By July, 1475, Dracula had served almost 13 years as a political "prisoner" when Matthias officially pardoned him so he could take part in a campaign against the Turks. The "Army of Allah" had worked its way through Wallachia and was now sporadically crossing into Transylvania and Moldavia, thanks to Radu's white-dove policies. It had become, therefore, the defenders' aim to sever the Turks' lifeline by attacking several main supply bases below the Danube, in the Serbian province of Bosnia. Effectively, the triumvirate of Matthias, Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire, Stephen and Dracula was historical; it meant that, for the first time, Transylvania, Moldavia and Wallachia were working together as a unit.
In examining the situation, it appears that the Hungarian King wanted his cousin-in-law, Dracula, to again sit on the throne of Wallachia. Who better to run this important principality than a relative? But, there was one problem. Its citizens had not forgotten the reign of terror his protégé had conducted there. Because of that, Matthias resolved to become Dracula's (what today we would call) PR manager. The king thought him a good investment, judging from Dracula's military past. The man would undoubtedly serve the campaign well; would prove once again to be a hero of Romania. Once re-glorified, Dracula could regain (if not more) the tolerance of the people.
A massive offense began in the autumn. Results came quicker than the Christian army had expected. Its first objective, dethroning Radu, was taken care of by nature, bloodlessly. Radu died of syphilis, and his brother shed no tears.
With troops numbering 5,000, the crusaders rode south towards Bosnia. They stealthily cut their way through small contingencies of Turks until they reached Sabac, which they destroyed; then Srebrenica, Kuslat and Zwornik. Along the way, Dracula impaled thousands of Turks, but Matthias was sure to tell the European courts that this time the impalements were for the honor of freedom, and the Vatican that they were for the honor of God.
Their victories met, the sultan weakened, the attackers returned to Romania in March, 1476. The fighting didn't end there, however. Before the summer ended, Dracula and his compatriots' forces had cut a wide swath through their homeland, routing Turkish invaders from the Carpathians in a bloodbath of frenzy. It was the closest thing to a gotterdamerung — the united power of the fierce German gods of myth — that the Turks ever saw.
That November, Dracula was back on the throne at Tirgoviste. But, the end was coming for the Impaler. He would be dead within a month.
Matthias' vindication of Dracula's crimes did not sit well in the provinces surrounding the capital city, those most affected by Dracula's earlier, cruel reign. The boyars, who had lost fathers, mothers, children, brothers, sisters, cousins to impaling and tens of other tortures, remembered. So when Dracula found himself alone, the forces of Matthias having returned to Hungary and those of Stephen to Moldavia, he also found himself an unsupportive kingdom. Left with only a meager garrison — not more than 2,000 men comprised of mostly Moldavians — to defend Wallachia, he needed able-bodied males to rouse to his call of arms. No one responded.
The never-discouraged, ever-aggressive Sultan Mehmed had recovered from the recent defeats and had revised his strategy. He still held onto a major city, Bucharest, near the Danube, and from there was concentrating what was left of his battalions. The units, once amassed, came to double-digit thousands.
Dracula, virtually a man without an army, would be called on to attack them.
The recently appointed governor of Transylvania, a man named Stefan Bathory, was working with Hungary on an invasion of Bucharest and needed Dracula to help pave the way. It was the latter's assignment to skirmish the Turks in the area just north of Bucharest, a topography of woodland and marsh, causing confusion and serving as decoy. Undermanned and over-anticipated, Dracula understood his precarious situation — he had left his wife and sons in Transylvania for their safety — and may have expressed concerns to his authorities. If he had, none have been recorded. Marching out the gates of Tirgoviste in early December, 1476, he followed the Dimbovita River south, His destination was the monastery at Snagov, where he would finalize battle plans. He probably hoped that Count Bathory would assign reinforcements to meet him there. None came.
On a cold morning not long before Christmas, Dracula and his vanguard encountered an overwhelming body of Turks in the Vlasia Forest, adjacent to the monastery. Fighting was fierce and the Romanians, though in great minority, fought like devils. They were probably inspired by their leader who, wielding his father's, the Dragon's, Toledo blade charged the enemy screaming a Valkyrie-like cry of no surrender. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
How Dracula died is anyone's guess...assumptions are many and witnesses unreliable. They have him fighting to the last until speared by a Turk; or taking a blow from an axe by one of his own men in confusion; or shot through the head while cheering his men's bravery. But, one fact is certain — it was recorded by the monastery monks — his body was found mutilated in a nearby bog: The only way the good priests could tell who he was came from the medallions and the princely vestments he wore. He was decapitated, seemingly in ritualistic style after death. His head was nowhere to be found.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Nationalist-Communist strife 3.str.0003 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Information that the Yokohama Specie bank and the French Indo-China bank had effected a settlement of 500,000 Swiss francs which was to be transferred at the Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire end of October, and 3,450,000 piasters and 1,240,000 free yen, was dispatched to Vichy on September 24, 1941.[1279]
530. Occupation Expenses Negotiations are Transferred to Diplomatic Channels
During the last part of August and the first part of September, conferences were being conducted between the Yokohama Specie bank and the Indo-China bank to complete details of the agreement to exchange piasters for American dollars, gold or free yen. By September 16, 1941, when no settlement had been reached, a communique from the Japanese Minister of Finance to Economic Attache Yumato in Berlin disclosed that negotiations were to be transferred to the Japanese and French governments, thus transferring settlement to the diplomatic field. The Attache was directed to cooperate in expediting the negotiations which Ambassador Kato was conducting in Vichy, and was warned to make preparations for future negotiations since Japan desired that its wishes in the matter be carried out.[1280]
531. Japan Insists that France Pay Supplementary Occupation Expenses
The Minister of Finance revealed on September 16 and 20, 1941 that Japan would soon insist that the French pay a supplementary amount for the expense of the troops stationed in French Indo-China, as had been decided upon in the joint-defense agreement.
France was to pay 66,000,000 piasters[1281] for supplementary expenditure for barracks, stables, depots, aviation fields, airplane hangars, supply depots, housing for various military equipment and marine transportation incurred by the Japanese Army of Occupation in French Indo-China. In explaining the itemized demand, Foreign Minister Toyoda said that the former agreement whereby France would pay 23,000,000 piasters related principally to expenses incurred in occupying the territory and did not include these new items. Furthermore, the French government was to turn over all existing barracks, warehouses, and remount depots, was to do nothing to block Japanese demands, and was to assist Japan's military establishments in every way.[1282]
If France were reluctant to supply the supplementary occupation expenses, it would be necessary to adopt forceful negotiations.[1283]
Foreign Minister Toyoda directed Ambassador Kato to enter into negotiations for the supplementary payments of 66,000,000 piasters which would be made in Japanese free gold yen or in foreign gold.[1284] The September and October portions of 11,500,000 piasters each were to be paid at the earliest opportunity, and action was to be taken to ensure the receiving of 21,500,000 piasters at the end of the months of November and December.[1285]
Foreign Minister Toyoda suggested that the question of linking the piasters to Japanese currency might be introduced, but advised his representatives not to mention the whole amount which Japan was demanding to avoid difficulties in collecting the installments for September and October.
For the further information of Ambassador Kato who was to make these demands, Foreign Minister Toyoda sent to Vichy, on September 20, 1941, the information that the Japanese occupation forces were poorly quartered, and had not been permitted to use the warehouses of the French army. Ambassador Kato was also informed that the French authorities had requested that the Indo-Chinese forces be responsible for the border regions facing China and
[1279] III, 998.
[1280] III, 999-1000.
[1281] The equivalent of approximately $5,280,000 in American money.
[1282] III, 1001-1002.
[1282] III, 991.
[1284] The total in the Japanese dispatch reads 66,000,000 but additions to the items listed amounts to 76,000,000.
[1285] III, 1003.
[262]
THE "MAGIC" BACKGROUND OF PEARL HARBOR
Thailand, and that the Japanese forces be responsible for the remaining areas. From this it appeared that Indo-China was anxious not to provoke the Chinese army.[1286]
532. Ambassador Kato Reports that Germany Favors Franco-German Collaboration
In view of the fact that France desired a revision of the terms of the Franco-German Armistice, the Japanese Ambassador, for the information of his government, continued to submit reports in regard to internal conditions in France. Since Germany was confident of the outcome of the German-Soviet war, and felt no anxiety regarding the coming war with England, a member of the German Embassy in Paris said that Franco-German cooperation was to be desired, and Ambassador Kato reported that preliminary attempts had been made to achieve cooperation. Furthermore, he informed Tokyo, on September 23, 1941, that the maintaining of peace in the occupied area was hardly a problem.[1287]
533. France Delays Payment of Occupation Expenses
The Japanese Ambassador at Vichy informed Tokyo on September 23, 1941 that Mr. Arnald had reported that Saigon had made inquiry of the Tokyo Specie Bank as to the disposition of the August payment of free yen, and that until a decision had been made, France was not prepared to accept the Japanese proposal of its paying one-third (possibly this means one-third in gold and the rest in free yen) for the month of September.[1288]
On September 24, 1941 Ambassador Kato presented to the French Foreign Minister the Japanese demand for the payment of 66,000,000 piasters[1289] for the support of the Japanese army in French Indo-China. Vice Premier Darlan stated that his understanding was that the French government was to lend the money temporarily, and Ambassador Kato answered that Japan intended to repay the sum advanced by means of gold, free yen, or foreign currency. The Japanese Ambassador explained that the September and October payments required immediate action, whereupon Vice Premier Darlan immediately called the offices concerned.[1290]
A week later Tokyo urged its Ambassador at Vichy to impress upon the French the urgency for negotiating this matter, and disclosed that a concrete proposal for method of payment would be made in a subsequent message.[1291] Ambassador Kato had already informed Foreign Minister Toyoda that the main difficulty with the French concerning the occupation expenses seemed to arise from the manner in which the present economic treaty was being carried out.[1292]
534. Vice Premier Darlan Denies Seeking American Intervention
Vice Premier Darlan and Ambassador Kato discussed several items during their conversation on September 24, 1941. Because the French Vice Premier had received some very unsatisfactory reports from French Indo-China, he was anxious that Japanese Ambassador Yoshizawa[1293] take up his post at the earliest possible moment. Therefore, Ambassador Kato asked on September 24, 1941 that he be informed when the Ambassador would start for his office.[1294]
[1286] III, 1004-1005.
[1287] III, 1006.
[1288] III, 1007.
[1289] See footnote 1284.
[1290] III, 1008.
[1291] III, 998, 1009.
[1292] III, 1010.
[1293] Possibly Kenkichi Yoshizawa, former Ambassador to France, serving in July, 1941 as member of House of Peers.
[1294] III, 1011.
[263]
Concerning the reaction of the United States to the joint-defense agreement, Vice Premier Darlan said that he had replied to Ambassador William D. Leahy who had informed him of the United States' displeasure with the pact in question, that France was taking this action after considering the respective positions of Japan and France, and he would like the United States "to stay out of this affair". He had added that since France could gain nothing by resisting Germany in Europe and since there would be no point in wrangling with Japan in the Far East, he could not understand Japanese suspicion that France had sought American intervention in the matter, especially since the United States could not help.[1295]
535. Japan Seizes a Railroad and Demands Military Installations in French Indo-China
After unsuccessfully requesting that Indo-Chinese officials transfer to Haiphong some 60,000 railroad ties which were near the Chinese border, the Japanese army seized the railway between Bandoeng and Haiphong and changed the ties itself. By September 29, 1941 Japanese forces had begun shipments over this railway.[1296]
On September 25, 1941 Ambassador Arsene Henry called on Foreign Minister Toyoda to discuss the demand made by the Japanese army that a building in Saigon, several factories, and hangars be transferred to it, and that the army be allowed the free use of two air fields in Cambodia. This demand was accompanied by the warning that unless France complied by September 26, 1941 these establishments would be occupied by force. Asked by the French Ambassador in Tokyo that the Japanese army be instructed to avoid the use of force, the Japanese Foreign Minister replied that he could not issue such instructions, unless French acceptance of Japanese demands was guaranteed. To avoid creating unnecessary trouble, he suggested that the French Ambassador strongly recommend to the Governor General the acceptance of the demands of the Japanese army. According to a report which had been received on September 28, 1941 from the Japanese army in French Indo-China, the Governor General had finally given in to the Japanese demands, and the question was settled satisfactorily.[1297]
536. Vichy Reports on Japanese Experimental Broadcast
On September 23, 1941 radio reception of Japanese broadcast directed to America and the South Seas was reported as favorable by the Japanese Ambassador in Vichy. However, the Ambassador advised that extreme caution be exercised in regard to some items, such as the stressing by the Japanese news agency, Domei, of the Japanese-American negotiations and the prediction of their completion, whereas all such reports were denied in America each time. He suggested that the handling of such broadcasts be left to foreign news commentators.[1298]
In conducting experimental broadcasts to Vichy, Tokyo learned on September 30, 1941 that the reception on only one station had been good on all three days of the experiment. Due to the existence of a powerful French broadcast using a wave length very close to the Japanese frequency, the other two stations had not been heard. In suggesting improvements, the Japanese Ambassador asked that the telegraphic messages be repeated twice, and that any sort of urgent message, which they intended to send properly later, be sent tentatively at the time of the experimental broadcast.[1299]
[1295] III, 1012.
[1296] III, 1013.
[1297] III, 1014.
[1298] III, 1015.
[1299] III, 1016.
[264]
THE "MAGIC" BACKGROUND OF PEARL HARBOR
537. Japanese Army Arrests Annamites in French Indo-China
Finding that the Vichy government was inclined to procrastinate in expelling or imprisoning Chungking representatives in the French colony, the Japanese army arrested more than 100 of the Annamites in Hanoi and Haiphong on September 25 and 26, 1941.[1300]
Since, according to The Central China Daily News of September 1, 1941, the Nanking government had assumed police supervision of the French concession at Hankow,[1301] and since France officially protested, it was logical that an inquiry concerning the arrest of the Annamites in French Indo-China should originate in Nanking.
On October 2, 1941 the Chinese Foreign Office announced that the French Embassy Councilor had apologized for a Japanese raid on the Chinese Consulate General in Hanoi, French Indo-China, thus assuming responsibility for the Japanese arrests in an attempt to assure French sovereignty in French Indo-China.[1302] In protesting such action, and in requesting the release of the pro-Chungking Chinese, the French had termed the action an indisputable violation of French sovereignty.[1303]
A communique, originated on October 2, 1941 by Lt. Col. Sakuji Hayashi of the Japanese Sumida organization, to answer the charge that the arrests were a violation of French sovereignty, declared that Japan had repeatedly demanded the expulsion of the leaders of the anti-Japanese Chinese residents, and this request had for six months been repeatedly ignored. Since the Japanese claimed that the Annamites and pro-Chungking Chinese were not only attempting to get hold of Japanese army secrets, but were preventing the Chinese residents in French Indo-China from becoming friendly to Japan, the Japanese army found it necessary for reasons of self-defense to take emergency measures. Since France had recognized the Japanese occupation of French Indo-China, it should recognize any action which in the interest of self-defense was incidental to that recognition.[1304]
538. German Ambassador Suggests Use of French Annamite in Japanese Sabotage Plans
The German Ambassador in Berlin suggested on October 2, 1941 that a French Annamite who had been living in Germany be issued a Japanese passport for the purpose of a brief visit to Japan. The Annamite, Pierre Fauquenot, was found to be a person whom Japan could use in its policies toward French Indo-China, having been imprisoned since December, 1939 in France. As the former editor of L'Alerte, a French language newspaper published in Saigon, he had been arrested because he had advocated that Japan and French Indo-China join hands. For this reason the German Ambassador felt that Japan should both protect him and treat him hospitably regardless of what its policies toward French Indo-China happened to be. Other plans regarding Mr. Fauquenot included his going to Japan on board the Asama Maru, his working in Japan for a time and his returning eventually to French Indo-China where he would be valuable in the furthering of Japanese Schemes.[1305]
539. Japan Plans Use of Transferrable Yen or Gold in Exchange Payment
On October 3, 1941 Ambassador Kato was instructed to negotiate in the matter of French payment to Japan after considering the following points concerning the exchange of currency: American, British and Dutch currencies, being frozen, could not be utilized; the balance of Swiss franc funds, being small, could be procured only through the "free yen block"; Japan was reluctant to offer marks, since it owed marks to Germany; the procuring of funds in Italy
[1300] Facts on File, 1941, p. 380.
[1301] Facts on File, 1941, p. 349; See Volume II, Part C, "Hankow Incident," pp. 517-519.
[1302] Facts on File, 1941, p. 388.
[1303] III, 1017-1018.
[1304] III, 1018.
[1305] III, 1019.
[265]
was attended with difficulties; the Portuguese and Spanish currencies had not been used recently, and consequently, funds in these currencies were very small. The payment could be made in gold, since Japan's holding of this had reached a comparatively large sum, and it was believed that French Indo-China preferred settlement in gold, although there was also the possibility that the fear of inflation would bring a request that payment be made in commodities which could not be supplied in a hurry.[1306]
540. Japan Requests Additional 100,000,000 Piasters for Occupation Force
On October 4, 1941 an additional request of 100,000,000 piasters to be used for the maintenance expenses of the Occupation Force between January and December 1942, was transmitted to Ambassador Kato for presentation to the French government. It was estimated that between January and March 1942, the Japanese army in French Indo-China would require 30,000,000 piasters,[1307] or approximately 10,000,000 piasters[1308] per month.[1309]
Apparently having sent to Tokyo an explanation of the fixed rate of exchange for the purchase of gold by the Bank of French Indo-China, Ambassador Kato was instructed on October 7, 1941 to wire more details in connection with this matter since his previous explanation had not permitted Tokyo to reach a correct understanding. The Japanese Ambassador was also instructed to inform Tokyo immediately as to how much this official rate differed from the Japanese fixed rate.[1310]
Exerting more pressure on Vichy to secure the additional 66,000,000 piasters formerly requested as a supplementary payment for the support of the Japanese Occupation Force in 1941, Tokyo advised Ambassador Arsene Henry of the revision of the itemized account of billeting costs, aviation facilities, supply department, and shipping facilities, and urged him to recommend its acceptance. Ambassador Kato was directed to present the revised estimate to the Vichy government, and to negotiate immediately for a settlement.[1311]
541. Japanese Official Carries Secret Documents to Hanoi and Saigon
Precaution was taken in the sending of Mr. Ryuta Ono, Secretary of the Foreign Office, from Kobe to Hanoi on October 6, 1941. It was asked that Japanese officials in Hanoi facilitate his passage through customs, and ensure that the documents for Saigon were dispatched immediately by reliable mail.[1312]
542. Japanese Ambassadors Suggest Decorations for German Diplomats in Vichy
On October 7, 1941 Ambassador Oshima requested that Japan consider the conferring of decorations on German Ambassador Heinrich Otto Abetz and his staff in Vichy, in view of the assistance extended to the Japanese Embassy in Paris during the joint defense negotiations. The First Class Order of the Rising Sun was Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire suggested for the Ambassador, as well as other decorations suitable to the positions of his staff members.[1313] The Japanese Ambassador in Vichy echoed this request on October 15, 1941 when he transmitted the information that the
[1306] III, 1020.
