 1 year old baby. After being stripped and raped by one or more men, she was bayoneted in the chest, and then had a bottle thrust into her vagina. The baby was killed with a bayonet. Some soldiers then went to the next room, where Mrs. Hsia's parents, aged 76 and 74, and. The soldiers killed her with a revolver. The grandfather grasped the body of his wife and was killed. The two girls were then stripped, the elder being raped by 2–3 men, and the younger by 3. The older girl was stabbed afterwards and a cane was rammed in her vagina. The younger girl was bayoneted also but was spared the horrible treatment that had been meted out to her sister and mother. The soldiers then bayoneted another sister of between 7–8, who was also in the room. The last murders in the house were of Ha's two children, aged 4 and 2 respectively. The older was bayoneted and the younger split down through the head with a sword.
Pregnant women were a target of murder, as they would often be bayoneted in the stomach, sometimes after rape. Tang Junshan, survivor and witness to one of the Japanese army's systematic mass killings, testified:
The seventh and last person in the first row was a pregnant woman. The soldier thought he might as well rape her before killing her, so he pulled her out of the group to a spot about ten meters away. As he was trying to rape her, the woman resisted fiercely ... The soldier abruptly stabbed her in the belly with a bayonet. She gave a final scream as her intestines spilled out. Then the soldier stabbed the fetus, with its umbilical cord clearly visible, and tossed it aside.
According to Navy veteran Sho Mitani, «The Army used a trumpet sound that meant "Kill all Chinese who run away"». Thousands were led away and mass-executed in an excavation known as the "Ten-Thousand-Corpse Ditch", a trench measuring about 300m long and 5m wide. Since records were not kept, estimates regarding the number of victims buried in the ditch range from 4,000 to 20,000. However, most scholars and historians consider the number to be more than 12,000 victims.
Immediately after the fall of the city, Japanese troops embarked on a determined search for former soldiers, in which thousands of young men were captured. Many were taken to the Yangtze River, where they were machine-gunned. What was probably the single largest massacre of Chinese troops occurred along the banks of the Yangtze River on December 18 in what is called the Straw String Gorge Massacre. Japanese soldiers took most of the morning tying all of the POWs hands together and in the dusk divided them into 4 columns, and opened fire at them. Unable to escape, the POWs could only scream and thrash in desperation. It took an hour for the sounds of death to stop, and even longer for the Japanese to bayonet each individual. Most were dumped into the Yangtze. It is estimated that at least 57,500 Chinese POWs were killed.
The Japanese troops gathered 1,300 Chinese soldiers and civilians at Taiping Gate and killed them. The victims were blown up with landmines, then doused with petrol before being set on fire. Those that were left alive afterward were killed with bayonets.
F. Tillman Durdin and Archibald Steele, American news correspondents, reported that they had seen bodies of killed Chinese soldiers forming mounds six feet high at the Nanking Yijiang gate in the north. Durdin, who was working for the New York Times, made a tour of Nanking before his departure from the city. He heard waves of machine-gun fire and witnessed the Japanese soldiers gun down some two hundred Chinese within ten minutes. Two days later, in his report to the New York Times, he stated that the alleys and street were filled with civilian bodies, including women and children.
According to a testimony made by missionary Ralph L. Phillips to the U.S. State Assembly Investigating Committee, he was "forced to watch while the Japs disembowled a Chinese soldier" and "roasted his heart and liver and ate them"
The Battle of Nanking ended on December 13, when the divisions of the Japanese Army entered the walled city of Nanking. The Tokyo War Crime Tribunal defined the period of the massacre to the ensuing six weeks. More conservative estimates say the massacre started on December 14, when the troops entered the Safety Zone, and that it lasted for six weeks.
Chinese being buried alive
Please note that there are many more images available on the rape and massacre that occurred at Nanking. We have shunned showing the more graphic images on this site. They can be viewed at Nanking-massacre.com


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Recurrent Multiple Myeloma
Recurrent multiple myeloma has persisted or returned following treatment initial treatment. About one-quarter of patients with relapsed disease will experience a remission of their cancer after several cycles of chemotherapy. Treatment with newer "targeted" therapies or high-dose therapy followed by a stem cell transplant appears to produce better outcomes.
The following is a general overview of conventional and investigative treatments for recurrent multiple myeloma. Cancer treatment may consist of targeted therapy, high-dose therapy and stem cell transplantation, supportive care, or a combination of these treatment techniques. Combining two or more of these treatment techniques has become an important approach for increasing a patient's chance of cure and prolonging survival.
In some cases, participation in a clinical trial utilizing new, innovative therapies may provide the most promising treatment. Treatments that may be available through clinical trials are discussed in the section titled Strategies to Improve Treatment.
Circumstances unique to each patient's situation influence which treatment or treatments are utilized. The potential benefits of combination treatment, participation in a clinical trial, or standard treatment must be carefully balanced with the potential risks. The information on this website is intended to help educate patients about their treatment options and to facilitate a mutual or shared decision-making process with their treating cancer physician.
- Targeted Therapy for Recurrent Multiple Myeloma
- Velcade® (bortezomib)
- Revlimid® (lenalidomide)
- Thalomid® (thalidomide)
- High-dose Therapy and Stem Cell Transplant
- High-dose Chemotherapy and Autologous Stem Cell Transplant
- High-dose Chemotherapy and Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplant
- Supportive Care: Managing the Side Effects of Myeloma and Treatment
- Strategies to Improve Treatment of Recurrent Multiple Myeloma
Targeted Therapy for Recurrent Multiple Myeloma
The introduction of three new drugs for multiple myeloma — Velcade® (bortezomib), Revlimid® (lenalidomide), and Thalomid® (thalidomide) – has improved outcomes among patients with newly-diagnosed multiple myeloma as well as patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.
Velcade® (bortezomib): Velcade is a targeted therapy that inhibits the activities of a group of proteins, called proteasomes. These proteins are found in virtually all cells, but are particularly important for allowing myeloma cancer cells to survive and grow. By inhibiting the proteasomes, Velcade kills cancer cells and reduced overall cancer growth.
