Burma's Stillwell Road: A backbreaking WWII project is revived

  
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More than 1,100 American troops died building the road in what is now Myanmar. Today China and some in India see the long-neglected route as their lifeline.

 It was a road some said couldn't be built. Most of the men ordered to make it happen were African American soldiers sorted into Army units by the color of their skin.

As World War II raged, they labored day and night in the jungles of Burma, sometimes halfway up 10,000-foot mountains, drenched by 140 inches of rain in the five-month monsoon season. They spanned raging rivers and pushed through swamps thick with bloodsucking leeches and swarms of biting mites and mosquitoes that spread typhus and malaria.

Some died from disease or fell to their deaths when construction equipment slid along soupy mud tracks and dropped off cliffs. Others drowned, or were killed pulling double duty in combat against the Japanese.

Not long after the thankless job was done, two atomic blasts finished the war with Japan, and a hard-won passage that soldiers called "the Big Snake" was abandoned to the rain forest. The road had cost 1,133 American lives, a man a mile.

The one day I took the red line home....

Red Line trains experienced significant rush hour delays on Monday, the worst weather-related incident in what has been a tough 72 hours for the storm-bedeviled MBTA

"We understand that some people would be frustrated when these situations occur, but we can promise them that MBTA crews are working very hard in situations like this," said Joe Pesaturo, an MBTA spokesman. "We had one storm after another."

The problem began at 4:45 p.m., when a northbound train at Charles Street was shut down under “emergency mode” after a tripping device at the front of the train detected an unknown problem on the track, Pesaturo said.

The train powered down, triggering a series of delays that would eventually disrupt service in both directions for hours.

Crews hunted for the problem. They didn't realize until 6:10 p.m. -- and a second train had experienced a similar problem -- that snow and ice at the edge of the track were to blame. That possibility wasn't considered earlier because trains had been running on the track all day, Pesaturo said.

Let me get this straight...they didn't consider snow and ice were to blame? We just got three straight days of snow! And Charles is an outdoor station! If only there was an MBTA passenger bill of rights that could have forced them to give us food and water while we were stuck in the tunnel for an hour and a half .....

A 'Nativity' revelation

In the process of restoring it for an upcoming exhibition, the MFA made a surprising discovery. In the Renaissance equivalent of a cut-and-paste job, it appears that Tintoretto changed his mind about the subject, cut the original canvas to rearrange the pieces he didn't like, then - perhaps two decades later - painted over parts of the result to come up with an entirely new composition.

The painting that is now a horizontal nativity was once a vertical crucifixion.




It's a Christmas miracle.
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Always up for new sushi restaurant

Walk into Super Fusion Cuisine II, peek at the menu, and you'll have flashbacks to a dozen other Japanese restaurants where you've unwrapped your chopsticks recently. All the regulars are here: the maki combo, the sushi deluxe, the seaweed salad, even the tragically ubiquitous Philadelphia maki, a mash of cream cheese and smoked salmon.

But then consider the sea rainbow papaya ($9), an unexpected treat unless you're already acquainted with the original Super Fusion Cuisine in Brookline. This appetizer is theatrical, a thick disk of papaya sheathed in crispy tempura, topped with a lemony mix of smoked salmon, tiny scallops and snow crab, and a shrimp arching skyward. It's also very good.

This is the fusion in Super Fusion Cuisine II, little surprises lurking in the eel maki and the sashimi that will make you remember this place among the crush of blond-wood sushi bars.

SUPER FUSION CUISINE II

54 Mt. Auburn St., Watertown, 617-393-0008.

All major credit cards accepted.

Wheelchair accessible.
Prices Sushi $3.25-$45. Entrees $10-$20.
Hours Mon-Thurs 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m., 5-10 p.m.; Fri 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m., 5-11 p.m.

Sat noon-11 p.m., Sun noon-10 p.m.
Liquor: Wine, beer, and sake.

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Group signs pact for first commercial project at Weymouth air base movie studio

WEYMOUTH — The parties looking to build movie and television production studios on the former South Weymouth Naval Air Station have signed a deal they say clears the way for construction to begin in August.