[1307] Approximately $2,400,000 in American money.
[1308] Approximately $800,000.
[1309] III, 1021.
[1310] III, 1022.
[1311] III, 1023.
[1312] III, 1024.
[1313] III, 1025.
[266]
THE "MAGIC" BACKGROUND OF PEARL HARBOR
information that the Italian government planned to confer decorations on Germany's diplomatic staff at Vichy in the near future, and suggested that Japan also recognize the group.[1314]
543. France Accedes to Japanese Demand for Additional 10,000 Tons of Rubber
On October 9, 1941 Mr. Arnald informed Mr. Harada that France had decided to comply with Japan's desires for an increase of 10,000 tons of rubber, 7,000 of which were to be taken from the portion destined for America and 3,000 tons of which were to come from increased production. Mr. Arnald also expressed the hope that Japan would not oppose the export of 3,000 tons of rubber to America. The Japanese representative replied that he did not know whether his government would accept this proposal, but that he would transmit it to Tokyo.[1315]
For the purpose of further expediting the rubber question, along with other matters, which would have a bearing on the negotiations scheduled to be held at Vichy in January 1941, Minister Iwataro Uchiyama arrived at Hanoi on October 13, 1941. Tokyo announced that Ambassador Yutaka(?) Yoshizawa would depart for his post in mid-November.[1316]
544. France Protests Against Japanese Demands for Dapuko Barracks
At the insistence of the Governor General of Indo-China, Tokyo was informed on October 16, 1941 of the details of "a grave incident" which arose in connection with a request to quarter Japanese troops at Dapuko, an important military and ammunition center of the French colony. Lt. Col. Hayashi of the Japanese Army said that if this request were refused, the barracks at Hanoi would be seized, which statement was later withdrawn on the order of Lt. Gen. Shijiro Iida, who said that sending troops into Hanoi would be contrary to the joint defense agreement. Lt. Col. Hayashi asserted that he had a direct promise that Japanese troops would be quartered at Dapuko, but Col. Rene-Marie Jouan, Commander of the Indo-Chinese forces, maintained that French Indo-China could not permit Lt. Col. Hayashi to use the military barracks at Dapuko, and denied that the promise was anything but an offer for houses in the neighborhood.[1317]
545. French Indo-China Fears Collapse of Financial Structure
After negotiating with French officials in Hanoi concerning the payment of the 66,000,000 piasters by France which was also being negotiated in Vichy, Minister Uchiyama reported that French Indo-Chinese authorities were not so much concerned with how to make the payment, but with the possibility of the colonies' small-scaled financial structure being upset by the expenditure of such a large sum of money. Since the question of payment was an urgent matter, the Governor General had requested that Japan submit a proposal in writing. On October 16, 1941 the Japanese official asked permission, in compliance with French Indo-China's request, to submit a proposal ostensibly as his own, but derived from his official instructions.[1318]
[1314] III, 1026.
[1315] III, 1027.
[1316] III, 1028.
[1317] III, 1029.
[1318] III, 1030.
[267] [268 blank]
THE "MAGIC" BACKGROUND OF PEARL HARBOR
PART C—JAPANESE DIPLOMATIC ACTIVITIES THROUGHOUT THE WORLD
(k) Japanese-Chungking Relations
546. Chungking Leaders Open Southwestern Military Conference
According to schedule, Chungking National Government authorities met and opened the southwestern military conference at Kweiyang in the province of Kweichow August 2, 1941. Pai Chunghsi, Commander-in-Chief of the Ninth Route Army, was in charge of activities in which military representatives from the provinces of Kwantung, Kwangshi, Yunan, Kweichow, Runan, and Szechwan participated.
These conference delegates were scheduled to decide such questions as (1) the strengthening of control on military transportation in the southwest; (2) the defense of the Yunan, Kwangshi and Kwangtung Provinces, and (3) the organization of a general British-Chinese counter offensive.[1319]
Following the opening ceremonies on August 2, 1941 and the rendering of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek's speech of instructions, Pai Chung-hsi summoned several leading nationalists together, including the Kwantung Army Commander and the Commanders of the Kwangshi and the Nineteenth Route Armies for a conference. Should British authorities request aid, it was decided at this meeting that China would send an army of 15,000 men into Burma.[1320]
According to Japanese intelligence reports this southwest meeting was to be followed by a northwest military conference which would be held in Tienshui, the capitol of Kansu Province.[1321]
547. Japanese Intelligence Discerns American-British Aid to China
On August 6, 1941 the Tokyo radio broadcast an intelligence report from Berlin concerning the increased severity of the bombing of Chungking since January, 1941. Incendiary bombing in particular, having been stepped up, was expected to have a profound effect on morale in the Chungking area. This report also revealed that approximately one hundred American fighter planes and four hundred American airmen had been transported to that capitol in May.[1322] Another intelligence report of August 11, 1941 from Shanghai divulged that fourteen air bases were to be constructed in September with the help of America, Britain, and Russia.[1323]
548. Transportation Experts Visit China
In China at this time was Mr. Daniel Arnstein, one of the three American transportation experts who had been commissioned to improve facilities along congested traffic routes. From a newspaper reporter, who, shortly after talking with Mr. Arnstein, returned to the United States, Consul Muto in San Francisco learned of the existing conditions in the Chungking territories.
According to Mr. Arnstein, roads between the Iashio and Yannanfu districts had been in exceptionally bad repair; but under the supervision of United States Army engineers, a paving job had already been undertaken. Using 10,000 tons of asphalt and 4500 American-made trucks, thirty-two American engineers were supervising the task of completing transportation
[1319] III, 1031.
[1320] III, 1032.
[1321] III, 1031.
[1322] III, 1033.
[1323] III, 1034.
[269]
facilities, policing, and repairing communications lines. As a result of such activity, by September 8, 1941, transportation capacities for one month had been doubled to approximately 30,000 tons.[1324]
549. Japanese Demand That Macao Authorities Halt Allied Smuggling
Having received orders from the Japanese Foreign Minister on June 28, 1941 urging that they file a protest with the local government of Macao, southern seaport in China, requesting strict surveillance of all activities associated with smuggled material to Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek's forces,[1325] the Japanese chiefs of the army and naval general staffs in Canton discussed steps to be taken, in a meeting on August 19, 1941. Protests regarding the stopping of pro-enemy activities were to be filed by Acting Consul Fukui. In the event that these representations were rejected, it was decided that Japanese ships would blockade the southern coast.[1326]
These details of the demands which were presented to the Macao government included:
(1) A ban on all shipment of goods into enemy territories via the unoccupied coastal region;
(2) Constant supervision of the port of Macao to prevent smuggling;
(3) Complete cooperation of the Macao government in according necessary facilities and protection to the Japanese within its territory;
(4) The closing of all organizations connected with the Chungking regime;
(5) The disbanding and prosecution of all espionage organizations; and,
(6) The suppression and punishment of members of enemy firms and transportation companies as well as the suppression of anti-Japanese propaganda, opinions, newspapers, societies, et cetera.[1327]
However, it appeared that Macao authorities had not acceded to these demands by September 16, 1941; for Japan had already taken steps to enforce its threat. On that date a Japanese military patrol boat in the Macao harbor fired on a Portuguese official's patrol boat without warning and despite its clear displayal of the Portuguese flag. The Portuguese government immediately protested to Japan, but by October 13 Tokyo had made no answer.[1328]
550. Chinese Communists Take Advantage of British-American-Russian Conferences to Present Demands
Japanese intelligence reports indicated to Tokyo that Chinese Communists Chen Shao-yu, Lin Piao, Lin T'su-han, and Lin Po-chao had decided to leave Yunan-Fu in Shensi by plane for Moscow on November 24, 1941. By taking advantage of the British-American-Russian conference, they planned to maneuver a favorable turn in the boundary dispute. These Chinese Communist leaders had sent a wire to the American representative at Chungking, Owen Lattimore, assuring him that they favored joint negotiations among Great Britain, the United States, and Soviet Russia and stating that their demands included: (1) legitimate existence status as well as recognition of equal treatment for the Communist army; (2) the development of the northwest section; (3) the reorganization of the National Association for Assisting the Administration; and, (4) the abolition of the Right Wing of the anti-Communistic platform. Chau En-lai, another Chinese Communist leader, had previously discussed these demands with Mr. Lattimore.[1329]
[1324] III, 1035.
[1326] III, 1036.
[1326] III, 1037.
[1327] III, 1038.
[1328] III, 1039.
[1329] III, 1040.
[270]
THE "MAGIC" BACKGROUND OF PEARL HARBOR
551. Mao Tse-tung Promotes Communist-Nationalist Relations
Another spy report located Communist Mao Tse-tung at Hami on August 19, 1941. On August 19, 1941. On August 25 he was observed to be leaving that city for Moscow. During his stay in Hami, it was believed that he had been occupied with the promotion of Nationalist-Communist relations.
Now that he was in Moscow on September 4, 1941, Mao Tse-tung was expected to conclude a compromise of all problems between the Nationalists in China and the Communists in Moscow. It was believed that he would attempt to obtain from the Russian capitol additional equipment and instructions for Communist forces, as well as the development of a concrete joint policy between Chinese and Russian forces. While in Moscow, he planned to work out the details of future anti-Japanese strategy and the role to be played in this strategy by the Communists.[1330]
552. Chinese Educator Believes Anti-Communist Faction will Impede Joint Russo-Chinese Military Action
Japanese officials considered many sources in coordinating their intelligence on the Chinese-Russian collaboration and found it of importance to record on September 1, 1941, an observation by a Chinese educator, Huang Yen-pei, who had discussed the joint military action between Russia and China at a dinner meeting in Hongkong. Mr. Yen-pei believed that joint military action between Russia and China would formally be agreed upon with the aid of Great Britain and the United States. On the other hand, he explained that the anti-Soviet faction in China feared Russia and was following the opportunistic policy of compromising with Japan while at the same time advocating anti-Japanese resistance.[1331]
553. Chinese Educator Claims Only Anti-Japanese Encirclement Policy will Save Chungking
Mr. Huang Yen-pei also stressed the fact that United States aid to China was not reaching advanced bases in time to accomplish its purpose. Citing as an example two hundred American planes which had been shipped to China, he pointed out that it took two days to assemble each plane, thus making it a year before the entire two hundred could be used in the war. This left many American-trained pilots without effective employment.[1332]
In addition, the Chinese government continued to put pressure on the Chinese Communists. The best troops were still far behind the front lines, and the so-called anti-Japanese counter attack was labelled by Mr. Yen-pei as nothing more than propaganda.
Nothing, he said, would save Chungking but the formation of an anti-Japanese encirclement policy by Great Britain, the United States, and Russia. Mr. Yen-pei also expressed his fear that civil war might exhaust China should Moscow fall and Russian support of Chinese Communists be withdrawn. Apparent friction between Communists and Nationalists throughout China made the danger of a split within the government seem imminent.[1333]
554. Japan Detects Growing Anti-Communist Sentiment in Nationalist Headquarters
Many indications of increasing anti-Communistic and pro-German sentiments among Chinese Nationalistic leaders were observed by Japanese agents. In a report from Shanghai on September 6, 1941 a plan recently adopted by Chungking General Headquarters was revealed as advocating the spread of propaganda to condemn Chinese Communist activities which were considered subversive and impeding the continuation of the war against Japan.
[1330] III, 1041.
[1331] III, 1042.
[1332] Ibid.
[1333] Ibid.
[271]
The unification of the various armies and the increase of the power of the Nationalist forces were included in the plan, as well as the diplomatic policy of appearing to be in line with England and the United States while secretly sealing amicable relations with Germany and Italy. This plan called for an attack by Chinese government troops upon Indo-Chinese troops.[1334]
555. Chiang Kai-shek Encounters Opposition to Establishment of Southwestern Military Headquarters
On September 12, 1941 Japanese agents in Shanghai revealed that Chiang Kai-shek had already laid plans for the establishment of military headquarters for southwestern territories in Kunming. In view of the fact that the Generalissimo met with opposition from some of his commanders who opposed a southward movement by the central army, Chiang Kai-shek's plan was said to have ended in failure. When the Generalissimo had telegraphed to Haku Su-ki, one of his officials in Kunming, to organize military headquarters in that city, the official asked that the Generalissimo himself visit the southwest to direct the establishment of the military base.[1335]
556. Chicago Times Writer Labels Russian Aid to China Insignificant
As Japanese officials continued to measure the significance of Chinese-Russian relations, they learned in a dispatch from Moscow the opinion of a Chicago Times reporter, regarding Russian aid. The reporter believed that only an insignificant amount of help had come from Russia to Chiang Kai-shek, although he had observed that many Russian troops were stationed in the Chinese border towns of Suchow, Lanchow, and Hami.[1336]
557. Chinese Pilots Train in American Camps
Not only was the infiltration of United States officers into China noted in Japan,[1337] but the transfer of Chinese officers to America for training was also taken into consideration. On September 22, 1941 Tokyo transmitted a report that one hundred and twenty Chinese Air Corps officers had embarked for the United States aboard the U.S.S. President Pierce.[1338]
558. Chiang Kai-shek Is Skeptical of Peace Talks
According to a message from Nanking on September 26, 1941, Chiang Kai-shek did not intend to be "wheedled" into a peace with Japan by the United States and even when Chien Yung-ming, prominent financial adviser, recommended that a peace be culminated with the Nipponese, he had responded unenthusiastically. Although the Generalissimo was apparently in favor of concluding hostilities, Chien reported, he believed it improbable that a lasting peace could be formed with the untrustworthy Japanese; for should Japan sign an agreement, it would be used only to afford time to strengthen their forces and to return to a more devastating bombardment of Chungking.
Continuing his conversation, Mr. Chien Yung-ming revealed that he would warn Chiang once again when he made a trip to Chungking on September 30, 1941 of the urgent necessity for making peace, but he was convinced that such a warning would go unheeded.
In regard to Japanese-American negotiations, Chien Yung-ming revealed rumors that the United States was not advising the Chinese through their Ambassador, Mr. Hu-shih, about the Hull-Nomura conversations.
[1334] III, 1043.
[1335] III, 1044.
[1336] III, 1045.
[1337] III, 369.
[1338] III, 1046.
[272]
THE "MAGIC" BACKGROUND OF PEARL HARBOR
Another rumor which had been circulating in Chungking involved the evacuation of Japanese troops. Supposedly the United States had advised that it would be satisfied if Nipponese troops were removed from the Honan province alone and that troops might be retained in Hopei. At that report Chiang Kai-shek had become quite angry and made the claim that he had captured Lang Chow on September 18.[1339]
559. Japan Considers Possibility of Sabotaging the Socialist Conference With Four Changs
An additional force operating on the complex Chinese scene was the so-called "Four Chang Movement", which advocated peace on all fronts. This organization, depleted by the death of its fourth Chang, Chang Lei-luan, was, according to Japanese agents in Peking, soon to be approached by Lu Ting-kuei, Shanghai's Secretary of the National Socialist Party.
It was pointed out by Japan's Peking representative that since the National Socialist Party was currently in such a vulnerable position the possibility of a scandal would be injurious to the party's reputation. Since a meeting of the party had been scheduled for the near future, it seemed possible that the Japanese agents were plotting to strike additional confusion into the already complex Chinese front.[1340]
560. Japanese Intelligence Locates Chungking Armies in Burma Territory
On September 30, 1941 Chinese informants revealed that considerable damage had been done to Burma in the August 15 bombardment. The Southwest Development Company warehouses and approximately one hundred trucks had been destroyed, while over sixty persons had been killed.
They reported that the Chinese were camouflaging their Sixth Armored Division motor equipment to appear identical to the yellow-painted Burmese vehicles. British and American private military cars were also observed in conspicuous numbers in this area.
Although Chinese troops had moved into Burmese territory along the Lashio route, it was difficult for Japanese agents to tell them from native Burmese troops because of the similarity of the uniforms.[1341]
561. Chungking Voids Existing Legal Tender
Japanese spies learned that Chungking authorities were planning to prohibit the circulation of all old legal tender currently circulating in China, and that they were planning to import printed money from the United States before the end of the year. According to a Canton report to Tokyo on October 2, 1941, Japanese authorities would counteract this move by forbidding the use of Chungking-authorized legal tender in all of the occupied areas.[1342]
562. Lanchow Agreement Is Concluded—Lattimore Reports to Chiang Kai-shek
Apparently the contemplated plot to sabotage the Communist-Nationalist coalition meeting had been abandoned by Japanese officials, for on October 4, 1941 results of the Northwestern Military Conference at Lanchow were transmitted to Tokyo. As it was expected, at these meetings the Communists had submitted their demands for partial reorganization of the government of China and of the Council for Political Assistance. They had also asked for complete payment of the military stipends due the army, the cessation of anti-Communist activities, and the formation of a national united front. After reaching the decision to secure a guarantee for the agreement from the United States, Great Britain, and Russia, the conference had been adjourned.
[1339] III, 1047.
[1340] III, 1048.
[1341] III, 1049.
[1342] III, 1050.
[273]
On September 29, the United States representative, Owen Lattimore, returning to Chungking, reported to Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek on the results reached at Lanchow. While conferring with the Generalissimo, he asked that the three visiting Allied representatives be appointed as guarantors to the Lanchow agreement.