Important support for the use of Velcade in the treatment of relapsed multiple myeloma came from a phase III clinical trial known as the Assessment of Proteasome Inhibition for Extending Remissions (APEX) trial. The study enrolled more than 600 patients with relapsed multiple myeloma. Half the patients were treated with Velcade and half were treated with high-dose dexamethasone. Compared to the patients treated with dexamethasone, patients treated with Velcade had longer time to cancer progression (6.2 months versus 3.5 months), higher response rate (38% versus 18%), and better one-year survival (80% versus 66%). Serious side effects, however, tended to be more common in patients treated with bortezomib than patients treated with dexamethasone1
Studies have also evaluated Velcade in combination with other therapies, and several of these combinations have produced promising results.2 In a phase III clinical trial, the combination of Velcade with pegylated liposomal doxorubicin resulted in longer survival than Velcade alone among patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.3 Fifteen-month survival was 76% among patients treated with Velcade plus pegylated liposomal doxorubicin compared to 65% among patients treated with Velcade alone.
Revlimid® (lenalidomide): Revlimid is a derivative of thalidomide which has similar activity but less toxicity.
In a study conducted in the United States and Canada, the addition of Revlimid to dexamethasone has been shown to improve treatment outcomes among patients with relapsed multiple myeloma.4 Compared to patients treated with dexamethasone alone, patients treated with Revlimid plus dexamethasone experienced a longer time to cancer progression (11.1 months vs. 4.7 months) and better overall survival (29.2 months vs. 20.2 months). The addition of Revlimid to dexamethasone did increase the occurrence of side effects, however, such as neutropenia (low white blood cell counts) and blood clots.
Thalomid® (thalidomide): Thalidomid is a drug that was originally developed as a sleeping pill, but researchers began investigating it as an anticancer drug when they discovered that it slows or stops the growth of new blood vessels. Cancer cells require food and oxygen in order to grow and spread. These essential nutrients are transported to the cancer cells by blood vessels. By inhibiting the growth of new blood vessels, Thalidomid "starves" the cancer of the food and oxygen that it needs to survive and grow.
Thalidomid appears to be an active treatment for relapsed multiple myeloma. Results of a clinical trial indicate that one-third of patients treated with Thalidomid experience an anticancer response, including patients who relapse after stem cell transplantation. The researchers estimated that more than half of the patients survived one year or more after treatment.5
Response to treatment may be even greater when Thalomid is combined with other drugs.6 Thalomid and dexamethasone – a combination that has been shown to be effective in the initial treatment of multiple myeloma – has also shown promise in the treatment of relapsed multiple myeloma, and the addition of other drugs may further increase response rates.
High-dose Therapy and Stem Cell Transplant for Recurrent Multiple Myeloma
High-doses of chemotherapy are more effective at killing cancer cells than lower doses. However, high-dose therapy destroys many other cells in the body. A dangerous side effect of administering high-dose therapy is damage to the cells in the bone marrow that develop into mature blood cells, called stem cells.
Without functioning stem cells in the bone marrow, the body cannot produce red blood cells, white blood cells or platelets, which leaves patients vulnerable to infection and bleeding, and unable to supply adequate oxygen to their tissues.
However, bone marrow function can be restored after high-dose therapy by replacing the damaged stem cells with healthy ones. This is a procedure known as a stem cell transplant.
There are two possible sources of stem cells for transplantation; they may be collected from the patient prior to undergoing high-dose therapy or they may be collected from a donor. A stem cell transplant that utilizes the patient's own cells is called an autologous stem cell transplant. When the stem cells are from a donor the procedure is called an allogeneic stem cell transplant.
In general, autologous transplants are performed much more frequently than allogeneic transplants. This is due to the fact that there are relatively few patients with suitable donors and because allogeneic transplants are associated with more treatment-related complications.
High-dose Therapy and Autologous Stem Cell Transplant (ASCT) for Progressive or Relapsed Multiple Myeloma
ASCT is a treatment that is often reserved until multiple myeloma recurs after initial treatment or progresses with treatment. Results of clinical trials indicate that patients did not live longer if they opted for this treatment early in their disease course as opposed to waiting until their myeloma recurred. 78
Following a first ASCT, some patients may undergo a second one. This is known as a tandem, or double, transplant. Studies have suggested that patients who do not achieve a complete or very good anti-cancer response to the first ASCT are the most likely to benefit from a second ASCT.9
It is important to note that undergoing transplantation later in the treatment strategy is more likely to be successful if it is planned for. Stem cells must be collected prior to any other initial treatment because the bone marrow becomes damaged even with conventional-dose chemotherapy.
High-Dose Therapy and Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplant for Progressive or Relapsed Multiple Myeloma
An allogeneic stem cell transplant involves stem cells collected from a donor. Compared to autologous transplant, a transplant of donor cells is associated with more side effects and a greater risk of death. The benefit of allogeneic transplant, however, is the chance for long-term survival; patients who undergo a donor transplant following cancer recurrence after conventional-dose treatment appear to have a better chance of surviving 10 years or more compared to patients who undergo an autologous SCT. 10 Thus, patients accept more upfront risks with an allogeneic transplant in exchange for the chance of long-term survival.
In an attempt to reduce treatment-related side effects, which can be significant, some researchers have explored the role of reduced-intensity allogeneic stem cell transplantation. A small study conducted in patients with poor-risk, relapsed, or refractory multiple myeloma suggested that an ASCT followed by a reduced-intensity allogeneic transplant may be an effective treatment approach for selected patients.11
Supportive Care: Managing the Side Effects of Myeloma and Treatment
The treatment of multiple myeloma is focused on treating the underlying disease (the increased number of abnormal plasma cells). Managing the symptoms and other medical problems resulting from the increased numbers of plasma cells and abnormal (monoclonal) proteins is equally important. The following complications of multiple myeloma have specific treatments available:
- Bone complications
- Hypercalcemia
- Decreased blood cell production
- Anemia
- Infection
- Kidney dysfunction
Bone complications: In 70% of multiple myeloma cases, the bones develop multiple holes, which explains why the disease is referred to as "multiple" myeloma. The holes are referred to as osteolytic lesions, which cause the bones to be fragile and subject to fractures. Osteolytic lesions are caused by the rapid growth of myeloma cells, which push aside normal bone-forming cells, preventing them from repairing general wear and tear of the bones. Under normal circumstances, cells called osteoclasts destroy dead and dying bone. Multiple myeloma causes the secretion of osteoclast-activating factor, a substance that stimulates osteoclasts.