The $100 million project, called SouthField Studios, will include 11 sound stages, production offices and more than 125,000 square feet of retail and office space.

Design and architectural plans still need to be developed and approved before work on the project begins. The project’s scope was scaled down from what was originally talked about – a $300 million project with up to 15 sound stages.

"Ungrateful Sallie Mae"

Ian McVey could have been anything. He chose to be a Marine. It is not a path that most kids from Weston would take, but Ian Thomas McVey was not most kids.


Last summer, he got his orders: go to Iraq as a platoon commander with the Second Combat Engineer Battalion of the Second Marine Division.

On July 19, not long before his unit was to ship out, McVey's motorcycle was blindsided by a car driven by an 84-year-old woman near Camp Lejeune, N.C.
He was killed instantly. He was 23 years old.

His father, John McVey, had to settle Ian's college loans. He wrote to the lenders, asking that the debts be forgiven. Two wrote back, saying they would forgive the loans.


The third, Sallie Mae, the government-created college loan provider that privatized its operations in 2004, refused.


"What bothers me most is we say our country is at war, but it's only the soldiers, the Marines, and their families who are at war. We're not in this together. Sallie Mae couldn't care less," John McVey said. "I put my heart and soul into that letter. And a computer wrote back."
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Taking heat for not cooking

For the knife-sharpening snark squadrons of Gawker.com and a segment of the gastronomic elite, Rocco DiSpirito has come to embody the Faustian bargain of celebrity in the restaurant business.

He is portrayed, and often satirized, as a supernaturally talented chef who squandered his gifts in the scattershot pursuit of fame, fortune and pink ruffled shirts.

Of course, these days plenty of chefs are hawking products and hustling for TV gigs — Mario Batali, Bobby Flay, Tom Colicchio, Mr. Bourdain himself.

And yet very few of them come in for the vigorous hazings that Mr. DiSpirito endures.

Mr. DiSpirito defends his career path with missionary zeal. What he loves to do, he says, is to bring his rarefied culinary skills to regular folks everywhere. And he hasn't rule out the idea of opening a restaurant someday in the future.

Gift guide for street people

Leave the tags on, keep the colors neutral and remember the socks, according to the LA Times.

The minimalist

Sorbet? Let’s Make It Short and Sweet

By MARK BITTMAN

THE first time I made this sorbet I was ridiculously happy, and I can almost guarantee that you will be, too. It is the epitome of a minimalist recipe, requiring no exotic ingredients, no technique and virtually no time.

If you can shop and press the button on your food processor you can make this sorbet — and make it while you are loading the dishwasher with plates from dinner.

Why sorbet, now? Because its main ingredient is frozen fruit, which is requisite here. Frozen fruits, and vegetables for that matter, are picked when ripe and suspended in their ripeness until you’re ready to use them.

No fruit is as good frozen as perfectly fresh, of course, and many are next to useless, especially when thawed. But frozen fruit is convenient: strawberries are already hulled, mangoes peeled and cubed, peaches are seeded and sliced. It is also relatively cheap. And being frozen makes it a pretty good starting place for a frozen dessert.

So: begin with a bag of your favorite frozen fruit. Put it in the food processor with some yogurt, sugar and a bit of water. Turn the machine on and process until you get the consistency you are after; be careful not to over-process it or you will have a smoothie.

You can be adventurous, too. I made a sorbet using frozen cherries and four ounces of melted, cooled bittersweet chocolate instead of sugar. Rather spectacular.

And not only will you not have to buy an ice cream maker, but you will never again pay $4 for a pint of sorbet.

1 pound frozen strawberries or other fruit
1/2 cup yogurt, crème fraîche or silken tofu
1/4 cup sugar, more or less.

1. Put all the ingredients in a food processor container along with a couple of tablespoons of water. Process until just puréed and creamy, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. If the fruit does not break down completely, add a little more water through the feed tube, a tablespoon or two at a time, being careful not to over-process or the sorbet will liquefy.
2. Serve immediately or freeze it for later; if serving later, allow 10 to 15 minutes for sorbet to soften at room temperature.
Yield: At least 4 servings.

Video of the Year

Alas, when they found "Gino," it turns out he's no longer living.