Mr. Lattimore then attempted to obtain the varied opinions of numerous parties and factions in Chungking regarding the proposal made at Lanchow for reorganization of the Council for Political Assistance.[1343]
Twice weekly Mr. Lattimore held regular conferences with Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, at which times Japanese authorities believed that he was discouraging any hope in the success of the Japanese-American negotiations and that he was urging Chiang Kai-shek to stiffen his defense in the northeast and at the same time to conclude a military alliance with Russia.[1344]
According to the previously-mentioned Japanese report of October 4, 1941, it had been decided at Lanchow that the Nationalist and Communist parties should meet formally at Sian by the middle of December, and that in preparation for this conference, Mr. Lattimore, Mr. Chang-Chung, who was Chief of the Military administration in Chungking, Chang Tsu-chung, Commander of the 38th Division, and two other representatives would work together towards establishing an understanding among the various parties and factions. With this purpose in mind Mr. Lattimore had gone to Hankow on September 26, 1941 while Feng Yu-siang and Hu Tsung-man remained in Lanchow to discuss strategy for lessening antagonism between Communist and Nationalist parties.[1345]
563. Japanese Interprets Communist-Nationalist Truce
According to Japan's interpretation of these conferences, the secret of the temporary truce between the Nationalist and Communist groups was that negotiations were underway in Moscow. On September 21, 1941, according to a dispatch from Shanghai, Chiang Kai-shek had sent Commissar Stalin a letter suggesting joint defense of Inner and Outer Mongolia and a strengthening of the northwestern forces under the leadership of the Red army.[1346]
On the other hand, by October 2, the Japanese had concluded that any Communist-Nationalist truce would only be a temporary compromise made at the behest of the United States The Nipponese leaders could not believe that such a cessation of hostilities would be of long duration since it was illogical that the Communist leaders would relax their demands for any length of time or refrain from anti-Japanese provocative activities. According to the Japanese the Communist party would never undertake joint action with the Chiang regime since it was nurturing the desire to overthrow the Nationalist Party and to supersede it. Thus, since the economic situation was becoming increasingly dangerous, Japan predicted civil war within Nationalist China and professed to believe that Chiang-Kai-shek himself was profoundly worried over current events.[1347]
At this time some factions in Japan grasped the possibility of taking advantage of the Nationalist-Communist strife, and by promoting an anti-Communist program as part of Japanese policies, they might, by sympathizing with the Chiang regime, be able to tender a peace offering. However, for the time being any mention of a peace settlement would be to no avail.
Rumors had been spread that a neutral faction originating in Shanghai of certain serious minded persons, was attempting a peace movement but was sympathizing with neither Chiang Kai-shek nor with Wang Ching-wei. It was believed that some influential members of the
[1343] III, 1051.
[1344] III, 1052.
[1345] III, 1051.
[1346] III, 1053.
[1347] III, 1054-1055.
530. Occupation Expenses Negotiations are Transferred to Diplomatic Channels
During the last part of August and the first part of September, conferences were being conducted between the Yokohama Specie bank and the Indo-China bank to complete details of the agreement to exchange piasters for American dollars, gold or free yen. By September 16, 1941, when no settlement had been reached, a communique from the Japanese Minister of Finance to Economic Attache Yumato in Berlin disclosed that negotiations were to be transferred to the Japanese and French governments, thus transferring settlement to the diplomatic field. The Attache was directed to cooperate in expediting the negotiations which Ambassador Kato was conducting in Vichy, and was warned to make preparations for future negotiations since Japan desired that its wishes in the matter be carried out.[1280]
531. Japan Insists that France Pay Supplementary Occupation Expenses
The Minister of Finance revealed on September 16 and 20, 1941 that Japan would soon insist that the French pay a supplementary amount for the expense of the troops stationed in French Indo-China, as had been decided upon in the joint-defense agreement.
France was to pay 66,000,000 piasters[1281] for supplementary expenditure for barracks, stables, depots, aviation fields, airplane hangars, supply depots, housing for various military equipment and marine transportation incurred by the Japanese Army of Occupation in French Indo-China. In explaining the itemized demand, Foreign Minister Toyoda said that the former agreement whereby France would pay 23,000,000 piasters related principally to expenses incurred in occupying the territory and did not include these new items. Furthermore, the French government was to turn over all existing barracks, warehouses, and remount depots, was to do nothing to block Japanese demands, and was to assist Japan's military establishments in every way.[1282]
If France were reluctant to supply the supplementary occupation expenses, it would be necessary to adopt forceful negotiations.[1283]
Foreign Minister Toyoda directed Ambassador Kato to enter into negotiations for the supplementary payments of 66,000,000 piasters which would be made in Japanese free gold yen or in foreign gold.[1284] The September and October portions of 11,500,000 piasters each were to be paid at the earliest opportunity, and action was to be taken to ensure the receiving of 21,500,000 piasters at the end of the months of November and December.[1285]
Foreign Minister Toyoda suggested that the question of linking the piasters to Japanese currency might be introduced, but advised his representatives not to mention the whole amount which Japan was demanding to avoid difficulties in collecting the installments for September and October.
For the further information of Ambassador Kato who was to make these demands, Foreign Minister Toyoda sent to Vichy, on September 20, 1941, the information that the Japanese occupation forces were poorly quartered, and had not been permitted to use the warehouses of the French army. Ambassador Kato was also informed that the French authorities had requested that the Indo-Chinese forces be responsible for the border regions facing China and
[1279] III, 998.
[1280] III, 999-1000.
[1281] The equivalent of approximately $5,280,000 in American money.
[1282] III, 1001-1002.
[1282] III, 991.
[1284] The total in the Japanese dispatch reads 66,000,000 but additions to the items listed amounts to 76,000,000.
[1285] III, 1003.
[262]
THE "MAGIC" BACKGROUND OF PEARL HARBOR
Thailand, and that the Japanese forces be responsible for the remaining areas. From this it appeared that Indo-China was anxious not to provoke the Chinese army.[1286]
532. Ambassador Kato Reports that Germany Favors Franco-German Collaboration
In view of the fact that France desired a revision of the terms of the Franco-German Armistice, the Japanese Ambassador, for the information of his government, continued to submit reports in regard to internal conditions in France. Since Germany was confident of the outcome of the German-Soviet war, and felt no anxiety regarding the coming war with England, a member of the German Embassy in Paris said that Franco-German cooperation was to be desired, and Ambassador Kato reported that preliminary attempts had been made to achieve cooperation. Furthermore, he informed Tokyo, on September 23, 1941, that the maintaining of peace in the occupied area was hardly a problem.[1287]
533. France Delays Payment of Occupation Expenses
The Japanese Ambassador at Vichy informed Tokyo on September 23, 1941 that Mr. Arnald had reported that Saigon had made inquiry of the Tokyo Specie Bank as to the disposition of the August payment of free yen, and that until a decision had been made, France was not prepared to accept the Japanese proposal of its paying one-third (possibly this means one-third in gold and the rest in free yen) for the month of September.[1288]
On September 24, 1941 Ambassador Kato presented to the French Foreign Minister the Japanese demand for the payment of 66,000,000 piasters[1289] for the support of the Japanese army in French Indo-China. Vice Premier Darlan stated that his understanding was that the French government was to lend the money temporarily, and Ambassador Kato answered that Japan intended to repay the sum advanced by means of gold, free yen, or foreign currency. The Japanese Ambassador explained that the September and October payments required immediate action, whereupon Vice Premier Darlan immediately called the offices concerned.[1290]
A week later Tokyo urged its Ambassador at Vichy to impress upon the French the urgency for negotiating this matter, and disclosed that a concrete proposal for method of payment would be made in a subsequent message.[1291] Ambassador Kato had already informed Foreign Minister Toyoda that the main difficulty with the French concerning the occupation expenses seemed to arise from the manner in which the present economic treaty was being carried out.[1292]
534. Vice Premier Darlan Denies Seeking American Intervention
Vice Premier Darlan and Ambassador Kato discussed several items during their conversation on September 24, 1941. Because the French Vice Premier had received some very unsatisfactory reports from French Indo-China, he was anxious that Japanese Ambassador Yoshizawa[1293] take up his post at the earliest possible moment. Therefore, Ambassador Kato asked on September 24, 1941 that he be informed when the Ambassador would start for his office.[1294]
[1286] III, 1004-1005.
[1287] III, 1006.
[1288] III, 1007.
[1289] See footnote 1284.
[1290] III, 1008.
[1291] III, 998, 1009.
[1292] III, 1010.
[1293] Possibly Kenkichi Yoshizawa, former Ambassador to France, serving in July, 1941 as member of House of Peers.
[1294] III, 1011.
[263]
Concerning the reaction of the United States to the joint-defense agreement, Vice Premier Darlan said that he had replied to Ambassador William D. Leahy who had informed him of the United States' displeasure with the pact in question, that France was taking this action after considering the respective positions of Japan and France, and he would like the United States "to stay out of this affair". He had added that since France could gain nothing by resisting Germany in Europe and since there would be no point in wrangling with Japan in the Far East, he could not understand Japanese suspicion that France had sought American intervention in the matter, especially since the United States could not help.[1295]
535. Japan Seizes a Railroad and Demands Military Installations in French Indo-China
After unsuccessfully requesting that Indo-Chinese officials transfer to Haiphong some 60,000 railroad ties which were near the Chinese border, the Japanese army seized the railway between Bandoeng and Haiphong and changed the ties itself. By September 29, 1941 Japanese forces had begun shipments over this railway.[1296]
On September 25, 1941 Ambassador Arsene Henry called on Foreign Minister Toyoda to discuss the demand made by the Japanese army that a building in Saigon, several factories, and hangars be transferred to it, and that the army be allowed the free use of two air fields in Cambodia. This demand was accompanied by the warning that unless France complied by September 26, 1941 these establishments would be occupied by force. Asked by the French Ambassador in Tokyo that the Japanese army be instructed to avoid the use of force, the Japanese Foreign Minister replied that he could not issue such instructions, unless French acceptance of Japanese demands was guaranteed. To avoid creating unnecessary trouble, he suggested that the French Ambassador strongly recommend to the Governor General the acceptance of the demands of the Japanese army. According to a report which had been received on September 28, 1941 from the Japanese army in French Indo-China, the Governor General had finally given in to the Japanese demands, and the question was settled satisfactorily.[1297]
536. Vichy Reports on Japanese Experimental Broadcast
On September 23, 1941 radio reception of Japanese broadcast directed to America and the South Seas was reported as favorable by the Japanese Ambassador in Vichy. However, the Ambassador advised that extreme caution be exercised in regard to some items, such as the stressing by the Japanese news agency, Domei, of the Japanese-American negotiations and the prediction of their completion, whereas all such reports were denied in America each time. He suggested that the handling of such broadcasts be left to foreign news commentators.[1298]
In conducting experimental broadcasts to Vichy, Tokyo learned on September 30, 1941 that the reception on only one station had been good on all three days of the experiment. Due to the existence of a powerful French broadcast using a wave length very close to the Japanese frequency, the other two stations had not been heard. In suggesting improvements, the Japanese Ambassador asked that the telegraphic messages be repeated twice, and that any sort of urgent message, which they intended to send properly later, be sent tentatively at the time of the experimental broadcast.[1299]
[1295] III, 1012.
[1296] III, 1013.
[1297] III, 1014.
[1298] III, 1015.
[1299] III, 1016.
[264]
THE "MAGIC" BACKGROUND OF PEARL HARBOR
537. Japanese Army Arrests Annamites in French Indo-China
Finding that the Vichy government was inclined to procrastinate in expelling or imprisoning Chungking representatives in the French colony, the Japanese army arrested more than 100 of the Annamites in Hanoi and Haiphong on September 25 and 26, 1941.[1300]
Since, according to The Central China Daily News of September 1, 1941, the Nanking government had assumed police supervision of the French concession at Hankow,[1301] and since France officially protested, it was logical that an inquiry concerning the arrest of the Annamites in French Indo-China should originate in Nanking.
On October 2, 1941 the Chinese Foreign Office announced that the French Embassy Councilor had apologized for a Japanese raid on the Chinese Consulate General in Hanoi, French Indo-China, thus assuming responsibility for the Japanese arrests in an attempt to assure French sovereignty in French Indo-China.[1302] In protesting such action, and in requesting the release of the pro-Chungking Chinese, the French had termed the action an indisputable violation of French sovereignty.[1303]
A communique, originated on October 2, 1941 by Lt. Col. Sakuji Hayashi of the Japanese Sumida organization, to answer the charge that the arrests were a violation of French sovereignty, declared that Japan had repeatedly demanded the expulsion of the leaders of the anti-Japanese Chinese residents, and this request had for six months been repeatedly ignored. Since the Japanese claimed that the Annamites and pro-Chungking Chinese were not only attempting to get hold of Japanese army secrets, but were preventing the Chinese residents in French Indo-China from becoming friendly to Japan, the Japanese army found it necessary for reasons of self-defense to take emergency measures. Since France had recognized the Japanese occupation of French Indo-China, it should recognize any action which in the interest of self-defense was incidental to that recognition.[1304]
538. German Ambassador Suggests Use of French Annamite in Japanese Sabotage Plans
The German Ambassador in Berlin suggested on October 2, 1941 that a French Annamite who had been living in Germany be issued a Japanese passport for the purpose of a brief visit to Japan. The Annamite, Pierre Fauquenot, was found to be a person whom Japan could use in its policies toward French Indo-China, having been imprisoned since December, 1939 in France. As the former editor of L'Alerte, a French language newspaper published in Saigon, he had been arrested because he had advocated that Japan and French Indo-China join hands. For this reason the German Ambassador felt that Japan should both protect him and treat him hospitably regardless of what its policies toward French Indo-China happened to be. Other plans regarding Mr. Fauquenot included his going to Japan on board the Asama Maru, his working in Japan for a time and his returning eventually to French Indo-China where he would be valuable in the furthering of Japanese Schemes.[1305]
539. Japan Plans Use of Transferrable Yen or Gold in Exchange Payment
On October 3, 1941 Ambassador Kato was instructed to negotiate in the matter of French payment to Japan after considering the following points concerning the exchange of currency: American, British and Dutch currencies, being frozen, could not be utilized; the balance of Swiss franc funds, being small, could be procured only through the "free yen block"; Japan was reluctant to offer marks, since it owed marks to Germany; the procuring of funds in Italy
[1300] Facts on File, 1941, p. 380.
[1301] Facts on File, 1941, p. 349; See Volume II, Part C, "Hankow Incident," pp. 517-519.
[1302] Facts on File, 1941, p. 388.
[1303] III, 1017-1018.
[1304] III, 1018.
[1305] III, 1019.
[265]
was attended with difficulties; the Portuguese and Spanish currencies had not been used recently, and consequently, funds in these currencies were very small. The payment could be made in gold, since Japan's holding of this had reached a comparatively large sum, and it was believed that French Indo-China preferred settlement in gold, although there was also the possibility that the fear of inflation would bring a request that payment be made in commodities which could not be supplied in a hurry.[1306]
540. Japan Requests Additional 100,000,000 Piasters for Occupation Force
On October 4, 1941 an additional request of 100,000,000 piasters to be used for the maintenance expenses of the Occupation Force between January and December 1942, was transmitted to Ambassador Kato for presentation to the French government. It was estimated that between January and March 1942, the Japanese army in French Indo-China would require 30,000,000 piasters,[1307] or approximately 10,000,000 piasters[1308] per month.[1309]
Apparently having sent to Tokyo an explanation of the fixed rate of exchange for the purchase of gold by the Bank of French Indo-China, Ambassador Kato was instructed on October 7, 1941 to wire more details in connection with this matter since his previous explanation had not permitted Tokyo to reach a correct understanding. The Japanese Ambassador was also instructed to inform Tokyo immediately as to how much this official rate differed from the Japanese fixed rate.[1310]
Exerting more pressure on Vichy to secure the additional 66,000,000 piasters formerly requested as a supplementary payment for the support of the Japanese Occupation Force in 1941, Tokyo advised Ambassador Arsene Henry of the revision of the itemized account of billeting costs, aviation facilities, supply department, and shipping facilities, and urged him to recommend its acceptance. Ambassador Kato was directed to present the revised estimate to the Vichy government, and to negotiate immediately for a settlement.[1311]
541. Japanese Official Carries Secret Documents to Hanoi and Saigon
Precaution was taken in the sending of Mr. Ryuta Ono, Secretary of the Foreign Office, from Kobe to Hanoi on October 6, 1941. It was asked that Japanese officials in Hanoi facilitate his passage through customs, and ensure that the documents for Saigon were dispatched immediately by reliable mail.[1312]
542. Japanese Ambassadors Suggest Decorations for German Diplomats in Vichy
On October 7, 1941 Ambassador Oshima requested that Japan consider the conferring of decorations on German Ambassador Heinrich Otto Abetz and his staff in Vichy, in view of the assistance extended to the Japanese Embassy in Paris during the joint defense negotiations. The First Class Order of the Rising Sun was Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire suggested for the Ambassador, as well as other decorations suitable to the positions of his staff members.[1313] The Japanese Ambassador in Vichy echoed this request on October 15, 1941 when he transmitted the information that the
[1306] III, 1020.
[1307] Approximately $2,400,000 in American money.
[1308] Approximately $800,000.
[1309] III, 1021.
[1310] III, 1022.
[1311] III, 1023.
[1312] III, 1024.
[1313] III, 1025.
[266]
THE "MAGIC" BACKGROUND OF PEARL HARBOR
information that the Italian government planned to confer decorations on Germany's diplomatic staff at Vichy in the near future, and suggested that Japan also recognize the group.[1314]
543. France Accedes to Japanese Demand for Additional 10,000 Tons of Rubber
On October 9, 1941 Mr. Arnald informed Mr. Harada that France had decided to comply with Japan's desires for an increase of 10,000 tons of rubber, 7,000 of which were to be taken from the portion destined for America and 3,000 tons of which were to come from increased production. Mr. Arnald also expressed the hope that Japan would not oppose the export of 3,000 tons of rubber to America. The Japanese representative replied that he did not know whether his government would accept this proposal, but that he would transmit it to Tokyo.[1315]
For the purpose of further expediting the rubber question, along with other matters, which would have a bearing on the negotiations scheduled to be held at Vichy in January 1941, Minister Iwataro Uchiyama arrived at Hanoi on October 13, 1941. Tokyo announced that Ambassador Yutaka(?) Yoshizawa would depart for his post in mid-November.[1316]
544. France Protests Against Japanese Demands for Dapuko Barracks
At the insistence of the Governor General of Indo-China, Tokyo was informed on October 16, 1941 of the details of "a grave incident" which arose in connection with a request to quarter Japanese troops at Dapuko, an important military and ammunition center of the French colony. Lt. Col. Hayashi of the Japanese Army said that if this request were refused, the barracks at Hanoi would be seized, which statement was later withdrawn on the order of Lt. Gen. Shijiro Iida, who said that sending troops into Hanoi would be contrary to the joint defense agreement. Lt. Col. Hayashi asserted that he had a direct promise that Japanese troops would be quartered at Dapuko, but Col. Rene-Marie Jouan, Commander of the Indo-Chinese forces, maintained that French Indo-China could not permit Lt. Col. Hayashi to use the military barracks at Dapuko, and denied that the promise was anything but an offer for houses in the neighborhood.[1317]
545. French Indo-China Fears Collapse of Financial Structure
After negotiating with French officials in Hanoi concerning the payment of the 66,000,000 piasters by France which was also being negotiated in Vichy, Minister Uchiyama reported that French Indo-Chinese authorities were not so much concerned with how to make the payment, but with the possibility of the colonies' small-scaled financial structure being upset by the expenditure of such a large sum of money. Since the question of payment was an urgent matter, the Governor General had requested that Japan submit a proposal in writing. On October 16, 1941 the Japanese official asked permission, in compliance with French Indo-China's request, to submit a proposal ostensibly as his own, but derived from his official instructions.[1318]
[1314] III, 1026.