Multiple myeloma involving the bone can cause pain, fracture and other significant problems for patients. Management of bone involvement is an integral part of the overall treatment strategy for multiple myeloma. The first objective of treatment of bone complications is to prevent new bone disease from developing or progression from existing bone lesions to occur.
Bisphosphonate drugs can effectively prevent loss of bone that occurs from metastatic lesions, reduce the risk of fractures, and decrease pain. Bisphosphonate drugs work by inhibiting bone resorption, or breakdown. Bone is constantly being "remodeled" by two types of cells: osteoclasts, which break down bone; and osteoblasts, which rebuild bone. Although the exact process by which bisphosphonates work is not completely understood, it is thought that bisphosphonates inhibit osteoclasts and induce apoptosis (cell death) in these cells, thereby reducing bone loss. There is also evidence that these drugs bind to bone, thereby blocking osteoclasts from breaking down bone.
Bisphosphonate drugs that are FDA-approved for the treatment of cancer-related skeletal complications include Zometa® (zoledronic acid) and Aredia® (pamidronate). Of these two drugs, Zometa® appears to demonstrate the strongest activity. An added benefit of Zometa® is that it is administered in a dose ten times lower than Aredia®, which considerably reduces the administration time from several hours to 15 minutes, resulting in a more convenient regimen for patients.
A comparison of treatment with chemotherapy plus the bisphosphonate drug Aredia® to chemotherapy alone showed that patients who received the bisphosphonate had fewer bone fractures and decreased pain. In addition, some patients lived longer.12 Research indicates that Zometa® is as effective as Aredia®. Among 1,648 patients with multiple myeloma or advanced breast cancer who had at least one bone lesion, pain and the use of pain medication was decreased with both treatments. However, patients who received Zometa® experienced significantly less need for radiation therapy to treat bone complications.13
Patients with progressive bone involvement from multiple myeloma may experience worsening pain and/or fracture of the bone from the progressive cancer. Low-dose radiation therapy, as well as analgesics, can help control the pain from bone progression of multiple myeloma.
To learn more about bone complications and bone health, go to the Bone Complications and Cancer
Hypercalcemia: Many multiple myeloma patients develop hypercalcemia, which is an increased level of calcium in the bloodstream. Hypercalcemia results from the destruction of bone from osteolytic lesions or sometimes from the development of generalized osteoporosis, in which all the bones are soft and porous and have lost calcium. Hypercalcemia in patients with multiple myeloma causes fatigue, lethargy and other symptoms. Severe hypercalcemia is a medical emergency requiring immediate treatment. Typically, hypercalcemia is treated with bisphosphonates and hydration.
Decreased blood cell production: The multiplication of the plasma cells in the bone marrow eventually crowds out and suppresses the normal production of blood cells. This may cause a significant decrease in red blood cells, causing anemia; in platelets, causing abnormal bleeding and in white blood cells, causing neutropenia.
Anemia: Anemia, or a decrease in the red blood cell hemoglobin concentration necessary for the transport of oxygen to the body's organs, is a common complication of multiple myeloma. Anemia may cause patients to experience tiredness, fatigue, shortness of breath and/or a reduced tolerance to activity. Anemia resulting from multiple myeloma can often be treated with erythropoietin (Procrit® (epoetin alfa) and Aranesp® (darbepoetin alfa). To learn more, go to Anemia.
Infections: The depletion of normal white blood cells compromises the patient's immunity in several ways. First, the number of monocytes and granulocytes are greatly reduced so that the patient is at risk from infections. Second, the delicate and complex balance between the different types of lymphocytes is distorted. Patients with multiple myeloma often have reduced levels of normal immunoglobulin necessary to fight certain types of infections. Patients experiencing recurrent infections may need to have immunoglobulin levels replenished. Patients who experience recurrent infections may want to ask their physician about immunoglobulin replacement therapy.
Kidney dysfunction: In 75% of patients, the plasma cells also produce monoclonal incomplete immunoglobulins, called light chains. These are excreted in the urine and are the so-called Bence Jones proteins. Bence Jones proteins are named after a British physician, Henry Bence Jones (1813-1873), who first discovered them. Bence Jones proteins may deposit in the kidney, clogging the tubules. Ultimately, this damages the kidney and can cause renal failure. Hypercalcemia may exacerbate kidney problems because excess calcium in the bloodstream causes excessive fluid loss and dehydration. Because the abnormal proteins produced by the plasma cells are eliminated from the body through the urine, they may accumulate in the kidneys and cause kidney dysfunction. In addition to treating the underlying cancer, it is important for patients to maintain adequate oral intake of fluids to help avoid kidney failure and avoid using over-the-counter medications such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs that can worsen kidney function.
Strategies to Improve Treatment of Multiple Myeloma
The development of more effective cancer treatments requires that new and innovative therapies be evaluated with cancer patients. Clinical trials are studies that evaluate the effectiveness of new drugs or treatment strategies. Future progress in the treatment of recurrent multiple myeloma will result from the continued evaluation of new treatments in clinical trials. Participation in a clinical trial may offer patients access to better treatments and advance the existing knowledge about treatment of this cancer. Patients who are interested in participating in a clinical trial should discuss the risks and benefits of clinical trials with their physician. Areas of active investigation aimed at improving the treatment of recurrent multiple myeloma include the following:
New combinations of drugs: the introduction of Thalomid, Revlimid, and Velcade has improved outcomes among patients with multiple myeloma. Nevertheless, the optimal approach to using these drugs is still being explored. Researchers are evaluating several different ways of combining these drugs with each other and with other myeloma therapies in order to further improve outcomes.