EDAR: Everyone Deserves A Roof

The EDAR is the brainchild of Peter Samuelson, a philanthropist and film producer.

The cart features bins to hold cans, bottles and other recyclables collected by day. It folds out to create a sleeping platform, topped by a canvas cover with zippers and windows.

"I've always believed society is defined by how we deal with our weakest links," Samuelson said. "The best of America is when we take care of the less fortunate."

His first instinct was to build shelters, but then he did the math. Building a bed in a facility runs $50,000 to $100,000. The cost to house all of the county's street denizens would run into the billions. Besides, many of them resist services.

So he thought: What is there that's better than a damp box on a rainy night even if it's not as good as a bed?
The idea of a mobile, single-person shelter popped to mind.

A month after closing, B-Side files for bankruptcy

The owner of the B-Side Lounge, the funky retro Cambridge cocktail bar and restaurant that closed its doors last month, has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

The company, which has yet to file a full accounting of how much it owes creditors, listed $500,001 to $1 million in debt and an equal amount of assets.

A U.S. trustee assigned to the case has proposed liquidating the B-Side’s assets by auction to help pay off creditors. The Jan. 15 sale would include certain personal property at the bar, its liquor license and the lease for its Hampshire Street location, according to court documents.

The nightspot, which made Esquire magazine’s Best Bars in America list this year, was known for its vintage cocktails and the occasional celebrity sighting, including Conan O’Brien and Ben Affleck with then-girlfriend Jennifer Lopez.

Defector reaches out to North Korea by balloon

Lee Min-bok sends fliers drifting across the border in hopes of enlightening his former countrymen. Despite an anti-propaganda pact, he's not alone.

Lee Min-bok is equal parts meteorologist, tinkering inventor and political dissident, a man obsessed by a singular goal: to spirit messages to those left behind in his native North Korea -- 23 million countrymen living under the ironfisted rule of Kim Jong Il.

To reach the isolated society devoid of outside newspapers, radio and television, the 52-year-old defector uses a simple yet elegant method to fly under the radar of North Korean intelligence watchdogs: He sends millions of leaflets northward by way of his towering helium balloons.

In this high-tech age, the balloons have struck a nerve with Pyongyang and landed Lee and other launchers center-stage in the Korean peninsula's high-wire political standoff.

Last week, North Korea cited Seoul's inability to control the launches -- by defectors and a handful of civic groups -- as a major reason to again close its border, banning tourists and reducing trade.

Analysts say the leaflets are written in simple language by former North Koreans who intimately know the North's culture and which political buttons to press.

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Dogs have sense of fairness, study finds

No fair! What parent hasn't heard that from a child who thinks another youngster got more of something? Well, it turns out dogs can react the same way.

Ask them to do a trick and they'll give it a try. For a reward - say, sausage - they'll happily keep at it.

But if one dog gets no reward, and then sees another get sausage for doing the same trick, just try to get the first one to do it again. Indeed, the dog may even turn away and refuse to look at you.
Dogs, like people and monkeys, seem to have a sense of fairness.

"Animals react to inequity," said Friederike Range of the University of Vienna, Austria, who led a team of researchers testing animals at the school's Clever Dog Lab. "To avoid stress, we should try to avoid treating them differently."

Is New Bedford on the rebound?

I'll also use this opportunity to tout my brother's photography, which I've used to illustrate this New Bedford story without asking him first. He's super talented.



According to the New York Times, New Bedford may be on the verge of a comeback, with defunct mills undergoing conversion into upscale waterfront condos, and the first downtown hotel since 1958 planned for development this year.



The five-story hotel will incorporate a historic granite structure, which used to be a whale oil refinery, a reminder of the days when New Bedford was the whaling capital of the world. Its facade will combine brick, granite and wood.
The site is just outside the New Bedford Whaling National Historic Park, 13 city blocks of 18th- and 19th-century buildings where the likes of Herman Melville and Frederick Douglass once strolled.
“This is very important to the city,” New Bedford’s mayor, Scott W. Lang, said of the hotel.

The New Bedford Standard-Times also ran a story about the city's revitalization.