[1315] III, 1027.
[1316] III, 1028.
[1317] III, 1029.
[1318] III, 1030.
[267] [268 blank]
THE "MAGIC" BACKGROUND OF PEARL HARBOR
PART C—JAPANESE DIPLOMATIC ACTIVITIES THROUGHOUT THE WORLD
(k) Japanese-Chungking Relations
546. Chungking Leaders Open Southwestern Military Conference
According to schedule, Chungking National Government authorities met and opened the southwestern military conference at Kweiyang in the province of Kweichow August 2, 1941. Pai Chunghsi, Commander-in-Chief of the Ninth Route Army, was in charge of activities in which military representatives from the provinces of Kwantung, Kwangshi, Yunan, Kweichow, Runan, and Szechwan participated.
These conference delegates were scheduled to decide such questions as (1) the strengthening of control on military transportation in the southwest; (2) the defense of the Yunan, Kwangshi and Kwangtung Provinces, and (3) the organization of a general British-Chinese counter offensive.[1319]
Following the opening ceremonies on August 2, 1941 and the rendering of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek's speech of instructions, Pai Chung-hsi summoned several leading nationalists together, including the Kwantung Army Commander and the Commanders of the Kwangshi and the Nineteenth Route Armies for a conference. Should British authorities request aid, it was decided at this meeting that China would send an army of 15,000 men into Burma.[1320]
According to Japanese intelligence reports this southwest meeting was to be followed by a northwest military conference which would be held in Tienshui, the capitol of Kansu Province.[1321]
547. Japanese Intelligence Discerns American-British Aid to China
On August 6, 1941 the Tokyo radio broadcast an intelligence report from Berlin concerning the increased severity of the bombing of Chungking since January, 1941. Incendiary bombing in particular, having been stepped up, was expected to have a profound effect on morale in the Chungking area. This report also revealed that approximately one hundred American fighter planes and four hundred American airmen had been transported to that capitol in May.[1322] Another intelligence report of August 11, 1941 from Shanghai divulged that fourteen air bases were to be constructed in September with the help of America, Britain, and Russia.[1323]
548. Transportation Experts Visit China
In China at this time was Mr. Daniel Arnstein, one of the three American transportation experts who had been commissioned to improve facilities along congested traffic routes. From a newspaper reporter, who, shortly after talking with Mr. Arnstein, returned to the United States, Consul Muto in San Francisco learned of the existing conditions in the Chungking territories.
According to Mr. Arnstein, roads between the Iashio and Yannanfu districts had been in exceptionally bad repair; but under the supervision of United States Army engineers, a paving job had already been undertaken. Using 10,000 tons of asphalt and 4500 American-made trucks, thirty-two American engineers were supervising the task of completing transportation
[1319] III, 1031.
[1320] III, 1032.
[1321] III, 1031.
[1322] III, 1033.
[1323] III, 1034.
[269]
facilities, policing, and repairing communications lines. As a result of such activity, by September 8, 1941, transportation capacities for one month had been doubled to approximately 30,000 tons.[1324]
549. Japanese Demand That Macao Authorities Halt Allied Smuggling
Having received orders from the Japanese Foreign Minister on June 28, 1941 urging that they file a protest with the local government of Macao, southern seaport in China, requesting strict surveillance of all activities associated with smuggled material to Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek's forces,[1325] the Japanese chiefs of the army and naval general staffs in Canton discussed steps to be taken, in a meeting on August 19, 1941. Protests regarding the stopping of pro-enemy activities were to be filed by Acting Consul Fukui. In the event that these representations were rejected, it was decided that Japanese ships would blockade the southern coast.[1326]
These details of the demands which were presented to the Macao government included:
(1) A ban on all shipment of goods into enemy territories via the unoccupied coastal region;
(2) Constant supervision of the port of Macao to prevent smuggling;
(3) Complete cooperation of the Macao government in according necessary facilities and protection to the Japanese within its territory;
(4) The closing of all organizations connected with the Chungking regime;
(5) The disbanding and prosecution of all espionage organizations; and,
(6) The suppression and punishment of members of enemy firms and transportation companies as well as the suppression of anti-Japanese propaganda, opinions, newspapers, societies, et cetera.[1327]
However, it appeared that Macao authorities had not acceded to these demands by September 16, 1941; for Japan had already taken steps to enforce its threat. On that date a Japanese military patrol boat in the Macao harbor fired on a Portuguese official's patrol boat without warning and despite its clear displayal of the Portuguese flag. The Portuguese government immediately protested to Japan, but by October 13 Tokyo had made no answer.[1328]
550. Chinese Communists Take Advantage of British-American-Russian Conferences to Present Demands
Japanese intelligence reports indicated to Tokyo that Chinese Communists Chen Shao-yu, Lin Piao, Lin T'su-han, and Lin Po-chao had decided to leave Yunan-Fu in Shensi by plane for Moscow on November 24, 1941. By taking advantage of the British-American-Russian conference, they planned to maneuver a favorable turn in the boundary dispute. These Chinese Communist leaders had sent a wire to the American representative at Chungking, Owen Lattimore, assuring him that they favored joint negotiations among Great Britain, the United States, and Soviet Russia and stating that their demands included: (1) legitimate existence status as well as recognition of equal treatment for the Communist army; (2) the development of the northwest section; (3) the reorganization of the National Association for Assisting the Administration; and, (4) the abolition of the Right Wing of the anti-Communistic platform. Chau En-lai, another Chinese Communist leader, had previously discussed these demands with Mr. Lattimore.[1329]
[1324] III, 1035.
[1326] III, 1036.
[1326] III, 1037.
[1327] III, 1038.
[1328] III, 1039.
[1329] III, 1040.
[270]
THE "MAGIC" BACKGROUND OF PEARL HARBOR
551. Mao Tse-tung Promotes Communist-Nationalist Relations
Another spy report located Communist Mao Tse-tung at Hami on August 19, 1941. On August 19, 1941. On August 25 he was observed to be leaving that city for Moscow. During his stay in Hami, it was believed that he had been occupied with the promotion of Nationalist-Communist relations.
Now that he was in Moscow on September 4, 1941, Mao Tse-tung was expected to conclude a compromise of all problems between the Nationalists in China and the Communists in Moscow. It was believed that he would attempt to obtain from the Russian capitol additional equipment and instructions for Communist forces, as well as the development of a concrete joint policy between Chinese and Russian forces. While in Moscow, he planned to work out the details of future anti-Japanese strategy and the role to be played in this strategy by the Communists.[1330]
552. Chinese Educator Believes Anti-Communist Faction will Impede Joint Russo-Chinese Military Action
Japanese officials considered many sources in coordinating their intelligence on the Chinese-Russian collaboration and found it of importance to record on September 1, 1941, an observation by a Chinese educator, Huang Yen-pei, who had discussed the joint military action between Russia and China at a dinner meeting in Hongkong. Mr. Yen-pei believed that joint military action between Russia and China would formally be agreed upon with the aid of Great Britain and the United States. On the other hand, he explained that the anti-Soviet faction in China feared Russia and was following the opportunistic policy of compromising with Japan while at the same time advocating anti-Japanese resistance.[1331]
553. Chinese Educator Claims Only Anti-Japanese Encirclement Policy will Save Chungking
Mr. Huang Yen-pei also stressed the fact that United States aid to China was not reaching advanced bases in time to accomplish its purpose. Citing as an example two hundred American planes which had been shipped to China, he pointed out that it took two days to assemble each plane, thus making it a year before the entire two hundred could be used in the war. This left many American-trained pilots without effective employment.[1332]
In addition, the Chinese government continued to put pressure on the Chinese Communists. The best troops were still far behind the front lines, and the so-called anti-Japanese counter attack was labelled by Mr. Yen-pei as nothing more than propaganda.
Nothing, he said, would save Chungking but the formation of an anti-Japanese encirclement policy by Great Britain, the United States, and Russia. Mr. Yen-pei also expressed his fear that civil war might exhaust China should Moscow fall and Russian support of Chinese Communists be withdrawn. Apparent friction between Communists and Nationalists throughout China made the danger of a split within the government seem imminent.[1333]
554. Japan Detects Growing Anti-Communist Sentiment in Nationalist Headquarters
Many indications of increasing anti-Communistic and pro-German sentiments among Chinese Nationalistic leaders were observed by Japanese agents. In a report from Shanghai on September 6, 1941 a plan recently adopted by Chungking General Headquarters was revealed as advocating the spread of propaganda to condemn Chinese Communist activities which were considered subversive and impeding the continuation of the war against Japan.
[1330] III, 1041.
[1331] III, 1042.
[1332] Ibid.
[1333] Ibid.
[271]
The unification of the various armies and the increase of the power of the Nationalist forces were included in the plan, as well as the diplomatic policy of appearing to be in line with England and the United States while secretly sealing amicable relations with Germany and Italy. This plan called for an attack by Chinese government troops upon Indo-Chinese troops.[1334]
555. Chiang Kai-shek Encounters Opposition to Establishment of Southwestern Military Headquarters
On September 12, 1941 Japanese agents in Shanghai revealed that Chiang Kai-shek had already laid plans for the establishment of military headquarters for southwestern territories in Kunming. In view of the fact that the Generalissimo met with opposition from some of his commanders who opposed a southward movement by the central army, Chiang Kai-shek's plan was said to have ended in failure. When the Generalissimo had telegraphed to Haku Su-ki, one of his officials in Kunming, to organize military headquarters in that city, the official asked that the Generalissimo himself visit the southwest to direct the establishment of the military base.[1335]
556. Chicago Times Writer Labels Russian Aid to China Insignificant
As Japanese officials continued to measure the significance of Chinese-Russian relations, they learned in a dispatch from Moscow the opinion of a Chicago Times reporter, regarding Russian aid. The reporter believed that only an insignificant amount of help had come from Russia to Chiang Kai-shek, although he had observed that many Russian troops were stationed in the Chinese border towns of Suchow, Lanchow, and Hami.[1336]
557. Chinese Pilots Train in American Camps
Not only was the infiltration of United States officers into China noted in Japan,[1337] but the transfer of Chinese officers to America for training was also taken into consideration. On September 22, 1941 Tokyo transmitted a report that one hundred and twenty Chinese Air Corps officers had embarked for the United States aboard the U.S.S. President Pierce.[1338]
558. Chiang Kai-shek Is Skeptical of Peace Talks
According to a message from Nanking on September 26, 1941, Chiang Kai-shek did not intend to be "wheedled" into a peace with Japan by the United States and even when Chien Yung-ming, prominent financial adviser, recommended that a peace be culminated with the Nipponese, he had responded unenthusiastically. Although the Generalissimo was apparently in favor of concluding hostilities, Chien reported, he believed it improbable that a lasting peace could be formed with the untrustworthy Japanese; for should Japan sign an agreement, it would be used only to afford time to strengthen their forces and to return to a more devastating bombardment of Chungking.
Continuing his conversation, Mr. Chien Yung-ming revealed that he would warn Chiang once again when he made a trip to Chungking on September 30, 1941 of the urgent necessity for making peace, but he was convinced that such a warning would go unheeded.
In regard to Japanese-American negotiations, Chien Yung-ming revealed rumors that the United States was not advising the Chinese through their Ambassador, Mr. Hu-shih, about the Hull-Nomura conversations.
[1334] III, 1043.
[1335] III, 1044.
[1336] III, 1045.
[1337] III, 369.
[1338] III, 1046.
[272]
THE "MAGIC" BACKGROUND OF PEARL HARBOR
Another rumor which had been circulating in Chungking involved the evacuation of Japanese troops. Supposedly the United States had advised that it would be satisfied if Nipponese troops were removed from the Honan province alone and that troops might be retained in Hopei. At that report Chiang Kai-shek had become quite angry and made the claim that he had captured Lang Chow on September 18.[1339]
559. Japan Considers Possibility of Sabotaging the Socialist Conference With Four Changs
An additional force operating on the complex Chinese scene was the so-called "Four Chang Movement", which advocated peace on all fronts. This organization, depleted by the death of its fourth Chang, Chang Lei-luan, was, according to Japanese agents in Peking, soon to be approached by Lu Ting-kuei, Shanghai's Secretary of the National Socialist Party.
It was pointed out by Japan's Peking representative that since the National Socialist Party was currently in such a vulnerable position the possibility of a scandal would be injurious to the party's reputation. Since a meeting of the party had been scheduled for the near future, it seemed possible that the Japanese agents were plotting to strike additional confusion into the already complex Chinese front.[1340]
560. Japanese Intelligence Locates Chungking Armies in Burma Territory
On September 30, 1941 Chinese informants revealed that considerable damage had been done to Burma in the August 15 bombardment. The Southwest Development Company warehouses and approximately one hundred trucks had been destroyed, while over sixty persons had been killed.
They reported that the Chinese were camouflaging their Sixth Armored Division motor equipment to appear identical to the yellow-painted Burmese vehicles. British and American private military cars were also observed in conspicuous numbers in this area.
Although Chinese troops had moved into Burmese territory along the Lashio route, it was difficult for Japanese agents to tell them from native Burmese troops because of the similarity of the uniforms.[1341]
561. Chungking Voids Existing Legal Tender
Japanese spies learned that Chungking authorities were planning to prohibit the circulation of all old legal tender currently circulating in China, and that they were planning to import printed money from the United States before the end of the year. According to a Canton report to Tokyo on October 2, 1941, Japanese authorities would counteract this move by forbidding the use of Chungking-authorized legal tender in all of the occupied areas.[1342]
562. Lanchow Agreement Is Concluded—Lattimore Reports to Chiang Kai-shek
Apparently the contemplated plot to sabotage the Communist-Nationalist coalition meeting had been abandoned by Japanese officials, for on October 4, 1941 results of the Northwestern Military Conference at Lanchow were transmitted to Tokyo. As it was expected, at these meetings the Communists had submitted their demands for partial reorganization of the government of China and of the Council for Political Assistance. They had also asked for complete payment of the military stipends due the army, the cessation of anti-Communist activities, and the formation of a national united front. After reaching the decision to secure a guarantee for the agreement from the United States, Great Britain, and Russia, the conference had been adjourned.
[1339] III, 1047.
[1340] III, 1048.
[1341] III, 1049.
[1342] III, 1050.
[273]
On September 29, the United States representative, Owen Lattimore, returning to Chungking, reported to Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek on the results reached at Lanchow. While conferring with the Generalissimo, he asked that the three visiting Allied representatives be appointed as guarantors to the Lanchow agreement.
Mr. Lattimore then attempted to obtain the varied opinions of numerous parties and factions in Chungking regarding the proposal made at Lanchow for reorganization of the Council for Political Assistance.[1343]
Twice weekly Mr. Lattimore held regular conferences with Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, at which times Japanese authorities believed that he was discouraging any hope in the success of the Japanese-American negotiations and that he was urging Chiang Kai-shek to stiffen his defense in the northeast and at the same time to conclude a military alliance with Russia.[1344]
According to the previously-mentioned Japanese report of October 4, 1941, it had been decided at Lanchow that the Nationalist and Communist parties should meet formally at Sian by the middle of December, and that in preparation for this conference, Mr. Lattimore, Mr. Chang-Chung, who was Chief of the Military administration in Chungking, Chang Tsu-chung, Commander of the 38th Division, and two other representatives would work together towards establishing an understanding among the various parties and factions. With this purpose in mind Mr. Lattimore had gone to Hankow on September 26, 1941 while Feng Yu-siang and Hu Tsung-man remained in Lanchow to discuss strategy for lessening antagonism between Communist and Nationalist parties.[1345]
563. Japanese Interprets Communist-Nationalist Truce
According to Japan's interpretation of these conferences, the secret of the temporary truce between the Nationalist and Communist groups was that negotiations were underway in Moscow. On September 21, 1941, according to a dispatch from Shanghai, Chiang Kai-shek had sent Commissar Stalin a letter suggesting joint defense of Inner and Outer Mongolia and a strengthening of the northwestern forces under the leadership of the Red army.[1346]
On the other hand, by October 2, the Japanese had concluded that any Communist-Nationalist truce would only be a temporary compromise made at the behest of the United States The Nipponese leaders could not believe that such a cessation of hostilities would be of long duration since it was illogical that the Communist leaders would relax their demands for any length of time or refrain from anti-Japanese provocative activities. According to the Japanese the Communist party would never undertake joint action with the Chiang regime since it was nurturing the desire to overthrow the Nationalist Party and to supersede it. Thus, since the economic situation was becoming increasingly dangerous, Japan predicted civil war within Nationalist China and professed to believe that Chiang-Kai-shek himself was profoundly worried over current events.[1347]
At this time some factions in Japan grasped the possibility of taking advantage of the Nationalist-Communist strife, and by promoting an anti-Communist program as part of Japanese policies, they might, by sympathizing with the Chiang regime, be able to tender a peace offering. However, for the time being any mention of a peace settlement would be to no avail.
Rumors had been spread that a neutral faction originating in Shanghai of certain serious minded persons, was attempting a peace movement but was sympathizing with neither Chiang Kai-shek nor with Wang Ching-wei. It was believed that some influential members of the
[1343] III, 1051.
[1344] III, 1052.
[1345] III, 1051.
[1346] III, 1053.
[1347] III, 1054-1055.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
distract 9.dis.002 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Synopsis
Cartman finds a strange, yet annoying, creature in the woods. The boys get Jimbo and Ned to capture it, and they show it to the rest of South Park. It is determined that it is a Jakovasaur -- a species long thought to be extinct. The creature's mate arrives and Mephesto helps them reproduce, creating a multitude of little, annoying, loud creatures. Everybody in South Park, except Cartman, despises the creatures and go to various lengths to get rid of them.
Full Recap
The boys are camping at Stark's Pond. Cartman performs his new song "I Hate You Guys". Cartman leaves to go to the bathroom and sees something moving in the trees. Uncle Jimbo and Ned are at home, where Ned is looking for his voice box. The boys stop by to ask for their help tracking the creature that Cartman discovered. They find the creature in Uncle Jimbo's ostrich trap. Jimbo is going to kill it, but Cartman likes it and asks that it be spared. The Department of Interior comes to South Park to take possession of what they identified as a Jakovasaur. They have the idea that they are going to breed it and bring back the species. Another Jakovasaur arrives at Cartman's door, asking for help to find his mate Ju-Ju. Named Jakov, he says that he and his mate are the last of their kind. Cartman agrees to help and while the other boys find Jakov annoying; Cartman finds his klutzy antics amusing. They reunite the pair, but the government finds out.