Maintenance therapy: The administration of relatively low doses of anticancer drugs after an ASCT could extend the time before cancer progression or prevent relapses. Dexamethasone and interferon are two drugs that have been investigated as maintenance therapy, but benefits remain uncertain.14 New drugs that are being evaluated as maintenance therapy include Thalomid, and Revlimid, and Velcade.
Determining the role of ASCT in the era of new drugs:Autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) is a standard treatment for many patients with multiple myeloma. Nevertheless, the role of ASCT in the era of newer drugs such as Thalomid, Velcade and Revlimid is unclear. New combinations of drugs may further improve the results of ASCT, or may eventually replace ASCT in the initial treatment of multiple myeloma.15
Reduced intensity allogeneic stem cell transplant: High-dose therapy followed by allogeneic stem cell transplant is currently the only potentially curative treatment for multiple myeloma. The high risk of serious complications, however, has prompted researchers to explore an alternative procedure known as a reduced-intensity allogeneic stem cell transplant. In a study of 24 patients with poor-risk, relapsed, or refractory multiple myeloma, the approach of starting with an autologous stem cell transplant and then performing a reduced-intensity allogeneic stem cell transplant (with stem cells from an unrelated donor) produced promising response rates with a lower risk of death from treatment.16
Donor lymphocyte infusions: Recent studies have indicated that patients with multiple myeloma who experience a recurrence after an allogeneic transplant achieved high response rates to donor lymphocyte infusions. Researchers from several transplant centers in Europe evaluated 27 patients with multiple myeloma who had a recurrence following treatment with HDC and an allogeneic SCT.17 All of these patients received infusions of donor lymphocytes after recurrence of the cancer. Over half of the patients experienced a partial or complete disappearance of myeloma following the infusion. Unfortunately, graft-versus-host disease, a side effect caused by donor cells attacking healthy tissue of the patient, affected over 75% of these patients. The results of this study suggest that donor lymphocyte infusions may be beneficial to patients with multiple myeloma who have a recurrence after HDC and allogeneic stem cell transplant.
Phase I clinical trials: New anti-cancer drugs are first tested in humans in phase I clinical trials. These trials usually involve a small number of patients for whom other standard therapies have failed or no known alternative therapy is available. Phase I therapy may produce anti-cancer effects and a small number of patients may be helped. However, the primary goals of this phase are to determine the evidence of anti-cancer activity in humans, the maximum tolerated dose of the treatment, the manner in which the drug works in the body, the toxic side effects related to different doses as well as the reversibility of toxic side effects. Upon completion of phase I trials, the information that has been gathered is used to begin phase II trials.
1 Richardson PG, Sonneveld P, Schuster M et al. Bortezomib or high-dose dexamethasone for relapsed multiple myeloma. New England Journal of Medicine. 2005. 352:2487-98.
2 Richarson PG, Hideshima T, Mitsiades C, Anderson KC. The emerging role of novel therapies for the treatment of relapsed myeloma. Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. 2007;5:149-162.
3 Orlowski RZ, Nagler A, Sonneveld P et al. Randomized phase III study of pegylated liposomal doxorubicin plus bortezomib compared with bortezomib alone in relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. Journal of Clinical Oncology. 2007;25:3892-3901.
4 Weber DM, Chen C, Niesvizky R et al. Lenalidomide plus dexamethasone for relapsed multiple myeloma in North America. New England Journal of Medicine. 2007;357:2133-42.
5 Singhal S, Mehta J, Desikan R et al. Antitumor activity of thalidomide in refractory multiple myeloma. New England Journal of Medicine. 1999;341:1565-1571.
6 Richardson P, Mitsiades C, Schlossman R et al. The treatment of relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma. Hematology 2007. American Society of Hematology Education Program Book; 317 – 323.
7 Fermand J-P, Ravaud P, Chevret S, et al. High-Dose Therapy and Autologous Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Transplantation: UP-Front or Rescue Treatments? Results of a Multicenter Sequential Randomized Trial. Blood. 1998;92:3131-3136.
8 Barlogie B, Kyle RA, Anderson KC et al. Standard chemotherapy compared with high-dose chemoradiotherapy for multiple myeloma: final results of phase III US Intergroup Trial S9321. Journal of Clinical Oncology. 2006;24:929-936.
9 Kyle RA, Rajkumar SV. Multiple Myeloma. Blood. 2008;111:2962-2972.
10 Bjorkstrand B. European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation Registry studies in multiple myeloma. Semin Hematol. 2001;38:219-225.
11 Georges GE, Maris MB, Maloney GD et al. Nonmyeloablative unrelated donor hematopoietic cell transplantation for the treatment of patients with poor-risk, relapsed, or refractory multiple myeloma. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant. 2007;13:423-432.
12 Berenson JR, Lichtenstein A, Porter L, et al. Long-term pamidronate treatment of advanced multiple myeloma patients reduces skeletal events. Myeloma Aredia Study Group. Journal of Clinical Oncology. 1998;16(2):593-602.
13 Rosen LS, Gordon D, Kaminski M, et al. Zoledronic acid versus pamidronate in the treatment of skeletal metastases in patients with breast cancer or osteolytic lesions of multiple myeloma: a phase III, double-blind, comparative trial. Cancer J. 2001; 7(5):377-387.
14 National Comprehensive Cancer Network. NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology™: Multiple Myeloma. V.1.2008. © National Comprehensive Cancer Network, Inc. 2005/2006. NCCN and NATIONAL COMPREHENSIVE CANCER NETWORK are registered trademarks of National Comprehensive Cancer Network, Inc.
15 Attal M, Harousseau J-L. Role of autologous stem-cell transplantation in multiple myeloma. Best Practice & Research Clinical Haematology. 2007;20:747-759.
16Georges GE, Maris MB, Maloney GD et al. Nonmyeloablative unrelated donor hematopoietic cell transplantation for the treatment of patients with poor-risk, relapsed, or refractory multiple myeloma. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant. 2007;13:423-432.
17 Lokhorst HM, Schattenberg A, Cornelissen JJ et al. Donor lymphocyte infusions for relapsed multiple myeloma after allogeneic stem-cell transplantation: predictive factors for response and long-term outcome. Journal of Clinical Oncology. 2000;18:3031-3037.