And the Worcester Telegram & Gazette has a piece about this "Whale of a City."

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Cost forces college students to transfer, graduate early

The day after senior Alison Brazaitis received her early decision acceptance letter to GW four years ago, she got another letter saying she was not eligible for any financial aid.
The news was devastating to her family, and to make ends meet her mother took a second job. But with an economic crisis at hand and harder times looming, Brazaitis has decided to graduate a semester early to save money.
Brazaitis is one of many GW students who are looking for ways to afford attending college in the midst of economic turmoil. Although GW is no longer the most expensive college in the country, some students have resorted to graduating early or transferring in order to lessen the financial burden.
Dan Small, executive director of student financial aid, said his department has been working to meet the needs of the students.
"We realize that there was a high number compared to other years of those who are struggling, but we are going to figure out how to do this," Small said.
The financial aid office has responded to more than 100 letters from students concerned about their financial situation, Small said.

Here comes Big Red

Not sure how I feel about this :

With more riders flocking to the MBTA, the public transit agency has decided to experiment with making two Red Line cars roomier by removing most of their seats.

The modified cars, which will be dubbed “Big Red” cars, will be used on one of 28 six-car rush hour trains during the pilot program, which begins Monday. The program is modeled on similar efforts in San Francisco, Chicago, and New York City.

Video of the Day

Lucky pengiun!

Should pot really be taxed?

I voted yes to legalize small amounts of marijuana in Massachusetts in November. California is now considering a similar measure, and this LA Times column sheds some light on the potential for revenue. It brings up some interesting points, such as:

You have to consider that legalizing it would have its own costs. Recent research shows marijuana to be more addictive than was thought. Because marijuana is illegal, and because its users often smoke tobacco or use other drugs, teasing out marijuana's health effects and associated costs is almost impossible. And more people would smoke it regularly if it were legal -- estimates say 60% to 70% of the population as opposed to 20% to 30% now -- and the social costs would rise. There's also doubt about figures from Harvard's Jeffrey Miron, who says that billions spent on enforcing marijuana laws could all be saved by legalization. Research finds that many marijuana arrests are collateral -- say, part of DUI checks or curfew arrests -- and many arrestees already have criminal records, meaning they might wind up behind bars for something else even if marijuana were legal. Legalization also wouldn't do away with pot-related crime entirely. There would likely be a black market, just as there is in other regulated substances, such as cigarettes and liquor. That means police and prosecution, which cost money. As to the tax benefit, that's partly a function of the price point for legalized pot. If everyone could legally grow and consume dope, then the crop probably wouldn't be worth $35 billion and the taxes wouldn't be anything to write home about.

These are all things I wondered about before election day, particularly the part of collateral arrests, as I saw that firsthand as a cops reporter.

Thoughts?

Check out next time you're in Norwood

Before or after a night of Fiddlehead Theatre?

Olivadi Restaurant is in Norwood Center and takes its cues from the Calabrian cuisine, which isn't my favorite (though it is technically my ethnicity) but seems to make for an interesting, varied menu.

Cambridge: The only place not in a recession

Need evidence?

Just look at this monstrosity they built, at a time when most municipalities are trying as hard as they can to regionalize police, fire and 911 call centers to save money.

The best part in my mind is that they named it after their CURRENT city manager, who -- just a guess here -- was probably instrumental in getting the money for this to be built.

Read all about it, here.

Zimbabwe villagers face starvation

The twin miseries of crop failure and economic collapse have left Zimbabwe's villages without food. Millions survive on nothing but wild fruit, and many have died.


"Children are dying out in the bush," one foreign doctor says, on condition of anonymity. "We are all guarded. We have to keep quiet or else we'll be kicked out" by the government.


The crisis has been exacerbated by President Robert Mugabe's decision in June to suspend humanitarian aid during the run-up to his one-man presidential runoff.


People search for scraps in garbage dumps, working shoulder-to-shoulder with baboons. Others dig for crickets to eat, and at least one woman cooked a meal of poisonous fruit for herself and her three children to spare them ongoing misery.

Today's video of the day

Rick Astley |MTV Music

Today's video of the day

Because it's Monday.