Ned gets a replacement for his voice box, which makes him sound Irish. The Department of the Interior has plans to help the Jakovasaurs mate and repopulate the species. Left on their own, the Jakovasaurs fail to mate, Jakov doesn't know what to do. Since there is no one with experience in the matters, they all go to the South Park Genetic Engineering ranch, where Dr. Mephisto plans to use artificial insemination. Stan wonders if they really want anymore of these things around. Jakov tries to be one of the guys, but only succeeds in being really annoying.
The pregnant Jakovasaur gives birth in four days, by shooting out a large litter of children. The new children join the children at South Park Elementary. The Mayor and townsfolk try to figure out what to do about the Jakovasaur problem. They convince them to move to Memphis, but Cartman pleads for them to stay. The Department of Interior bails on South Park, but they leave Cartman with the "authoritah" to control all the wildlife issues surrounding South Park.
The Jakovasaurs are shown at home, sitcom Jakov is invited by the mayor to appear on a game show to win a trip. Cartman agrees to help prepare him for show. The mayor asks the boys to distract Cartman, while Jakov is appearing on the show. Jakov competes against Officer Barbrady and he immediately starts losing. Meanwhile, Stan and Kyle have brought Cartman out to the woods to fy a new species, which Cartman readily identifies as Kenny with a pair of antlers attached to his head. The mayor forces Jakov into victory, which gives him and his family an all-expense paid one way trip to France. With the Jakovasaurs on their way to France, the town celebrates by getting ice cream. Later in France, the people there are delighted by the Jerry Lewis-like antics of Jakov and his family.
Kenny dies when a bear attacks him, while he was trying to help Kyle and Stan distract Cartman.
Cartman finds a strange, yet annoying, creature in the woods. The boys get Jimbo and Ned to capture it, and they show it to the rest of South Park. It is determined that it is a Jakovasaur -- a species long thought to be extinct. The creature's mate arrives and Mephesto helps them reproduce, creating a multitude of little, annoying, loud creatures. Everybody in South Park, except Cartman, despises the creatures and go to various lengths to get rid of them.
Full Recap
The boys are camping at Stark's Pond. Cartman performs his new song "I Hate You Guys". Cartman leaves to go to the bathroom and sees something moving in the trees. Uncle Jimbo and Ned are at home, where Ned is looking for his voice box. The boys stop by to ask for their help tracking the creature that Cartman discovered. They find the creature in Uncle Jimbo's ostrich trap. Jimbo is going to kill it, but Cartman likes it and asks that it be spared. The Department of Interior comes to South Park to take possession of what they identified as a Jakovasaur. They have the idea that they are going to breed it and bring back the species. Another Jakovasaur arrives at Cartman's door, asking for help to find his mate Ju-Ju. Named Jakov, he says that he and his mate are the last of their kind. Cartman agrees to help and while the other boys find Jakov annoying; Cartman finds his klutzy antics amusing. They reunite the pair, but the government finds out.
Ned gets a replacement for his voice box, which makes him sound Irish. The Department of the Interior has plans to help the Jakovasaurs mate and repopulate the species. Left on their own, the Jakovasaurs fail to mate, Jakov doesn't know what to do. Since there is no one with experience in the matters, they all go to the South Park Genetic Engineering ranch, where Dr. Mephisto plans to use artificial insemination. Stan wonders if they really want anymore of these things around. Jakov tries to be one of the guys, but only succeeds in being really annoying.
The pregnant Jakovasaur gives birth in four days, by shooting out a large litter of children. The new children join the children at South Park Elementary. The Mayor and townsfolk try to figure out what to do about the Jakovasaur problem. They convince them to move to Memphis, but Cartman pleads for them to stay. The Department of Interior bails on South Park, but they leave Cartman with the "authoritah" to control all the wildlife issues surrounding South Park.
The Jakovasaurs are shown at home, sitcom Jakov is invited by the mayor to appear on a game show to win a trip. Cartman agrees to help prepare him for show. The mayor asks the boys to distract Cartman, while Jakov is appearing on the show. Jakov competes against Officer Barbrady and he immediately starts losing. Meanwhile, Stan and Kyle have brought Cartman out to the woods to fy a new species, which Cartman readily identifies as Kenny with a pair of antlers attached to his head. The mayor forces Jakov into victory, which gives him and his family an all-expense paid one way trip to France. With the Jakovasaurs on their way to France, the town celebrates by getting ice cream. Later in France, the people there are delighted by the Jerry Lewis-like antics of Jakov and his family.
Kenny dies when a bear attacks him, while he was trying to help Kyle and Stan distract Cartman.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
calorie-restricted 4.ted.00030034 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Eating a calorie-restricted diet and being female are the best bets for living longer, at least for animals. Now scientists have discovered that some links may exist between the two.
Women live about five years longer on average than men, and a similar longevity advantage exists for other mammal species, including rats. Numerous experiments have also shown that eating a nutritionally complete diet relatively low in calories can also extend lifespan: A daily calorie decrease of 30 percent correlates to living 30 to 50 percent longer than normal for all animal species tested thus far, including mice and dogs.
To find out whether these two scenarios for longer life share common molecular mechanisms, Adamo Valle of University of the Balearic Islands in Spain and his colleagues compared male and female rats. Each gender group was separated into two groups, one fed a normal diet and the other fed a calorie-restricted diet. Valle’s team then compared the activity levels of hundreds of proteins in the animals’ livers, which help to regulate energy metabolism.
Among these proteins, 11 had different activity levels in both cases — when comparing females with males and when comparing the groups on normal or calorie-restricted diets, the team reports online and in an upcoming Journal of Proteome Research. Valle and his colleagues say it makes sense that these 11 proteins might affect longevity since they play roles in energy metabolism, antioxidant mechanisms, stress response and cardiovascular protection. Most of these proteins had not been identified in previous studies of calorie restriction and longevity.
The differences in the calorie-restricted males mimicked the pattern seen in females on a normal diet, the scientists report.
It’s the first time that scientists have found similarities between the longevity effects of gender and calorie restriction, but some scientists say that common ground is understandable.
“It doesn’t surprise me at all,” comments Peter DiStefano, chief scientific officer for Elixir Pharmaceuticals, a biotech company in Cambridge, Mass., developing diabetes drugs based on calorie-restriction research. DiStefano speculates that estrogen might cause some of these effects through the hormone’s action on the hypothalamus, a region of the brain that controls many aspects of feeding behavior and energy metabolism.Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Women live about five years longer on average than men, and a similar longevity advantage exists for other mammal species, including rats. Numerous experiments have also shown that eating a nutritionally complete diet relatively low in calories can also extend lifespan: A daily calorie decrease of 30 percent correlates to living 30 to 50 percent longer than normal for all animal species tested thus far, including mice and dogs.
To find out whether these two scenarios for longer life share common molecular mechanisms, Adamo Valle of University of the Balearic Islands in Spain and his colleagues compared male and female rats. Each gender group was separated into two groups, one fed a normal diet and the other fed a calorie-restricted diet. Valle’s team then compared the activity levels of hundreds of proteins in the animals’ livers, which help to regulate energy metabolism.
Among these proteins, 11 had different activity levels in both cases — when comparing females with males and when comparing the groups on normal or calorie-restricted diets, the team reports online and in an upcoming Journal of Proteome Research. Valle and his colleagues say it makes sense that these 11 proteins might affect longevity since they play roles in energy metabolism, antioxidant mechanisms, stress response and cardiovascular protection. Most of these proteins had not been identified in previous studies of calorie restriction and longevity.
The differences in the calorie-restricted males mimicked the pattern seen in females on a normal diet, the scientists report.
It’s the first time that scientists have found similarities between the longevity effects of gender and calorie restriction, but some scientists say that common ground is understandable.
“It doesn’t surprise me at all,” comments Peter DiStefano, chief scientific officer for Elixir Pharmaceuticals, a biotech company in Cambridge, Mass., developing diabetes drugs based on calorie-restriction research. DiStefano speculates that estrogen might cause some of these effects through the hormone’s action on the hypothalamus, a region of the brain that controls many aspects of feeding behavior and energy metabolism.Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
a-beta 9.yt.0 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Amyloid-beta is a thinking brain’s protein. A new study involving people with severe brain injuries shows that as neuronal activity increases, levels of amyloid-beta in the brain also go up.
Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire A-beta, as the protein is sometimes called, is best known for causing plaques in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease. It is a normal component of the brain, but scientists don’t know what it does.
Traumatic brain injuries increase the risk for Alzheimer’s disease. So to find out if brain injuries cause a spike in amyloid-beta levels that could lead to plaque formation, a team of researchers from Milan, Italy, and Washington University in St. Louis sampled fluid from the brains of 18 comatose patients. http://LOUIS-J-SHEEHAN.US
The researchers inserted devices in the patients’ brains to monitor pressure. A small catheter sipped up fluid that gathers between brain cells, and then the researchers tested the fluid for A-beta.
What the researchers found was exactly the opposite of what they expected, says David L. Brody, a neurologist at Washington University who led the study with Sandra Magnoni of the Ospedale Maggiore in Milan. Instead of seeing a spike of A-beta soon after brain injury from falls, car accidents, assaults or hemorrhages, levels of the protein started low and rose as the patients improved, the team reports in the Aug. 29 Science.
“This is a fantastic study using an extraordinarily powerful technique to study human physiology and pathophysiology,” says Bradley Hyman, director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston. “While the implications for a ‘normal’ function of A-beta are intriguing, it is still not completely clear whether the data reflect an active role for A-beta or simply establish that it is a marker for neuronal activity. Sorting this out will be fascinating.”
The results are consistent with previous studies in mice that show that A-beta is a byproduct of brain cell activity, and with studies in people that show the areas of the brain that are most active are the most prone to developing Alzheimer’s plaques, says John Cirrito, a neuroscientist at Washington University who established the link between brain cell activity and A-beta in mice but was not involved in the new study. A-beta may become a tool for monitoring brain activity in comatose patients, Cirrito suggests.
But the findings seem to contrast with preliminary results from a similar study in Sweden. Neurologist Lars Hillered at Uppsala University Hospital sampled brain fluid from eight comatose patients and found that people with diffuse brain injuries had higher levels of amyloid-beta in their brains.
“It could be that we’re onto something similar,” Hillered says. Electrical activity in brain cells and damage to cells may both raise levels of A-beta, he says.
Fluid taken by spinal tap doesn’t show the link between A-beta levels and brain activity. That is probably because the brain fluid the researchers sampled for the study came directly from the space between brain cells, while cerebral spinal fluid contains proteins filtered from blood as well as from the brain, Brody says.
Researchers still don’t know why brain injury puts people at higher risk for Alzheimer’s disease or what the protein’s normal job is in the brain.
“This study raises more questions than it answers,” Brody says. “It’s really just the beginning.”
Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire A-beta, as the protein is sometimes called, is best known for causing plaques in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease. It is a normal component of the brain, but scientists don’t know what it does.
Traumatic brain injuries increase the risk for Alzheimer’s disease. So to find out if brain injuries cause a spike in amyloid-beta levels that could lead to plaque formation, a team of researchers from Milan, Italy, and Washington University in St. Louis sampled fluid from the brains of 18 comatose patients. http://LOUIS-J-SHEEHAN.US
The researchers inserted devices in the patients’ brains to monitor pressure. A small catheter sipped up fluid that gathers between brain cells, and then the researchers tested the fluid for A-beta.
What the researchers found was exactly the opposite of what they expected, says David L. Brody, a neurologist at Washington University who led the study with Sandra Magnoni of the Ospedale Maggiore in Milan. Instead of seeing a spike of A-beta soon after brain injury from falls, car accidents, assaults or hemorrhages, levels of the protein started low and rose as the patients improved, the team reports in the Aug. 29 Science.
“This is a fantastic study using an extraordinarily powerful technique to study human physiology and pathophysiology,” says Bradley Hyman, director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston. “While the implications for a ‘normal’ function of A-beta are intriguing, it is still not completely clear whether the data reflect an active role for A-beta or simply establish that it is a marker for neuronal activity. Sorting this out will be fascinating.”
The results are consistent with previous studies in mice that show that A-beta is a byproduct of brain cell activity, and with studies in people that show the areas of the brain that are most active are the most prone to developing Alzheimer’s plaques, says John Cirrito, a neuroscientist at Washington University who established the link between brain cell activity and A-beta in mice but was not involved in the new study. A-beta may become a tool for monitoring brain activity in comatose patients, Cirrito suggests.
But the findings seem to contrast with preliminary results from a similar study in Sweden. Neurologist Lars Hillered at Uppsala University Hospital sampled brain fluid from eight comatose patients and found that people with diffuse brain injuries had higher levels of amyloid-beta in their brains.
“It could be that we’re onto something similar,” Hillered says. Electrical activity in brain cells and damage to cells may both raise levels of A-beta, he says.
Fluid taken by spinal tap doesn’t show the link between A-beta levels and brain activity. That is probably because the brain fluid the researchers sampled for the study came directly from the space between brain cells, while cerebral spinal fluid contains proteins filtered from blood as well as from the brain, Brody says.
Researchers still don’t know why brain injury puts people at higher risk for Alzheimer’s disease or what the protein’s normal job is in the brain.
“This study raises more questions than it answers,” Brody says. “It’s really just the beginning.”
Friday, May 1, 2009
time 0.tim.332187 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire For the first time, a complete cancer genome, and incidentally a complete female genome, has been decoded, scientists report online Nov. 5 in Nature. In a study made possible by faster, cheaper and more sensitive methods for sequencing DNA, the researchers pinpoint eight new genes that may cause a cell to turn cancerous.
“Since cancer is a disease of the genome, this newfound ability to determine the complete DNA sequence of a cancer cell is enormously powerful,” comments Francis Collins, a geneticist and former director of the National Human Genome Research Institute in Bethesda, Md., a group that raced to sequence the first entire human genome. http://Louis-J-Sheehan.biz
“We need to know the genetic rules of cancer,” says coauthor Timothy Ley of Washington University in St. Louis. Ley and colleagues read each of the 3 billion building blocks of DNA from tumor cells in a woman with acute myeloid leukemia, or AML, a highly malignant form of blood and bone marrow cancer. Then the team compared the long string of code with one taken from noncancerous skin cells from the same woman.
This new sequencing technology, called massively parallel sequencing, makes it possible to compare the normal DNA sequence to the cancerous DNA sequence in the same patient. That, in turn, allows researchers to find individual DNA bases — the needles in a haystack of 3 billion pieces of straw — that had mutated in the cancerous cells.
Kevin Shannon, director of the Medical Scientist Training Program at the University of California, San Francisco, studies the genes that may lead to leukemia and calls this work “a major achievement,” one that is “remarkable for its rigor and precision.”
None of the researchers knew what to expect for the number of mutated genes in the cancerous cells. “We were flying blind,” says Ley. But after rigorously pruning the data to keep only the most significant mutations, the researchers identified 10 mutations, eight of which were in genes never before implicated in AML. Of these eight new mutations, none were found to be mutated in tumors from other, smaller-scale studies, suggesting that individual AML cases are distinct.
It may be that the disease is so specific doctors will need to sequence each individual with AML to determine the best course of treatment, says coauthor Elaine Mardis, also of Washington University.
At the same time, because those earlier studies did not sequence the entire genome, and because this new study had a sample size of only one patient, it is too early to tell if AML has different kinds of mutations in different patients.
So, equally possible is that common mutations in similar groups of genes may contribute to AML. Discovery of these gene networks could allow doctors to use these common pathways of disease to treat patients similarly.
“It’s fun to speculate,” Maris says, “but we just don’t know.”
Understanding the genetic basis of cancer could lead to highly personalized treatments, says Mardis. “Right now, they’re all treated the same way they were 25 years ago,” she says of AML patients. It would be nice, Mardis says, if doctors could tell their patients, “Here’s what we know about your disease, and here are your best treatment options.”
Although scientists read every base pair in the patient’s genome, they only analyzed mutations in the DNA sequences that produce proteins, an estimated meager 1 to 2 percent of the human genome. To find mutations in other regions called intergenic DNA will require intensive statistical analyses. “We haven’t finished the job,” says Ley.
Because this study was designed to find genes that were mutated in a cancer genome, researchers omitted the DNA sequences from the sex chromosomes, the Xs and Ys, when making comparisons. Little is known about the differences between a male and a female genome.
The research team currently has funding to support more cancer genome sequences in the next few years. “What we need are thousands of genomes from each cancer,” says Ley. “We’ve already started a second patient, and are nearly finished, but our hopes are to do more.”
“Since cancer is a disease of the genome, this newfound ability to determine the complete DNA sequence of a cancer cell is enormously powerful,” comments Francis Collins, a geneticist and former director of the National Human Genome Research Institute in Bethesda, Md., a group that raced to sequence the first entire human genome. http://Louis-J-Sheehan.biz
“We need to know the genetic rules of cancer,” says coauthor Timothy Ley of Washington University in St. Louis. Ley and colleagues read each of the 3 billion building blocks of DNA from tumor cells in a woman with acute myeloid leukemia, or AML, a highly malignant form of blood and bone marrow cancer. Then the team compared the long string of code with one taken from noncancerous skin cells from the same woman.
This new sequencing technology, called massively parallel sequencing, makes it possible to compare the normal DNA sequence to the cancerous DNA sequence in the same patient. That, in turn, allows researchers to find individual DNA bases — the needles in a haystack of 3 billion pieces of straw — that had mutated in the cancerous cells.
Kevin Shannon, director of the Medical Scientist Training Program at the University of California, San Francisco, studies the genes that may lead to leukemia and calls this work “a major achievement,” one that is “remarkable for its rigor and precision.”
None of the researchers knew what to expect for the number of mutated genes in the cancerous cells. “We were flying blind,” says Ley. But after rigorously pruning the data to keep only the most significant mutations, the researchers identified 10 mutations, eight of which were in genes never before implicated in AML. Of these eight new mutations, none were found to be mutated in tumors from other, smaller-scale studies, suggesting that individual AML cases are distinct.
It may be that the disease is so specific doctors will need to sequence each individual with AML to determine the best course of treatment, says coauthor Elaine Mardis, also of Washington University.
At the same time, because those earlier studies did not sequence the entire genome, and because this new study had a sample size of only one patient, it is too early to tell if AML has different kinds of mutations in different patients.
So, equally possible is that common mutations in similar groups of genes may contribute to AML. Discovery of these gene networks could allow doctors to use these common pathways of disease to treat patients similarly.
“It’s fun to speculate,” Maris says, “but we just don’t know.”
Understanding the genetic basis of cancer could lead to highly personalized treatments, says Mardis. “Right now, they’re all treated the same way they were 25 years ago,” she says of AML patients. It would be nice, Mardis says, if doctors could tell their patients, “Here’s what we know about your disease, and here are your best treatment options.”
Although scientists read every base pair in the patient’s genome, they only analyzed mutations in the DNA sequences that produce proteins, an estimated meager 1 to 2 percent of the human genome. To find mutations in other regions called intergenic DNA will require intensive statistical analyses. “We haven’t finished the job,” says Ley.