Leesburg or Sterling
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text:
Two years ago, spurred to act by a series of suicide bombings that took the lives of some 87 Israeli citizens and wounded 570 others, the Israeli Defense Force attacked what it believed to be a terrorist stronghold in the heart of the West Bank town of Jenin, a place of densely packed buildings and labyrinthine alleys and home to a close-knit core of Palestinian fighters thought to be responsible for 25 per cent of the bombings.
What happened that day was said to be a massacre on the scale of Bosnia, Kosovo and Chechnya, with entire buildings flattened and hundreds of Palestinian civilians killed.
People around the world assumed this to be true because United Nations aid workers, The Independent, the Times of London, The Guardian, BBC News and a host of other media organizations across Europe reported it to be so.
"Massacre evidence growing," a headline on BBC's website blared on April 18, 2002.
There was just one small problem. None of that happened.
The truth would come out eventually, Canadian reporter Martin Himel reports in his new documentary, Jenin: Massacring Truth. But the damage was done.
The myth of the massacre endures to this day, even though the BBC was backpedalling within days of the initial reports.
Little more than 10 days after accusations of a massacre were posted on the BBC's website, British military expert David Holley, a major in the British Territorial Army and military adviser to Amnesty International, was quoted on the same site saying Israel was right to challenge the UN observers' claims.
Holley cited numbers closer to "possibly 54 bodies. . . with possibly 20 or 30 unaccounted for."
He could not verify those figures until the entire site was cleared.
Massacre is an overused word, Holley said, and not very helpful in situations like that.
Three months later, in August 2002, the United Nations and Human Rights Watch put the final fatality figures at 26 Palestinian fighters, 26 civilians and 23 Israeli soldiers.
But the genie was out of the bottle, and once out, it would prove next to impossible to put back in.
The "massacre" is now part of the historical record, promulgated in part by a Palestinian documentary film, Jenin, Jenin, that equated the Israeli incursion into the town with war crimes and ethnic cleansing, and by the refusal of many European journalists who covered the initial story to admit they got the facts wrong.
Himel chose to make his documentary through the eyes and recollections of an Israeli reservist, Johnathan Van Caspel, a man who has felt the stain of being branded a war criminal.
Himel managed to get his hands on camcorder footage taken by both Van Caspel's unit and, remarkably, that of Palestinian fighters in the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, to take viewers inside what in actuality was a nasty urban firefight, full of frenzied confusion and near-panic.
"I tried to put the (viewer) right into what it's like to fight urban warfare, to be in it," Himel explained by phone from Israel.
"The unusual thing in this film is that the fighting was filmed by the fighters on both sides. Today, with these little home video cameras, instead of people taking stills of their buddies in war, they can actually film the war.
"What I tried to do was put the viewer right in there. And what I mean by that is, it's confusing. You don't see the enemy.
"You don't know where the bullets are coming from. It's scary. No one really knows what's going on. And that's really what it's like."
Himel wanted his film to reflect both the macro view and the micro view of what happened that day in Jenin.
The micro view is the personal story of an Israeli reservist who is still mourning the death of friends who died in the heat of battle, their memory stained by lingering accusations of a massacre.
The macro view is the wider story of how the media cover conflict zones, and how so many journalists managed to get this story wrong.
"Today, with live TV and instant deadlines and the Internet, in some sense we are demanding clarity of every situation that we see," Himel said. "But situations like this are very unclear. And because of that, a lot of information you get is also very unclear. This is a classic case."
Himel's film includes interviews with Palestinian fighters in the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade who were there at the time -- ironically, Himel says, Palestinian fighters are far more forthcoming than many of the journalists he tried to talk to -- as well as senior editors at BBC-TV; The Independent's senior defense correspondent, Kim Sengupta; the Daily Telegraph's David Blair (who defends his view of events by saying he reported what he saw and merely reiterated first-hand accounts of Jenin residents he talked to); the Toronto Star's Olivia Ward, who disputes the accuracy of some of the conclusions drawn at the time; and the Times of London's Janine di Giovanni.
"The interesting thing is that, of all the people I interviewed, the one thing they all agreed on, without exception, was that where the journalist is coming from, his background, etc., has a big impact on how he reports things," says Himel.
"They all say, and I agree with them, that in many respects, objectivity is a fiction. It's not that we're not trying to give an accurate picture of what's going on, but we all come from somewhere. And that's something we all have to realize.
"The truth is, though, that some journalists have bigger axes to grind than others, on all sides. And that comes into play here, definitely -- especially in a case like Jenin."
BBC's initial reports of a massacre were the most damaging, because BBC is widely considered to be the standard bearer for reportage from the world's combat zones. BBC News assignment editor Malcolm Downing tells Himel in the film that, because of its reputation, people are naturally inclined to believe that what the BBC says to be true is true.
"Like everybody, we make mistakes," Downing tells Himel in the film, "and we try to own up to them when we do. . . The correction is lying behind, though. We never catch up. That's true of everybody else, as well as us."
In an ideal world, Himel says, rival media organizations would take a step back and agree not to jump to conclusions until they have a better grasp on what's going on.
"But that's not going to happen. We're all going to come up with our stories as fast as possible, especially in the age of live TV."
The difference, Himel says, for people who really want to be informed and are willing to make an effort, is whether the reporter's approach involves a healthy level of skepticism or whether the reporter is willing to accept first-person testimony -- 'I saw this, I saw that' -- at face value.
BBC showed little skepticism toward initial claims of massacre from the Palestinian side, Himel says, whereas CNN's domestic service was more circumspect.
In an interview with Palestinian senior negotiator Saeb Erekat, CNN's anchor at the time asked if Erekat would return and retract his statement if initial claims of more than 500 casualties proved to be inaccurate.
"If (Israeli claims of 70 casualties) are right and your initial numbers were wrong, will you come back here on our network and retract what you said?"
"Absolutely," Erekat said. "Absolutely. And I hope the numbers will be nothing. I hope the numbers will be zero."