Because this study was designed to find genes that were mutated in a cancer genome, researchers omitted the DNA sequences from the sex chromosomes, the Xs and Ys, when making comparisons. Little is known about the differences between a male and a female genome.
The research team currently has funding to support more cancer genome sequences in the next few years. “What we need are thousands of genomes from each cancer,” says Ley. “We’ve already started a second patient, and are nearly finished, but our hopes are to do more.”
Thursday, April 30, 2009
simulate 6.sim.002 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
All too often, teenagers act recklessly and even dangerously around their friends. A new study suggests that this rash behavior feeds off the teen brain’s sensitivity to social and emotional influences, which is substantially unbridled because a cognitive and behavioral control network is not yet mature.
The brain’s control network doesn’t coalesce until the early 20s, a change that enables the network to communicate better with neural pathways that handle social and emotional responses, propose Jason Chein of Temple University in Philadelphia and his colleagues. As a result, hazardous behavior around friends declines, they say.
The researchers studied nine teenagers, ages 15 to 19, and eight young adults, ages 20 to 28. Each volunteer completed two tasks while reclining in an functional MRI machine. On some trials, participants were alone; during others, two of their same-sex friends watched the proceedings.
One task involved using a driving simulator to direct a virtual car as quickly as possible down a straight road, trying to avoid getting in crashes at intersections. The other task required participants to blow up balloons for cash rewards. http://LOUIS-J-SHEEHAN.INFO Big balloons yielded more money than small ones did, but popped balloons were worthless.
Teens, but not adults, got in more car crashes and popped more balloons when they had an audience. In those trials, the teens’ brains displayed enhanced activity in predominantly right brain areas that handle social and emotional information. With friends watching, young adults’ brains showed especially pronounced activity in mainly left brain areas that have been implicated in controlling thoughts and actions. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
The brain’s control network doesn’t coalesce until the early 20s, a change that enables the network to communicate better with neural pathways that handle social and emotional responses, propose Jason Chein of Temple University in Philadelphia and his colleagues. As a result, hazardous behavior around friends declines, they say.
The researchers studied nine teenagers, ages 15 to 19, and eight young adults, ages 20 to 28. Each volunteer completed two tasks while reclining in an functional MRI machine. On some trials, participants were alone; during others, two of their same-sex friends watched the proceedings.
One task involved using a driving simulator to direct a virtual car as quickly as possible down a straight road, trying to avoid getting in crashes at intersections. The other task required participants to blow up balloons for cash rewards. http://LOUIS-J-SHEEHAN.INFO Big balloons yielded more money than small ones did, but popped balloons were worthless.
Teens, but not adults, got in more car crashes and popped more balloons when they had an audience. In those trials, the teens’ brains displayed enhanced activity in predominantly right brain areas that handle social and emotional information. With friends watching, young adults’ brains showed especially pronounced activity in mainly left brain areas that have been implicated in controlling thoughts and actions. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
xenophon 4.xen.0003 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire A very few words may suffice by way of introduction to this translation of the Cyropaedia.
Professor Jowett, whose Plato represents the high-water mark of classical translation, has given us the following reminders: "An English translation ought to be idiomatic and interesting, not only to the scholar, but also to the unlearned reader. http://LOUIS-J-SHEEHAN.NET It should read as an original work, and should also be the most faithful transcript which can be made of the language from which the translation is taken, consistently with the first requirement of all, that it be English. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire The excellence of a translation will consist, not merely in the faithful rendering of words, or in the composition of a sentence only, or yet of a single paragraph, but in the colour and style of the whole work."
These tests may be safely applied to the work of Mr. Dakyns. An accomplished Greek scholar, for many years a careful and sympathetic student of Xenophon, and possessing a rare mastery of English idiom, he was unusually well equipped for the work of a translator. And his version will, as I venture to think, be found to satisfy those requirements of an effective translation which Professor Jowett laid down. It is faithful to the tone and spirit of the original, and it has the literary quality of a good piece of original English writing. For these and other reasons it should prove attractive and interesting reading for the average Englishman.
Xenophon, it must be admitted, is not, like Plato, Thucydides, or Demosthenes, one of the greatest of Greek writers, but there are several considerations which should commend him to the general reader. He is more representative of the type of man whom the ordinary Englishman specially admires and respects, than any other of the Greek authors usually read.
An Athenian of good social position, endowed with a gift of eloquence and of literary style, a pupil of Socrates, a distinguished soldier, an historian, an essayist, a sportsman, and a lover of the country, he represents a type of country gentleman greatly honoured in English life, and this should ensure a favourable reception for one of his chief works admirably rendered into idiomatic English. And the substance of the /Cyropaedia/, which is in fact a political romance, describing the education of the ideal ruler, trained to rule as a benevolent despot over his admiring and willing subjects, should add a further element of enjoyment for the reader of this famous book in its English garb.
J. HEREFORD.
EDITOR'S NOTE
In preparing this work for the press, I came upon some notes made by Mr. Dakyns on the margin of his Xenophon. These were evidently for his own private use, and are full of scholarly colloquialisms, impromptu words humorously invented for the need of the moment, and individual turns of phrase, such as the references to himself under his initials in small letters, "hgd." Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire Though plainly not intended for publication, the notes are so vivid and illuminating as they stand that I have shrunk from putting them into a more formal dress, believing that here, as in the best letters, the personal element is bound up with what is most fresh and living in the comment, most characteristic of the writer, and most delightful both to those who knew him and to those who will wish they had.http://LOUIS-J-SHEEHAN.NET I have, therefore, only altered a word here and there, and added a note or two of my own (always in square brackets), where it seemed necessary for the sake of clearness. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Professor Jowett, whose Plato represents the high-water mark of classical translation, has given us the following reminders: "An English translation ought to be idiomatic and interesting, not only to the scholar, but also to the unlearned reader. http://LOUIS-J-SHEEHAN.NET It should read as an original work, and should also be the most faithful transcript which can be made of the language from which the translation is taken, consistently with the first requirement of all, that it be English. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire The excellence of a translation will consist, not merely in the faithful rendering of words, or in the composition of a sentence only, or yet of a single paragraph, but in the colour and style of the whole work."
These tests may be safely applied to the work of Mr. Dakyns. An accomplished Greek scholar, for many years a careful and sympathetic student of Xenophon, and possessing a rare mastery of English idiom, he was unusually well equipped for the work of a translator. And his version will, as I venture to think, be found to satisfy those requirements of an effective translation which Professor Jowett laid down. It is faithful to the tone and spirit of the original, and it has the literary quality of a good piece of original English writing. For these and other reasons it should prove attractive and interesting reading for the average Englishman.
Xenophon, it must be admitted, is not, like Plato, Thucydides, or Demosthenes, one of the greatest of Greek writers, but there are several considerations which should commend him to the general reader. He is more representative of the type of man whom the ordinary Englishman specially admires and respects, than any other of the Greek authors usually read.
An Athenian of good social position, endowed with a gift of eloquence and of literary style, a pupil of Socrates, a distinguished soldier, an historian, an essayist, a sportsman, and a lover of the country, he represents a type of country gentleman greatly honoured in English life, and this should ensure a favourable reception for one of his chief works admirably rendered into idiomatic English. And the substance of the /Cyropaedia/, which is in fact a political romance, describing the education of the ideal ruler, trained to rule as a benevolent despot over his admiring and willing subjects, should add a further element of enjoyment for the reader of this famous book in its English garb.
J. HEREFORD.
EDITOR'S NOTE
In preparing this work for the press, I came upon some notes made by Mr. Dakyns on the margin of his Xenophon. These were evidently for his own private use, and are full of scholarly colloquialisms, impromptu words humorously invented for the need of the moment, and individual turns of phrase, such as the references to himself under his initials in small letters, "hgd." Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire Though plainly not intended for publication, the notes are so vivid and illuminating as they stand that I have shrunk from putting them into a more formal dress, believing that here, as in the best letters, the personal element is bound up with what is most fresh and living in the comment, most characteristic of the writer, and most delightful both to those who knew him and to those who will wish they had.http://LOUIS-J-SHEEHAN.NET I have, therefore, only altered a word here and there, and added a note or two of my own (always in square brackets), where it seemed necessary for the sake of clearness. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Saturday, April 11, 2009
15 patients 88.pat.1 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
For those who constantly worry about imagined catastrophes or freak out around others, here’s an attention-grabber. A few brief training sessions offer as much anxiety relief as psychotherapy or medication, at least for four months, two new studies find.
Attention training helps subjects practice how not to focus on threatening words or on photos of threatening faces. Administered by psychologist Nader Amir of San Diego State University and his colleagues, brief sessions enabled a majority of patients diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder to achieve remission. The disorder, estimated to affect 6.8 million U.S. adults, involves constant, exaggerated worries about impending disasters regarding health, money or other issues.
A similar form of attention guidance, directed by psychologist Norman Schmidt of Florida State University in Tallahassee, provided marked relief for many patients diagnosed with social anxiety disorder. About 15 million U.S. adults struggle with this condition, which is characterized by a debilitating dread of everyday social situations and a fear of being watched and judged by others.
In these studies, both published in the February Journal of Abnormal Psychology, attention training alleviated anxiety disorders just as effectively as cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy and antianxiety medication had in earlier investigations. Yet attention training requires minimal professional supervision, causes no side effects and could be completed over the Internet.
“I’m somewhat amazed that one to two hours of attention training could have such a dramatic impact on anxiety disorders,” Schmidt says. Several research groups, including Schmidt’s and Amir’s, plan to evaluate whether symptom improvement following attention training lasts beyond four months, the follow-up period for the two studies. Researchers also plan to combine attention training with psychotherapy for anxiety disorders.
“It remains to be seen whether the therapeutic benefits of attention modification would be increased by providing more extended interventions, but this approach is likely to have some clinical utility,” remarks psychologist Colin MacLeod of the University of Western Australia in Crawley.
Amir and Schmidt hypothesize that a habitual focus on potentially threatening events or situations causes the pervasive fear typical of anxiety disorders. Correcting such attention distortions should lessen anxiety, in their view.
Amir’s team randomly assigned 14 patients with generalized anxiety disorder to receive attention-training sessions two times a week for eight weeks. Each session lasted 15 to 20 minutes.
In a series of trials, each participant briefly saw a pair of words on a computer screen — one emotionally neutral and one emotionally threatening. As quickly as possible, volunteers had to identify a letter, either E or F, that had replaced one of the words. On most occasions, the E or F replaced a neutral word. In this way, participants unknowingly practiced diverting their attention away from threatening words. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Another 15 patients completed placebo sessions in which letters replaced neutral words half the time and threatening words half the time. Thus, these volunteers received no training to look away from either threatening or neutral words.http://LOUIS2J2SHEEHAN.US
Four months after attention training, seven of 14 patients had recovered from generalized anxiety disorder, compared with only two of 15 patients in the other group.
Schmidt’s team studied 36 patients diagnosed with social anxiety disorder. Half the volunteers completed training that taught them to look away from images of disgusted-looking faces in order to identify letters that replaced neutral-looking faces. For the other half, letters replaced disgusted and neutral faces equally often. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Four months after attention training, 13 of 18 patients had recovered, compared with five of 18 patients in the placebo group.http://LOUIS2J2SHEEHAN.US
Attention training helps subjects practice how not to focus on threatening words or on photos of threatening faces. Administered by psychologist Nader Amir of San Diego State University and his colleagues, brief sessions enabled a majority of patients diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder to achieve remission. The disorder, estimated to affect 6.8 million U.S. adults, involves constant, exaggerated worries about impending disasters regarding health, money or other issues.
A similar form of attention guidance, directed by psychologist Norman Schmidt of Florida State University in Tallahassee, provided marked relief for many patients diagnosed with social anxiety disorder. About 15 million U.S. adults struggle with this condition, which is characterized by a debilitating dread of everyday social situations and a fear of being watched and judged by others.
In these studies, both published in the February Journal of Abnormal Psychology, attention training alleviated anxiety disorders just as effectively as cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy and antianxiety medication had in earlier investigations. Yet attention training requires minimal professional supervision, causes no side effects and could be completed over the Internet.
“I’m somewhat amazed that one to two hours of attention training could have such a dramatic impact on anxiety disorders,” Schmidt says. Several research groups, including Schmidt’s and Amir’s, plan to evaluate whether symptom improvement following attention training lasts beyond four months, the follow-up period for the two studies. Researchers also plan to combine attention training with psychotherapy for anxiety disorders.
“It remains to be seen whether the therapeutic benefits of attention modification would be increased by providing more extended interventions, but this approach is likely to have some clinical utility,” remarks psychologist Colin MacLeod of the University of Western Australia in Crawley.
Amir and Schmidt hypothesize that a habitual focus on potentially threatening events or situations causes the pervasive fear typical of anxiety disorders. Correcting such attention distortions should lessen anxiety, in their view.
Amir’s team randomly assigned 14 patients with generalized anxiety disorder to receive attention-training sessions two times a week for eight weeks. Each session lasted 15 to 20 minutes.
In a series of trials, each participant briefly saw a pair of words on a computer screen — one emotionally neutral and one emotionally threatening. As quickly as possible, volunteers had to identify a letter, either E or F, that had replaced one of the words. On most occasions, the E or F replaced a neutral word. In this way, participants unknowingly practiced diverting their attention away from threatening words. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Another 15 patients completed placebo sessions in which letters replaced neutral words half the time and threatening words half the time. Thus, these volunteers received no training to look away from either threatening or neutral words.http://LOUIS2J2SHEEHAN.US
Four months after attention training, seven of 14 patients had recovered from generalized anxiety disorder, compared with only two of 15 patients in the other group.
Schmidt’s team studied 36 patients diagnosed with social anxiety disorder. Half the volunteers completed training that taught them to look away from images of disgusted-looking faces in order to identify letters that replaced neutral-looking faces. For the other half, letters replaced disgusted and neutral faces equally often. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Four months after attention training, 13 of 18 patients had recovered, compared with five of 18 patients in the placebo group.http://LOUIS2J2SHEEHAN.US
Saturday, January 10, 2009
clocks 2.clo.0 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire. Try this: For an entire day, forget about the clock. Eat when you’re hungry and sleep when you’re tired. What do you think will happen?
You may be surprised to find that your day is much like most other days. You’ll probably get hungry when you normally eat and tired when you normally sleep. Even though you don’t know what time it is, your body does. http://louis-j-sheehan-esquire.sampa.com/louis-j-sheehan-esquire/blog
These patterns of daily life are called circadian rhythms, and they are more than just habits. Inside our bodies are several clocklike systems that follow a roughly 24-hour cycle. Throughout the day and night, our internal clocks direct changes in temperature, body chemicals, hunger, sleepiness and more.
Everyone’s rhythms are unique, which is why you might like to stay up late while your sister always wants to go to bed early. But overall, everyone is programmed to feel tired at night and alert during the day. http://louis-j-sheehan-esquire.sampa.com/louis-j-sheehan-esquire/blog
Scientists have known for a long time that the light of day and the dark of night play important roles in setting our internal clocks. Now, new discoveries are giving scientists insights into how these clocks work.
Learning about our body clocks may help scientists understand why problems arise when we act out of step with our circadian rhythms. For example, traveling across time zones can make people wake up in the middle of the night. Regularly staying up late can make kids do worse on tests and quizzes. And working shifts at night leads to higher rates of heart disease, diabetes and obesity.
“There is a growing sense that when we eat and when we sleep are important parts of how healthy we are,” says Steven Shea, Director of the Sleep Disorders Research Program at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.
Scientists still aren’t sure why the timing of sleep matters so much, Shea says. But research findings suggest that our circadian rhythms are more important than we give them credit for.
“During the night, we are prepared to sleep,” Shea says. “During the day, we are prepared to eat and move around. If you reverse what you are doing, everything is out of phase. That can have adverse consequences.”
Time warp
One way to learn about how our body clocks tick is to mess them up and see what happens. That’s what neuroscientist Frank Scheer and his colleagues did in a recent study.
The researchers brought 10 people to their lab at Harvard Medical School in Boston. The lab was sort of like a timeless chamber. Rooms were dimly lit. There were no windows and no clocks. It was impossible to know what time it was.
“If you knew it was 4 a.m., you’d think, ‘I must be really tired,’ ” says Scheer, who also works with Shea at Brigham and Women's Hospital. Removing time cues eliminated these powers of suggestion.
Participants were allowed to sleep only when the scientists said it was OK. The study subjects ate only at designated mealtimes. They were given a precisely calculated number of calories, designed to meet their needs. And they had to finish everything on their plates.
The experiment lasted for 10 days. Participants didn’t know the design of the experiment. In particular, they didn’t know that they were living a 28-hour day instead of the usual 24. With that unusual schedule, they ended up eating and sleeping at all different times of day — and different times of the body clock — over the course of the study.
The most interesting result of the study, Scheer says, involved a hormone called leptin. Hormones are the body’s messenger molecules. Leptin, in particular, sends a fullness message to the brain. As you eat, leptin levels rise until you feel like you’ve eaten enough.
When people in the study slept during the day and ate at night, however, leptin levels dropped. That suggests that people who follow unusual schedules are less likely to feel full after eating.
If given unlimited amounts of food, these people would probably eat more and crave more junk food, the researchers predict. As a result, they could gain weight and develop weight-related health problems, such as diabetes and heart disease. Other studies support that prediction.
Kids don’t often work night shifts. “But some may experience staying up late at night,” Scheer says. That’s OK on special occasions.
But staying up night after night, these studies suggest, could make kids extra hungry and more likely to gain weight. And regularly sleeping too little, Scheer says, may be one cause of the recent surge in childhood obesity.
Eat to sleep
Scheer’s work suggests that our sleeping schedules affect our eating habits. But do our eating schedules influence our sleeping habits?
New research suggests that it works both ways, says Clifford Saper. He’s a neurologist, or a scientist who studies the brain, at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.
In one recent study, Saper and colleagues investigated a different type of body clock in mice. Like people, mice have more than one internal clock. In the brain, there is the master clock that responds to light and helps determine when we get tired. There are a bunch of minor clocks, too, which reside in the gut, blood vessels and other parts of the body.
The master clock works like “the conductor of a symphony,” Saper says. It’s like the clock at school that determines when classes end and when lunch begins. Everyone sets their watches to this clock. In the body, the secondary clocks follow the lead of the master pacemaker.
Sometimes, however, the master clock gives up control. One example is when mice don’t eat for a long time. If a food source appears when a hungry mouse is normally sleeping, and the mouse happens to wake up in time to find it, this minor food clock wakes the mouse up a couple of hours before that time, night after night.
This ability to change their schedules instantly helps mice survive. If the animals are starving, the food clock ensures that they are awake when food is available, even if it’s an odd time to be up and an odd time to eat. It doesn’t matter whether it’s dark or light outside.