In a later interview with Himel, Erekat admitted he made a mistake. "On that day, the Red Cross was not permitted to go to Jenin," Erekat told Himel. "Foreign journalists were kicked out of the Jenin area. . . Martin, we've known each other for the last 25 years. This is the only time I've said I've made a mistake, in all my interrogations."
But first impressions stick, veteran BBC correspondent James Reynolds tells Himel in the film. "Going around the world right now, if one was to ask anyone who watched the news of it, what do they think of Jenin, they think 'Jenin massacre'," Reynolds tells Himel.
"Those two words are linked. First impressions are very important. And perhaps, despite all the other reporting at the end, they are never rubbed out."
Himel says he knows critics will question his own point of view before they even see his film. The difference between his film and blanket media coverage of the Israeli incursion into Jenin, he says, is that he went out of his way to get the other side of the story, even going so far as to risk his personal safety by tracking down and querying Palestinian fighters.
Many European journalists at Jenin didn't bother to talk to Israeli soldiers and their commanders after the fighting, Himel says, even though they were standing just meters away.
"I thought it was extremely important to do what these other journalists did not do," Himel says. "When they were in Jenin, they spoke to Palestinians who gave them a very graphic account, which turned out to be inaccurate. They did not take those graphic accounts and then sit with Johnathan Van Caspel or with the Israeli IDF and really ask them what their side was, and bring an equal version out of it. They didn't. I really felt that if I was going to put Johnathan Van Caspel's side out there, I really had to get a hold of the people who were fighting against Johnathan Van Caspel. Which I did. Which is not simple."
The controversy over Jenin hints at a deeper, wider issue, however, and that is the entire tone of media coverage on Israel and the Middle East.
"What's really going on here is confusing, because the real dialogue is not whether there was a massacre or not a massacre," Himel says.
"The real dialogue is: Is Israel or Palestine legitimate or not legitimate? It's all a matter of point of view. For people who feel Israel is an illegitimate state, it doesn't matter if it was one person here and two people there. Whatever Israel does is going to be wrong, because it's an illegitimate country.
"That's the real discussion. The massacre thing just echoes the real discussion. Sometimes I say to myself that everything would be better if we just had the real discussion."
The documentary is available for purchase at: http://www.canada.com/shopping/specials.html
© The Calgary Herald 2004
Material reprinted with the express permission of The Calgary Herald Group Inc.", a CanWest Partnership.


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Tony Danza to bartend at Connolly Station in Malverne
Long Island has its share of bartenders for sure, many of whom are engaging and interesting people -- but it's unlikely any of those local mixologists have also had their own talk show…or hit sitcom…or starred on Broadway…or appeared in a major motion picture…
Well, come the evening of March 14, anyone of legal drinking age will be able to order up a beverage from a gentleman who has managed to achieve all of those aforementioned feats, as actor and performer Tony Danza will be guest-bartending at Connolly Station in Malverne.
Danza has had an accomplished career – starring in long-running and syndicated sitcoms "Taxi" and "Who's The Boss," starring in films such as "Hollywood Knights" and "She's Out of Control," appearing in Broadway productions of "The Producers" and "The Iceman Cometh" and hosting an eponymous daily talk show, among other highlights – but it also happens that the man is a graduate of Malverne High School (Class of 1968) and once tended bar at the tavern that was previously located at the address now home to Connolly Station (named "Ickle Bickle's Pub").
However, Danza is not returning to become the newest staffer at Connolly's, but rather to help his former community.
As it turns out, the Grade 6 classes of the Howard T. Herber Middle School have been making a yearly field trip to the Frost Valley YMCA sleepaway camp in the Catskill Mountain region (frostvalley.org) for more than four decades. Designed to be both an educational and self-building experience for the attending students, the 2013 journey cannot be financed through the district budget. To help raise funds for this year's outing, Danza will be manning the Connolly Station taps from 8 p.m.-11 p.m.
Admission will be $20, which will also include a free drink, and there will be both raffles and a 50/50 drawing – with proceeds going to the "Save Frost Valley" cause (savefrostvalleyhth.webs.com). The event kicks off at 7 p.m.; for more information, check out Connolly's online at connollystationli.com and facebook.com/ConnollyStation.
Connolly Station: 280 Hempstead Ave., Malverne, 516-887-5160


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The Toltec culture (/ˈtɒltɛk/) is an archaeological Mesoamerican culture that dominated a state centered in Tula, Hidalgo, Mexico in the early post-classic period of Mesoamerican chronology (ca. 900–1168 CE). The later Aztec culture saw the Toltecs as their intellectual and cultural predecessors and described Toltec culture emanating from Tōllān [ˈtoːlːaːn] (Nahuatl for Tula) as the epitome of civilization; in the Nahuatl language the word Tōltēcatl [toːlˈteːkat͡ɬ] (singular) or Tōltēcah [toːlˈteːkaʔ] (plural) came to take on the meaning "artisan". The Aztec oral and pictographic tradition also described the history of the Toltec Empire, giving lists of rulers and their exploits.
Modern scholars debate whether the Aztec narratives of Toltec history should be given credence as descriptions of actual historical events. While all scholars acknowledge that there is a large mythological part of the narrative, some maintain that by using a critical comparative method some level of historicity can be salvaged from the sources. Others maintain that continued analysis of the narratives as sources of actual history is futile and hinders access to actual knowledge of the culture of Tula de Allende.
Other controversies relating to the Toltecs include the question of how best to understand the reasons behind the perceived similarities in architecture and iconography between the archaeological site of Tula and the Maya site of Chichén Itzá. No consensus has yet emerged about the degree or direction of influence between these two sites. Another source of controversy is that New Age authors such as Carlos Castaneda and Don Miguel Ruiz falsely claim they represent "Toltec" teachings. For these New Age impersonations see Toltec (Castaneda).
Some archaeologists, such as Richard Diehl, argue for the existence of a Toltec archaeological horizon characterized by certain stylistic traits associated with Tula, Hidalgo and extending to other cultures and polities in Mesoamerica. Traits associated with this horizon are: The Mixteca-Puebla style of iconography, Tohil plumbate ceramic ware and Silho or X-Fine Orange Ware ceramics.[1] The presence of stylistic traits associated with Tula in Chichén Itzá is also taken as evidence for a Toltec horizon. Especially the nature of interaction between Tula and Chichén Itzá has been controversial with scholars arguing for either military conquest of Chichén Itzá by Toltecs, Chichén Itzá establishing Tula as a colony or only loose connections between the two. The existence of any meaning of the Mixteca-Puebla art style has also been questioned.[2]
A contrary viewpoint is argued in a 2003 study by Michael E. Smith and Lisa Montiel who compare the archaeological record related to Tula Hidalgo to those of the polities centered in Teotihuacan and Tenochtitlan. They conclude that relative to the influence exerted in Mesoamerica by Teotihuacan and Tenochtitlan, Tula's influence on other cultures was negligible and was probably not deserving of being defined as an empire, but more of a kingdom. While Tula does have the urban complexity expected of an imperial capital, its influence and dominance was not very far reaching. Evidence for Tula's participation in extensive trade networks has been uncovered; for example, the remains of a large obsidian workshop.[3]
History of research
The debate about the nature of the Toltec culture goes back to the late 19th century. Mesoamericanist scholars such as Veitia, Manuel Orozco y Berra, Charles Etienne Brasseur de Bourbourg, and Francisco Clavigero all read the Aztec chronicles and believed them to be realistic historic descriptions of a pan-Mesoamerican empire based at Tula, Hidalgo. This historicist view was first challenged by Daniel Garrison Brinton who argued that the "Toltecs" as described in the Aztec sources were merely one of several Nahuatl-speaking city-states in the Postclassic period, and not a particularly influential one at that. He attributed the Aztec view of the Toltecs to the "tendency of the human mind to glorify the good old days", and the confounding of the place of Tollan with the myth of the struggle between Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca.[4] Désiré Charnay, the first archaeologist to work at Tula, Hidalgo, defended the historicist views based on his impression of the Toltec capital, and was the first to note similarities in architectural styles between Tula and Chichén Itza. This led him to posit the theory that Chichén Itzá had been violently taken over by a Toltec military force under the leadership of Kukulcan.[5][6] Following Charnay the term Toltec has since been associated with the influx of certain Central Mexican cultural traits into the Maya sphere of dominance that took place in the late Classic and early Postclassic periods; the Postclassic Mayan civilizations of Chichén Itzá, Mayapán and the Guatemalan highlands have been referred to as "Toltecized" or "Mexicanized" Mayas.
The historicist school of thought persisted well in to the 20th century, represented in the works of scholars such as David Carrasco, Miguel León-Portilla, Nigel Davies and H. B. Nicholson, which all held the Toltecs to have been an actual ethnic group. This school of thought connected the "Toltecs" to the archaeological site of Tula, which was taken to be the Tollan of Aztec myth.[7] This tradition assumes that much of central Mexico was dominated by a Toltec Empire between the 10th and 12th century AD. The Aztecs referred to several Mexican city states as Tollan, "Place of Reeds", such as "Tollan Cholollan". Archaeologist Laurette Sejourné, followed by the historian Enrique Florescano, have argued that the "original" Tollan was probably Teotihuacán. Florescano adds that the Mayan sources refer to Chichén Itzá when talking about the mythical place Zuyua (Tollan).
Many historicists such as H. B. Nicholson (2001 (1957)) and Nigel Davies (1977) were fully aware that the Aztec chronicles were a mixture of mythical and historical accounts; this led them to try to separate the two by applying a comparative approach to the varying Aztec narratives. For example, they seek to discern between the deity Quetzalcoatl and a Toltec ruler often referred to as Topiltzin Ce Acatl Quetzalcoatl.[7]
Toltecs as myth
In recent decades the historicist position has fallen out of favor for a more critical and interpretive approach to the historicity of the Aztec mythical accounts based on the original approach of Brinton. This approach applies a different understanding of the word Toltec to the interpretation of the Aztec sources, interpreting it as largely a mythical and philosophical construct by either the Aztecs or Mesoamericans generally that served to symbolize the might and sophistication of several civilizations during the Mesoamerican Postclassic period.
Scholars such as Michel Graulich (2002) and Susan D. Gillespie (1989) maintained that the difficulties in salvaging historic data from the Aztec accounts of Toltec history are too great to overcome. For example, there are two supposed Toltec rulers identified with Quetzalcoatl: the first ruler and founder of the Toltec dynasty and the last ruler, who saw the end of the Toltec glory and was forced into humiliation and exile. The first is described as a valiant triumphant warrior, but the last as a feeble and self-doubting old man. This caused Graulich and Gillespie to suggest that the general Aztec cyclical view of time, where events repeated themselves at the end and beginning of cycles or eras was being inscribed into the historical record by the Aztecs, making it futile to attempt to distinguish between a historical Topiltzin Ce Acatl and a Quetzalcoatl deity. Graulich argued that the Toltec era is best considered the fourth of the five Aztec mythical "Suns" or ages, the one immediately preceding the fifth Sun of the Aztec people, presided over by Quetzalcoatl. This caused Graulich to consider that the only possibly historical data in the Aztec chronicles are the names of some rulers and possibly some of the conquests ascribed to them.[8]
Furthermore, among the Nahuan peoples the word "Tolteca" was synonymous with artist, artisan or wise man, and "Toltecayotl." "Toltecness" meant art, culture, civilization, and urbanism and was seen as the opposite of "Chichimecayotl" ("Chichimecness"), which symbolized the savage, nomadic state of peoples who had not yet become urbanized. This interpretation argues that any large urban center in Mesoamerica could be referred to as "Tollan" and its inhabitants as Toltecs – and that it was a common practice among ruling lineages in Postclassic Mesoamerica to strengthen claims to power by claiming Toltec ancestry. Mesoamerican migration accounts often state that Tollan was ruled by Quetzalcoatl (or Kukulkan in Yucatec and Q'uq'umatz in K'iche'), a godlike mythical figure who was later sent into exile from Tollan and went on to found a new city elsewhere in Mesoamerica. Claims of Toltec ancestry and a ruling dynasty founded by Quetzalcoatl have been made by such diverse civilizations as the Aztec, the K'iche' and the Itza' Mayas.