“The amazing thing is that the [food] clock … adjusts to whatever time it finds the food immediately,” Saper says. “It could make a 12-hour time shift overnight.”
The master clock, on the other hand, can only adjust slowly to changes in light.
Saper wanted to know more about this food clock. In his study, he turned off all the internal clocks in a group of mice. Then, he turned the clocks back on, one by one.
His results pinpointed the food clock to a certain part of the mouse’s brain. That’s interesting because the master clock resides in a different part of the brain. Figuring out where the food clock is will help scientists better understand how it works.
Similar studies haven’t been done in people, but human brains are wired much like mouse brains, Saper says. He suspects that people have a food clock, too. If so, his work might eventually help night shift workers learn to reset their circadian rhythms without health problems.
The mouse study might also offer help for people who suffer from jet lag when traveling. Jet lag is the exhaustion and disorientation that comes with crossing many time zones.
The master clock requires a day for every time zone crossed to adjust to the new time. But Saper’s work suggests that people could speed up this process by jump-starting their food clocks. To do this, travelers would need to fast for at least 16 hours before eating breakfast at the normal time they would in their new destinations.
“You could potentially turn on the food clock and adjust to a new time zone very rapidly,” Saper says. For now, he adds, “It’s all speculation.”
Power words:
Circadian rhythm: A daily cycle of biological activity of approximately 24 hours. It is driven by an internal clock and influenced by regular variations in the environment, such as the alternation of night and day.
Hormone: A chemical compound that is produced in a gland and then carried to another part of the body by the blood. Hormones control many important body activities, such as growth. Hormones act by causing and adjusting chemical reactions in the body.
Sleep: A natural state of rest that occurs at regular times. During sleep, growth is thought to take place, and energy is conserved and stored away. Dreams take place during a stage of sleep called REM. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire.
You may be surprised to find that your day is much like most other days. You’ll probably get hungry when you normally eat and tired when you normally sleep. Even though you don’t know what time it is, your body does. http://louis-j-sheehan-esquire.sampa.com/louis-j-sheehan-esquire/blog
These patterns of daily life are called circadian rhythms, and they are more than just habits. Inside our bodies are several clocklike systems that follow a roughly 24-hour cycle. Throughout the day and night, our internal clocks direct changes in temperature, body chemicals, hunger, sleepiness and more.
Everyone’s rhythms are unique, which is why you might like to stay up late while your sister always wants to go to bed early. But overall, everyone is programmed to feel tired at night and alert during the day. http://louis-j-sheehan-esquire.sampa.com/louis-j-sheehan-esquire/blog
Scientists have known for a long time that the light of day and the dark of night play important roles in setting our internal clocks. Now, new discoveries are giving scientists insights into how these clocks work.
Learning about our body clocks may help scientists understand why problems arise when we act out of step with our circadian rhythms. For example, traveling across time zones can make people wake up in the middle of the night. Regularly staying up late can make kids do worse on tests and quizzes. And working shifts at night leads to higher rates of heart disease, diabetes and obesity.
“There is a growing sense that when we eat and when we sleep are important parts of how healthy we are,” says Steven Shea, Director of the Sleep Disorders Research Program at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.
Scientists still aren’t sure why the timing of sleep matters so much, Shea says. But research findings suggest that our circadian rhythms are more important than we give them credit for.
“During the night, we are prepared to sleep,” Shea says. “During the day, we are prepared to eat and move around. If you reverse what you are doing, everything is out of phase. That can have adverse consequences.”
Time warp
One way to learn about how our body clocks tick is to mess them up and see what happens. That’s what neuroscientist Frank Scheer and his colleagues did in a recent study.
The researchers brought 10 people to their lab at Harvard Medical School in Boston. The lab was sort of like a timeless chamber. Rooms were dimly lit. There were no windows and no clocks. It was impossible to know what time it was.
“If you knew it was 4 a.m., you’d think, ‘I must be really tired,’ ” says Scheer, who also works with Shea at Brigham and Women's Hospital. Removing time cues eliminated these powers of suggestion.
Participants were allowed to sleep only when the scientists said it was OK. The study subjects ate only at designated mealtimes. They were given a precisely calculated number of calories, designed to meet their needs. And they had to finish everything on their plates.
The experiment lasted for 10 days. Participants didn’t know the design of the experiment. In particular, they didn’t know that they were living a 28-hour day instead of the usual 24. With that unusual schedule, they ended up eating and sleeping at all different times of day — and different times of the body clock — over the course of the study.
The most interesting result of the study, Scheer says, involved a hormone called leptin. Hormones are the body’s messenger molecules. Leptin, in particular, sends a fullness message to the brain. As you eat, leptin levels rise until you feel like you’ve eaten enough.
When people in the study slept during the day and ate at night, however, leptin levels dropped. That suggests that people who follow unusual schedules are less likely to feel full after eating.
If given unlimited amounts of food, these people would probably eat more and crave more junk food, the researchers predict. As a result, they could gain weight and develop weight-related health problems, such as diabetes and heart disease. Other studies support that prediction.
Kids don’t often work night shifts. “But some may experience staying up late at night,” Scheer says. That’s OK on special occasions.
But staying up night after night, these studies suggest, could make kids extra hungry and more likely to gain weight. And regularly sleeping too little, Scheer says, may be one cause of the recent surge in childhood obesity.
Eat to sleep
Scheer’s work suggests that our sleeping schedules affect our eating habits. But do our eating schedules influence our sleeping habits?
New research suggests that it works both ways, says Clifford Saper. He’s a neurologist, or a scientist who studies the brain, at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.
In one recent study, Saper and colleagues investigated a different type of body clock in mice. Like people, mice have more than one internal clock. In the brain, there is the master clock that responds to light and helps determine when we get tired. There are a bunch of minor clocks, too, which reside in the gut, blood vessels and other parts of the body.
The master clock works like “the conductor of a symphony,” Saper says. It’s like the clock at school that determines when classes end and when lunch begins. Everyone sets their watches to this clock. In the body, the secondary clocks follow the lead of the master pacemaker.
Sometimes, however, the master clock gives up control. One example is when mice don’t eat for a long time. If a food source appears when a hungry mouse is normally sleeping, and the mouse happens to wake up in time to find it, this minor food clock wakes the mouse up a couple of hours before that time, night after night.
This ability to change their schedules instantly helps mice survive. If the animals are starving, the food clock ensures that they are awake when food is available, even if it’s an odd time to be up and an odd time to eat. It doesn’t matter whether it’s dark or light outside.
“The amazing thing is that the [food] clock … adjusts to whatever time it finds the food immediately,” Saper says. “It could make a 12-hour time shift overnight.”
The master clock, on the other hand, can only adjust slowly to changes in light.
Saper wanted to know more about this food clock. In his study, he turned off all the internal clocks in a group of mice. Then, he turned the clocks back on, one by one.
His results pinpointed the food clock to a certain part of the mouse’s brain. That’s interesting because the master clock resides in a different part of the brain. Figuring out where the food clock is will help scientists better understand how it works.
Similar studies haven’t been done in people, but human brains are wired much like mouse brains, Saper says. He suspects that people have a food clock, too. If so, his work might eventually help night shift workers learn to reset their circadian rhythms without health problems.
The mouse study might also offer help for people who suffer from jet lag when traveling. Jet lag is the exhaustion and disorientation that comes with crossing many time zones.
The master clock requires a day for every time zone crossed to adjust to the new time. But Saper’s work suggests that people could speed up this process by jump-starting their food clocks. To do this, travelers would need to fast for at least 16 hours before eating breakfast at the normal time they would in their new destinations.
“You could potentially turn on the food clock and adjust to a new time zone very rapidly,” Saper says. For now, he adds, “It’s all speculation.”
Power words:
Circadian rhythm: A daily cycle of biological activity of approximately 24 hours. It is driven by an internal clock and influenced by regular variations in the environment, such as the alternation of night and day.
Hormone: A chemical compound that is produced in a gland and then carried to another part of the body by the blood. Hormones control many important body activities, such as growth. Hormones act by causing and adjusting chemical reactions in the body.
Sleep: A natural state of rest that occurs at regular times. During sleep, growth is thought to take place, and energy is conserved and stored away. Dreams take place during a stage of sleep called REM. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
wamu 4.wam.0002003 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
“We hope to do to this industry what Wal-Mart did to theirs, Starbucks did to theirs, Costco did to theirs and Lowe’s-Home Depot did to their industry. And I think if we’ve done our job, five years from now you’re not going to call us a bank.”
— Kerry K. Killinger, chief executive of Washington Mutual, 2003
SAN DIEGO — As a supervisor at a Washington Mutual mortgage processing center, John D. Parsons was accustomed to seeing baby sitters claiming salaries worthy of college presidents, and schoolteachers with incomes rivaling stockbrokers’. He rarely questioned them. A real estate frenzy was under way and WaMu, as his bank was known, was all about saying yes. http://34819louis0j0sheehan0esquire.wordpress.com
Yet even by WaMu’s relaxed standards, one mortgage four years ago raised eyebrows. The borrower was claiming a six-figure income and an unusual profession: mariachi singer.
Mr. Parsons could not verify the singer’s income, so he had him photographed in front of his home dressed in his mariachi outfit. The photo went into a WaMu file. Approved.
“I’d lie if I said every piece of documentation was properly signed and dated,” said Mr. Parsons, speaking through wire-reinforced glass at a California prison near here, where he is serving 16 months for theft after his fourth arrest — all involving drugs.
While Mr. Parsons, whose incarceration is not related to his work for WaMu, oversaw a team screening mortgage applications, he was snorting methamphetamine daily, he said.
“In our world, it was tolerated,” said Sherri Zaback, who worked for Mr. Parsons and recalls seeing drug paraphernalia on his desk. “Everybody said, ‘He gets the job done.’ ”
At WaMu, getting the job done meant lending money to nearly anyone who asked for it — the force behind the bank’s meteoric rise and its precipitous collapse this year in the biggest bank failure in American history.
On a financial landscape littered with wreckage, WaMu, a Seattle-based bank that opened branches at a clip worthy of a fast-food chain, stands out as a singularly brazen case of lax lending. By the first half of this year, the value of its bad loans had reached $11.5 billion, nearly tripling from $4.2 billion a year earlier.
Interviews with two dozen former employees, mortgage brokers, real estate agents and appraisers reveal the relentless pressure to churn out loans that produced such results. While that sample may not fully represent a bank with tens of thousands of people, it does reflect the views of employees in WaMu mortgage operations in California, Florida, Illinois and Texas.
Their accounts are consistent with those of 89 other former employees who are confidential witnesses in a class action filed against WaMu in federal court in Seattle by former shareholders.
According to these accounts, pressure to keep lending emanated from the top, where executives profited from the swift expansion — not least, Kerry K. Killinger, who was WaMu’s chief executive from 1990 until he was forced out in September.
Between 2001 and 2007, Mr. Killinger received compensation of $88 million, according to the Corporate Library, a research firm. He declined to respond to a list of questions, and his spokesman said he was unavailable for an interview.
During Mr. Killinger’s tenure, WaMu pressed sales agents to pump out loans while disregarding borrowers’ incomes and assets, according to former employees. The bank set up what insiders described as a system of dubious legality that enabled real estate agents to collect fees of more than $10,000 for bringing in borrowers, sometimes making the agents more beholden to WaMu than they were to their clients.
WaMu gave mortgage brokers handsome commissions for selling the riskiest loans, which carried higher fees, bolstering profits and ultimately the compensation of the bank’s executives. WaMu pressured appraisers to provide inflated property values that made loans appear less risky, enabling Wall Street to bundle them more easily for sale to investors.
“It was the Wild West,” said Steven M. Knobel, a founder of an appraisal company, Mitchell, Maxwell & Jackson, that did business with WaMu until 2007. “If you were alive, they would give you a loan. Actually, I think if you were dead, they would still give you a loan.”
JPMorgan Chase, which bought WaMu for $1.9 billion in September and received $25 billion a few weeks later as part of the taxpayer bailout of the financial services industry, declined to make former WaMu executives available for interviews.
JPMorgan also declined to comment on WaMu’s operations before it bought the company. “It is a different era for our customers and for the company,” a spokesman said.
For those who placed their faith and money in WaMu, the bank’s implosion came as a shock.
“I never had a clue about the amount of off-the-cliff activity that was going on at Washington Mutual, and I was in constant contact with the company,” said Vincent Au, president of Avalon Partners, an investment firm. “There were people at WaMu that orchestrated nothing more than a sham or charade. These people broke every fundamental rule of running a company.”
‘Like a Sweatshop’
Some WaMu employees who worked for the bank during the boom now have regrets.
“It was a disgrace,” said Dana Zweibel, a former financial representative at a WaMu branch in Tampa, Fla. “We were giving loans to people that never should have had loans.”
If Ms. Zweibel doubted whether customers could pay, supervisors directed her to keep selling, she said.
“We were told from up above that that’s not our concern,” she said. “Our concern is just to write the loan.”
The ultimate supervisor at WaMu was Mr. Killinger, who joined the company in 1983 and became chief executive in 1990. He inherited a bank that was founded in 1889 and had survived the Depression and the savings and loan scandal of the 1980s.
An investment analyst by training, he was attuned to Wall Street’s hunger for growth. Between late 1996 and early 2002, he transformed WaMu into the nation’s sixth-largest bank through a series of acquisitions.
A crucial deal came in 1999, with the purchase of Long Beach Financial, a California lender specializing in subprime mortgages, loans extended to borrowers with troubled credit.
WaMu underscored its eagerness to lend with an advertising campaign introduced during the 2003 Academy Awards: “The Power of Yes.” No mere advertising pitch, this was also the mantra inside the bank, underwriters said.
“WaMu came out with that slogan, and that was what we had to live by,” Ms. Zaback said. “We joked about it a lot.” A file would get marked problematic and then somehow get approved. “We’d say: ‘O.K.! The power of yes.’ ”
Revenue at WaMu’s home-lending unit swelled from $707 million in 2002 to almost $2 billion the following year, when the “The Power of Yes” campaign started.
Between 2000 and 2003, WaMu’s retail branches grew 70 percent, reaching 2,200 across 38 states, as the bank used an image of cheeky irreverence to attract new customers. In offbeat television ads, casually dressed WaMu employees ridiculed staid bankers in suits.
Branches were pushed to increase lending. “It was just disgusting,” said Ms. Zweibel, the Tampa representative. “They wanted you to spend time, while you’re running teller transactions and opening checking accounts, selling people loans.”
Employees in Tampa who fell short were ordered to drive to a WaMu office in Sarasota, an hour away. There, they sat in a phone bank with 20 other people, calling customers to push home equity loans.
“The regional manager would be over your shoulder, listening to every word,” Ms. Zweibel recalled. “They treated us like we were in a sweatshop.”
On the other end of the country, at WaMu’s San Diego processing office, Ms. Zaback’s job was to take loan applications from branches in Southern California and make sure they passed muster. Most of the loans she said she handled merely required borrowers to provide an address and Social Security number, and to state their income and assets.
She ran applications through WaMu’s computer system for approval. If she needed more information, she had to consult with a loan officer — which she described as an unpleasant experience. “They would be furious,” Ms. Zaback said. “They would put it on you, that they weren’t going to get paid if you stood in the way.”
On one loan application in 2005, a borrower identified himself as a gardener and listed his monthly income at $12,000, Ms. Zaback recalled. She could not verify his business license, so she took the file to her boss, Mr. Parsons.
He used the mariachi singer as inspiration: a photo of the borrower’s truck emblazoned with the name of his landscaping business went into the file. Approved.http://34819louis0j0sheehan0esquire.wordpress.com
Mr. Parsons, who worked for WaMu in San Diego from about 2002 through 2005, said his supervisors constantly praised his performance. “My numbers were through the roof,” he said.
On another occasion, Ms. Zaback asked a loan officer for verification of an applicant’s assets. The officer sent a letter from a bank showing a balance of about $150,000 in the borrower’s account, she recalled. But when Ms. Zaback called the bank to confirm, she was told the balance was only $5,000.
The loan officer yelled at her, Ms. Zaback recalled. “She said, ‘We don’t call the bank to verify.’ ” Ms. Zaback said she told Mr. Parsons that she no longer wanted to work with that loan officer, but he replied: “Too bad.”
Shortly thereafter, Mr. Parsons disappeared from the office. Ms. Zaback later learned of his arrest for burglary and drug possession.
The sheer workload at WaMu ensured that loan reviews were limited. Ms. Zaback’s office had 108 people, and several hundred new files a day. She was required to process at least 10 files daily.
“I’d typically spend a maximum of 35 minutes per file,” she said. “It was just disheartening. Just spit it out and get it done. That’s what they wanted us to do. Garbage in, and garbage out.”
Referral Fees for Loans
WaMu’s boiler room culture flourished in Southern California, where housing prices rose so rapidly during the bubble that creative financing was needed to attract buyers.
To that end, WaMu embraced so-called option ARMs, adjustable rate mortgages that enticed borrowers with a selection of low initial rates and allowed them to decide how much to pay each month. But people who opted for minimum payments were underpaying the interest due and adding to their principal, eventually causing loan payments to balloon.
Customers were often left with the impression that low payments would continue long term, according to former WaMu sales agents.
For WaMu, variable-rate loans — option ARMs, in particular — were especially attractive because they carried higher fees than other loans, and allowed WaMu to book profits on interest payments that borrowers deferred. Because WaMu was selling many of its loans to investors, it did not worry about defaults: by the time loans went bad, they were often in other hands.
WaMu’s adjustable-rate mortgages expanded from about one-fourth of new home loans in 2003 to 70 percent by 2006. In 2005 and 2006 — when WaMu pushed option ARMs most aggressively — Mr. Killinger received pay of $19 million and $24 million respectively.
The ARM Loan Niche
WaMu’s retail mortgage office in Downey, Calif., specialized in selling option ARMs to Latino customers who spoke little English and depended on advice from real estate brokers, according to a former sales agent who requested anonymity because he was still in the mortgage business.
According to that agent, WaMu turned real estate agents into a pipeline for loan applications by enabling them to collect “referral fees” for clients who became WaMu borrowers.
Buyers were typically oblivious to agents’ fees, the agent said, and agents rarely explained the loan terms.
“Their Realtor was their trusted friend,” the agent said. “The Realtors would sell them on a minimum payment, and that was an outright lie.”
According to the agent, the strategy was the brainchild of Thomas Ramirez, who oversaw a sales team of about 20 agents at the Downey branch during the first half of this decade, and now works for Wells Fargo.
Mr. Ramirez confirmed that he and his team enabled real estate agents to collect commissions, but he maintained that the fees were fully disclosed.
“I don’t think the bank would have let us do the program if it was bad,” Mr. Ramirez said.
Mr. Ramirez’s team sold nearly $1 billion worth of loans in 2004, he said. His performance made him a perennial member of WaMu’s President’s Club, which brought big bonuses and recognition at an awards ceremony typically hosted by Mr. Killinger in tropical venues like Hawaii.
Mr. Ramirez’s success prompted WaMu to populate a neighboring building in Downey with loan processors, underwriters and appraisers who worked for him. The fees proved so enticing that real estate agents arrived in Downey from all over Southern California, bearing six and seven loan applications at a time, the former agent said.http://34819louis0j0sheehan0esquire.wordpress.com
WaMu banned referral fees in 2006, fearing they could be construed as illegal payments from the bank to agents. But the bank allowed Mr. Ramirez’s team to continue using the referral fees, the agent said.
Forced Out With Millions
By 2005, the word was out that WaMu would accept applications with a mere statement of the borrower’s income and assets — often with no documentation required — so long as credit scores were adequate, according to Ms. Zaback and other underwriters.
“We had a flier that said, ‘A thin file is a good file,’ ” recalled Michele Culbertson, a wholesale sales agent with WaMu.
Martine Lado, an agent in the Irvine, Calif., office, said she coached brokers to leave parts of applications blank to avoid prompting verification if the borrower’s job or income was sketchy.
“We were looking for people who understood how to do loans at WaMu,” Ms. Lado said.
Top producers became heroes. Craig Clark, called the “king of the option ARM” by colleagues, closed loans totaling about $1 billion in 2005, according to four of his former coworkers, a tally he amassed in part by challenging anyone who doubted him.
“He was a bulldozer when it came to getting his stuff done,” said Lisa Alvarez, who worked in the Irvine office from 2003 to 2006.
Christine Crocker, who managed WaMu’s wholesale underwriting division in Irvine, recalled one mortgage to an elderly couple from a broker on Mr. Clark’s team.
With a fixed income of about $3,200 a month, the couple needed a fixed-rate loan. But their broker earned a commission of three percentage points by arranging an option ARM for them, and did so by listing their income as $7,000 a month. Soon, their payment jumped from roughly $1,000 a month to about $3,000, causing them to fall behind.
Mr. Clark, who now works for JPMorgan, referred calls to a company spokesman, who provided no further details.
In 2006, WaMu slowed option ARM lending. But earlier, ill-considered loans had already begun hurting its results. In 2007, it recorded a $67 million loss and shut down its subprime lending unit.
By the time shareholders joined WaMu for its annual meeting in Seattle last April, WaMu had posted a first-quarter loss of $1.14 billion and increased its loan loss reserve to $3.5 billion. Its stock had lost more than half its value in the previous two months. Anger was in the air.
Some shareholders were irate that Mr. Killinger and other executives were excluding mortgage losses from the computation of their bonuses. Others were enraged that WaMu turned down an $8-a-share takeover bid from JPMorgan.
“Calm down and have a little faith,” Mr. Killinger told the crowd. “We will get through this.”
WaMu asked shareholders to approve a $7 billion investment by Texas Pacific Group, a private equity firm, and other unnamed investors. David Bonderman, a founder of Texas Pacific and a former WaMu director, declined to comment.
Hostile shareholders argued that the deal would dilute their holdings, but Mr. Killinger forced it through, saying WaMu desperately needed new capital.
Weeks later, with WaMu in tatters, directors stripped Mr. Killinger of his board chairmanship. And the bank began including mortgage losses when calculating executive bonuses.
In September, Mr. Killinger was forced to retire. Later that month, with WaMu buckling under roughly $180 billion in mortgage-related loans, regulators seized the bank and sold it to JPMorgan for $1.9 billion, a fraction of the $40 billion valuation the stock market gave WaMu at its peak.
Billions that investors had plowed into WaMu were wiped out, as were prospects for many of the bank’s 50,000 employees. But Mr. Killinger still had his millions, rankling laid-off workers and shareholders alike.
“Kerry has made over $100 million over his tenure based on the aggressiveness that sunk the company,” said Mr. Au, the money manager. “How does he justify taking that money?”
In June, Mr. Au sent an e-mail message to the company asking executives to return some of their pay. He says he has not heard back. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire.
“We hope to do to this industry what Wal-Mart did to theirs, Starbucks did to theirs, Costco did to theirs and Lowe’s-Home Depot did to their industry. And I think if we’ve done our job, five years from now you’re not going to call us a bank.”
— Kerry K. Killinger, chief executive of Washington Mutual, 2003
SAN DIEGO — As a supervisor at a Washington Mutual mortgage processing center, John D. Parsons was accustomed to seeing baby sitters claiming salaries worthy of college presidents, and schoolteachers with incomes rivaling stockbrokers’. He rarely questioned them. A real estate frenzy was under way and WaMu, as his bank was known, was all about saying yes. http://34819louis0j0sheehan0esquire.wordpress.com
Yet even by WaMu’s relaxed standards, one mortgage four years ago raised eyebrows. The borrower was claiming a six-figure income and an unusual profession: mariachi singer.
Mr. Parsons could not verify the singer’s income, so he had him photographed in front of his home dressed in his mariachi outfit. The photo went into a WaMu file. Approved.
“I’d lie if I said every piece of documentation was properly signed and dated,” said Mr. Parsons, speaking through wire-reinforced glass at a California prison near here, where he is serving 16 months for theft after his fourth arrest — all involving drugs.
While Mr. Parsons, whose incarceration is not related to his work for WaMu, oversaw a team screening mortgage applications, he was snorting methamphetamine daily, he said.
“In our world, it was tolerated,” said Sherri Zaback, who worked for Mr. Parsons and recalls seeing drug paraphernalia on his desk. “Everybody said, ‘He gets the job done.’ ”
At WaMu, getting the job done meant lending money to nearly anyone who asked for it — the force behind the bank’s meteoric rise and its precipitous collapse this year in the biggest bank failure in American history.
On a financial landscape littered with wreckage, WaMu, a Seattle-based bank that opened branches at a clip worthy of a fast-food chain, stands out as a singularly brazen case of lax lending. By the first half of this year, the value of its bad loans had reached $11.5 billion, nearly tripling from $4.2 billion a year earlier.
Interviews with two dozen former employees, mortgage brokers, real estate agents and appraisers reveal the relentless pressure to churn out loans that produced such results. While that sample may not fully represent a bank with tens of thousands of people, it does reflect the views of employees in WaMu mortgage operations in California, Florida, Illinois and Texas.
Their accounts are consistent with those of 89 other former employees who are confidential witnesses in a class action filed against WaMu in federal court in Seattle by former shareholders.
According to these accounts, pressure to keep lending emanated from the top, where executives profited from the swift expansion — not least, Kerry K. Killinger, who was WaMu’s chief executive from 1990 until he was forced out in September.
Between 2001 and 2007, Mr. Killinger received compensation of $88 million, according to the Corporate Library, a research firm. He declined to respond to a list of questions, and his spokesman said he was unavailable for an interview.
During Mr. Killinger’s tenure, WaMu pressed sales agents to pump out loans while disregarding borrowers’ incomes and assets, according to former employees. The bank set up what insiders described as a system of dubious legality that enabled real estate agents to collect fees of more than $10,000 for bringing in borrowers, sometimes making the agents more beholden to WaMu than they were to their clients.
WaMu gave mortgage brokers handsome commissions for selling the riskiest loans, which carried higher fees, bolstering profits and ultimately the compensation of the bank’s executives. WaMu pressured appraisers to provide inflated property values that made loans appear less risky, enabling Wall Street to bundle them more easily for sale to investors.
“It was the Wild West,” said Steven M. Knobel, a founder of an appraisal company, Mitchell, Maxwell & Jackson, that did business with WaMu until 2007. “If you were alive, they would give you a loan. Actually, I think if you were dead, they would still give you a loan.”
JPMorgan Chase, which bought WaMu for $1.9 billion in September and received $25 billion a few weeks later as part of the taxpayer bailout of the financial services industry, declined to make former WaMu executives available for interviews.
JPMorgan also declined to comment on WaMu’s operations before it bought the company. “It is a different era for our customers and for the company,” a spokesman said.
For those who placed their faith and money in WaMu, the bank’s implosion came as a shock.
“I never had a clue about the amount of off-the-cliff activity that was going on at Washington Mutual, and I was in constant contact with the company,” said Vincent Au, president of Avalon Partners, an investment firm. “There were people at WaMu that orchestrated nothing more than a sham or charade. These people broke every fundamental rule of running a company.”
‘Like a Sweatshop’
Some WaMu employees who worked for the bank during the boom now have regrets.
“It was a disgrace,” said Dana Zweibel, a former financial representative at a WaMu branch in Tampa, Fla. “We were giving loans to people that never should have had loans.”
If Ms. Zweibel doubted whether customers could pay, supervisors directed her to keep selling, she said.
“We were told from up above that that’s not our concern,” she said. “Our concern is just to write the loan.”
The ultimate supervisor at WaMu was Mr. Killinger, who joined the company in 1983 and became chief executive in 1990. He inherited a bank that was founded in 1889 and had survived the Depression and the savings and loan scandal of the 1980s.
An investment analyst by training, he was attuned to Wall Street’s hunger for growth. Between late 1996 and early 2002, he transformed WaMu into the nation’s sixth-largest bank through a series of acquisitions.
A crucial deal came in 1999, with the purchase of Long Beach Financial, a California lender specializing in subprime mortgages, loans extended to borrowers with troubled credit.
WaMu underscored its eagerness to lend with an advertising campaign introduced during the 2003 Academy Awards: “The Power of Yes.” No mere advertising pitch, this was also the mantra inside the bank, underwriters said.
“WaMu came out with that slogan, and that was what we had to live by,” Ms. Zaback said. “We joked about it a lot.” A file would get marked problematic and then somehow get approved. “We’d say: ‘O.K.! The power of yes.’ ”
Revenue at WaMu’s home-lending unit swelled from $707 million in 2002 to almost $2 billion the following year, when the “The Power of Yes” campaign started.
Between 2000 and 2003, WaMu’s retail branches grew 70 percent, reaching 2,200 across 38 states, as the bank used an image of cheeky irreverence to attract new customers. In offbeat television ads, casually dressed WaMu employees ridiculed staid bankers in suits.
Branches were pushed to increase lending. “It was just disgusting,” said Ms. Zweibel, the Tampa representative. “They wanted you to spend time, while you’re running teller transactions and opening checking accounts, selling people loans.”
Employees in Tampa who fell short were ordered to drive to a WaMu office in Sarasota, an hour away. There, they sat in a phone bank with 20 other people, calling customers to push home equity loans.
“The regional manager would be over your shoulder, listening to every word,” Ms. Zweibel recalled. “They treated us like we were in a sweatshop.”
On the other end of the country, at WaMu’s San Diego processing office, Ms. Zaback’s job was to take loan applications from branches in Southern California and make sure they passed muster. Most of the loans she said she handled merely required borrowers to provide an address and Social Security number, and to state their income and assets.
She ran applications through WaMu’s computer system for approval. If she needed more information, she had to consult with a loan officer — which she described as an unpleasant experience. “They would be furious,” Ms. Zaback said. “They would put it on you, that they weren’t going to get paid if you stood in the way.”
On one loan application in 2005, a borrower identified himself as a gardener and listed his monthly income at $12,000, Ms. Zaback recalled. She could not verify his business license, so she took the file to her boss, Mr. Parsons.
He used the mariachi singer as inspiration: a photo of the borrower’s truck emblazoned with the name of his landscaping business went into the file. Approved.http://34819louis0j0sheehan0esquire.wordpress.com
Mr. Parsons, who worked for WaMu in San Diego from about 2002 through 2005, said his supervisors constantly praised his performance. “My numbers were through the roof,” he said.
On another occasion, Ms. Zaback asked a loan officer for verification of an applicant’s assets. The officer sent a letter from a bank showing a balance of about $150,000 in the borrower’s account, she recalled. But when Ms. Zaback called the bank to confirm, she was told the balance was only $5,000.
The loan officer yelled at her, Ms. Zaback recalled. “She said, ‘We don’t call the bank to verify.’ ” Ms. Zaback said she told Mr. Parsons that she no longer wanted to work with that loan officer, but he replied: “Too bad.”
Shortly thereafter, Mr. Parsons disappeared from the office. Ms. Zaback later learned of his arrest for burglary and drug possession.
The sheer workload at WaMu ensured that loan reviews were limited. Ms. Zaback’s office had 108 people, and several hundred new files a day. She was required to process at least 10 files daily.
“I’d typically spend a maximum of 35 minutes per file,” she said. “It was just disheartening. Just spit it out and get it done. That’s what they wanted us to do. Garbage in, and garbage out.”
Referral Fees for Loans
WaMu’s boiler room culture flourished in Southern California, where housing prices rose so rapidly during the bubble that creative financing was needed to attract buyers.
To that end, WaMu embraced so-called option ARMs, adjustable rate mortgages that enticed borrowers with a selection of low initial rates and allowed them to decide how much to pay each month. But people who opted for minimum payments were underpaying the interest due and adding to their principal, eventually causing loan payments to balloon.
Customers were often left with the impression that low payments would continue long term, according to former WaMu sales agents.
For WaMu, variable-rate loans — option ARMs, in particular — were especially attractive because they carried higher fees than other loans, and allowed WaMu to book profits on interest payments that borrowers deferred. Because WaMu was selling many of its loans to investors, it did not worry about defaults: by the time loans went bad, they were often in other hands.
WaMu’s adjustable-rate mortgages expanded from about one-fourth of new home loans in 2003 to 70 percent by 2006. In 2005 and 2006 — when WaMu pushed option ARMs most aggressively — Mr. Killinger received pay of $19 million and $24 million respectively.
The ARM Loan Niche
WaMu’s retail mortgage office in Downey, Calif., specialized in selling option ARMs to Latino customers who spoke little English and depended on advice from real estate brokers, according to a former sales agent who requested anonymity because he was still in the mortgage business.
According to that agent, WaMu turned real estate agents into a pipeline for loan applications by enabling them to collect “referral fees” for clients who became WaMu borrowers.
Buyers were typically oblivious to agents’ fees, the agent said, and agents rarely explained the loan terms.
“Their Realtor was their trusted friend,” the agent said. “The Realtors would sell them on a minimum payment, and that was an outright lie.”
According to the agent, the strategy was the brainchild of Thomas Ramirez, who oversaw a sales team of about 20 agents at the Downey branch during the first half of this decade, and now works for Wells Fargo.
Mr. Ramirez confirmed that he and his team enabled real estate agents to collect commissions, but he maintained that the fees were fully disclosed.
“I don’t think the bank would have let us do the program if it was bad,” Mr. Ramirez said.
Mr. Ramirez’s team sold nearly $1 billion worth of loans in 2004, he said. His performance made him a perennial member of WaMu’s President’s Club, which brought big bonuses and recognition at an awards ceremony typically hosted by Mr. Killinger in tropical venues like Hawaii.
Mr. Ramirez’s success prompted WaMu to populate a neighboring building in Downey with loan processors, underwriters and appraisers who worked for him. The fees proved so enticing that real estate agents arrived in Downey from all over Southern California, bearing six and seven loan applications at a time, the former agent said.http://34819louis0j0sheehan0esquire.wordpress.com
WaMu banned referral fees in 2006, fearing they could be construed as illegal payments from the bank to agents. But the bank allowed Mr. Ramirez’s team to continue using the referral fees, the agent said.
Forced Out With Millions
By 2005, the word was out that WaMu would accept applications with a mere statement of the borrower’s income and assets — often with no documentation required — so long as credit scores were adequate, according to Ms. Zaback and other underwriters.
“We had a flier that said, ‘A thin file is a good file,’ ” recalled Michele Culbertson, a wholesale sales agent with WaMu.
Martine Lado, an agent in the Irvine, Calif., office, said she coached brokers to leave parts of applications blank to avoid prompting verification if the borrower’s job or income was sketchy.
“We were looking for people who understood how to do loans at WaMu,” Ms. Lado said.
Top producers became heroes. Craig Clark, called the “king of the option ARM” by colleagues, closed loans totaling about $1 billion in 2005, according to four of his former coworkers, a tally he amassed in part by challenging anyone who doubted him.
“He was a bulldozer when it came to getting his stuff done,” said Lisa Alvarez, who worked in the Irvine office from 2003 to 2006.
Christine Crocker, who managed WaMu’s wholesale underwriting division in Irvine, recalled one mortgage to an elderly couple from a broker on Mr. Clark’s team.
With a fixed income of about $3,200 a month, the couple needed a fixed-rate loan. But their broker earned a commission of three percentage points by arranging an option ARM for them, and did so by listing their income as $7,000 a month. Soon, their payment jumped from roughly $1,000 a month to about $3,000, causing them to fall behind.
Mr. Clark, who now works for JPMorgan, referred calls to a company spokesman, who provided no further details.
In 2006, WaMu slowed option ARM lending. But earlier, ill-considered loans had already begun hurting its results. In 2007, it recorded a $67 million loss and shut down its subprime lending unit.
By the time shareholders joined WaMu for its annual meeting in Seattle last April, WaMu had posted a first-quarter loss of $1.14 billion and increased its loan loss reserve to $3.5 billion. Its stock had lost more than half its value in the previous two months. Anger was in the air.
Some shareholders were irate that Mr. Killinger and other executives were excluding mortgage losses from the computation of their bonuses. Others were enraged that WaMu turned down an $8-a-share takeover bid from JPMorgan.
“Calm down and have a little faith,” Mr. Killinger told the crowd. “We will get through this.”
WaMu asked shareholders to approve a $7 billion investment by Texas Pacific Group, a private equity firm, and other unnamed investors. David Bonderman, a founder of Texas Pacific and a former WaMu director, declined to comment.
Hostile shareholders argued that the deal would dilute their holdings, but Mr. Killinger forced it through, saying WaMu desperately needed new capital.
Weeks later, with WaMu in tatters, directors stripped Mr. Killinger of his board chairmanship. And the bank began including mortgage losses when calculating executive bonuses.
In September, Mr. Killinger was forced to retire. Later that month, with WaMu buckling under roughly $180 billion in mortgage-related loans, regulators seized the bank and sold it to JPMorgan for $1.9 billion, a fraction of the $40 billion valuation the stock market gave WaMu at its peak.
Billions that investors had plowed into WaMu were wiped out, as were prospects for many of the bank’s 50,000 employees. But Mr. Killinger still had his millions, rankling laid-off workers and shareholders alike.
“Kerry has made over $100 million over his tenure based on the aggressiveness that sunk the company,” said Mr. Au, the money manager. “How does he justify taking that money?”
In June, Mr. Au sent an e-mail message to the company asking executives to return some of their pay. He says he has not heard back. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire.
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