While the skeptical school of thought does not deny that cultural traits of a seemingly central Mexican origin have diffused into a larger area of Mesoamerica, it tends to ascribe this to the dominance of Teotihuacán in the Classic period and the general diffusion of cultural traits within the region. Recent scholarship, then, does not see Tula, Hidalgo as the capital of the Toltecs of the Aztec accounts. Rather, it takes "Toltec" to mean simply an inhabitant of Tula during its apogee. Separating the term "Toltec" from those of the Aztec accounts, it attempts to find archaeological clues to the ethnicity, history and social organization of the inhabitants of Tula.
- Diehl 1993
- Smith 1980
- Healan 1989
- Brinton 1887
- Charnay 1885
- Diehl 1993:274
- Smith 2007
- Graulich 2002
- Bancroft, Hubert Howe (1876). The Native Races of the Pacific States of North America: Primitive History. Vol. 5. D. Appleton.
- Brinton, Daniel Garrison (1887). "Were the Toltecs an Historic Nationality?". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. 24 (126): 229–241. JSTOR 983071.
- Carrasco, David (1982). Quetzalcoatl and the Irony of Empire: Myths and Prophecies in the Aztec Tradition. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-09487-1. OCLC 0226094871.
- Charnay, Desiré (1885). "La Civilisation Tolteque". Revue d'Ethnographie. iv: 281.
- Davies, Nigel (1977). The Toltecs: Until the Fall of Tula. Civilization of the American Indian series, Vol. 153. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-8061-1394-4.
- Davies, Nigel (1980). The Toltec Heritage: From the Fall of Tula to the Rise of Tenochtitlan. Civilization of the American Indian series, Vol. 153. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-8061-1505-X. OCLC 5103377.
- Diehl, Richard A. (1983). Tula: The Toltec Capital of Ancient Mexico. New York: Thames & Hudson.
- Diehl, Richard A. (1993). "The toltec Horizon in Mesoamerica: New perspectives on an old issue". In Don Stephen Rice (ed.). Latin American horizons: a symposium at Dumbarton Oaks, 11th and 12th October 1986. Dumbarton Oaks.
- Florescano, Enrique (1999). The Myth of Quetzalcoatl. Lysa Hochroth (trans.), Raúl Velázquez (illus.) (translation of El mito de Quetzalcóatl original Spanish-language ed.). Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0-8018-7101-8. OCLC 39313429.
- Gillespie, Susan D. (1989). The Aztec Kings: The Construction of Rulership in Mexica History. Tucson: University of Arizona Press. ISBN 0-8165-1095-4. OCLC 60131674.
- Graulich, Michel (2002). "Los reyes de Tollan". Revista Española de Antropología Americana. 32: 87–114.
- Healan, Dan M. (1989). Tula of the Toltecs: excavations and survey. University of Iowa Press.
- Kirchhoff, Paul (1985). "El imperio tolteca y su caída.". In Jesús Monjarás-Ruiz; Rosa Brambila; Emma Pérez-Rocha (eds.). Mesoamérica y el centro de México: Una antología. Mexico City: Instituo Nacional de Antropología e Historia. pp. 249–272. ISBN 978-968-6038-26-2.
- Miller, Mary; Karl Taube (1993). The Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya: An Illustrated Dictionary of Mesoamerican Religion. London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-05068-6. OCLC 27667317.
- Sahagún, Bernardino de (1950–82) [ca. 1540–85]. Florentine Codex: General History of the Things of New Spain, 13 vols. in 12. vols. I-XII. Charles E. Dibble and Arthur J.O. Anderson (eds., trans., notes and illus.) (translation of Historia General de las Cosas de la Nueva España ed.). Santa Fe, NM and Salt Lake City: School of American Research and the University of Utah Press. ISBN 0-87480-082-X. OCLC 276351.
- Séjournée, Laurette (1994). Teotihuacan, capital de los Toltecas. Mexico, DF: Siglo Veintiuno Editores.
- Smith, Michael E. (2007). "Tula and Chichén Itzá: Are We Asking the Right Questions?". In Kowalski, Jeff Karl; Kristin-Graham, Cynthia. Washington (eds.). Twin Tollans: Chichén Itzá, Tula, and the Epiclassic to Early Postclassic Mesoamerican World. Washington DC: Dumbarton Oaks. pp. 579–617.
- Smith, Michael E. (1984). "The Aztlan Migrations of Nahuatl Chronicles: Myth or History?" (PDF online facsimile). Ethnohistory. Columbus, OH: American Society for Ethnohistory. 31 (3): 153–186. doi:10.2307/482619. ISSN 0014-1801. JSTOR 482619. OCLC 145142543.
- Smith, Michael E. & Lisa M. Montiel (2001). "The Archaeological Study of Empires and Imperialism in Prehispanic Central Mexico". Journal of Anthropological Archaeology. 20 (3): 245–284. doi:10.1006/jaar.2000.0372.
- Smith, Michael E. & Cynthia Heath-Smith. "Waves of Influence in Postclassic Mesoamerica? A Critique of the Mixteca-Puebla Concept" (PDF). Anthropology. 4 (2): 15–50.
- Ringle, William M.; Tomás Gallareta Negrón; George J. Bey (1998). "The Return of Quetzalcoatl". Ancient Mesoamerica. Cambridge University Press. 9 (2): 183–232. doi:10.1017/S0956536100001954.
- Veytia, Mariano (2000) [1836]. Donald W. Hemingway and W. David Hemingway (compilation and eds.) (ed.). Ancient America rediscovered: including an account of America's first settlers who left from the biblical tower of Babel at the time of the confusion of tongues. Ronda Cunningham (trans.) (Translation of the first 23 chapters of Book 1 of the Veytia's Historia antigua de Mexico, 1st English ed.). Springville, UT: Bonneville Books. ISBN 1-55517-479-5. OCLC 45203586.