2008年11月14日星期五

Yahoo! News: Terrorism

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Yahoo! News: Terrorism

Law enforcement wary about protesters at summit (AP)

Posted: 14 Nov 2008 04:08 AM CST

AP - As world leaders were gathering this weekend for an economic summit, law enforcement authorities were less concerned about international terrorists than about angry protesters — possibly including people left jobless by the financial meltdown.

Qaeda stung by U.S. pressure in Pakistan: CIA chief (Reuters)

Posted: 14 Nov 2008 12:15 AM CST

Reuters - U.S. pressure on al Qaeda near Pakistan's border with Afghanistan has put the group "off balance," but the region remains the biggest terrorism threat to the United States, the CIA's chief said on Thursday.

India Terror Arrests Shock Nation Ahead of Elections (Time.com)

Posted: 13 Nov 2008 11:50 PM CST

Time.com - The arrest of 10 people linked with two relatively small terror attacks earlier this year has created a national furor, and is likely to skew political parties' calculations ahead of next year's general elections

UK says it fears terror suspect could escape (AP)

Posted: 13 Nov 2008 08:52 PM CST

AP - Bail should be revoked for a radical Muslim preacher accused of raising funds for terror groups because he is planning to go into hiding, the British government argued Thursday.

Bin Laden is isolated, Qaeda resilient: CIA chief (AFP)

Posted: 13 Nov 2008 08:51 PM CST

Osama bin Laden remains deeply isolated and has been forced to devote much of his energy to his own security, CIA Director Michael Hayden, pictured in February, said in a speech on Thursday.(AFP/File/Saul Loeb)AFP - Osama bin Laden, deeply isolated and likely near the rugged Afghanistan-Pakistan border, has been forced to devote much of his energy to his own security while his Al-Qaeda terror network remains resilient, CIA Director Michael Hayden said Thursday.


Researchers urge Obama to set up Guantanamo review (AFP)

Posted: 13 Nov 2008 03:16 PM CST

In this image reviewed by the US Military, a guard tower is visible behind a razor-wire fence, at the detention camp at Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base, in Cuba, Wednesday, in July 2008. Researchers studying the US war-on-terror military jail at Guantanamo Bay are urging US president-elect Barack Obama to set up a commission to shed light on controversial practices there.(AFP/Pool/File/Randall Mikkelsen)AFP - Researchers studying the US war-on-terror military jail at Guantanamo Bay are urging US president-elect Barack Obama to set up a commission to shed light on controversial practices there.


Reduced sentence for Swedish man in al-Qaida scam (AP)

Posted: 13 Nov 2008 01:11 PM CST

AP - A man who falsely told the FBI that his son-in-law visiting the United States had links to al-Qaida and supported the "Muslim world's revenge on U.S. terror" had his prison sentence reduced on Thursday.

Budget deficit hits record; jobless claims surge (AP)

Posted: 13 Nov 2008 05:40 PM CST

Professional recruiter John Kasyanenko, right, of Express Employment Professionals gives his business card to a woman seeking a work at a job fair sponsored by Monster.com in New York, Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2008. The number of newly laid-off individuals seeking unemployment benefits has jumped to a seven-year high, the government said Thursday, Nov. 13, 2008. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)AP - The nation's financial picture grew darker Thursday, a day marked by breathtaking numbers: a quarter-trillion-dollar budget deficit for a single month and projections of up to $1 trillion for a year, a half-million new applications for unemployment benefits and a 900-point swing on Wall Street.


Some detained Yemenis guilty, some aren't, attorneys say (McClatchy Newspapers)

Posted: 13 Nov 2008 12:38 PM CST

McClatchy Newspapers - SANAA, Yemen — Attorneys for dozens of Yemenis held at Guantanamo Bay say that the prisoners range from "high-value" terrorism suspects to people who were mistakenly arrested, and they include a number who apparently were jailed because they're related to other suspects.

Germany extends Africa naval mission (AP)

Posted: 13 Nov 2008 10:52 AM CST

AP - Germany's parliament Thursday approved a 13-month extension to the country's participation in naval patrols off the Horn of Africa, part of a U.S.-led anti-terrorism operation.

Agency: Terror threat against Denmark considerable (AP)

Posted: 13 Nov 2008 10:29 AM CST

AP - Denmark's intelligence service said Thursday there is still a considerable threat from Islamic extremists against Danes and Danish interests abroad.

Kerry Wood

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Kerry Wood


Kerry Lee Wood (born June 16, 1977 in Irving, Texas) is an American baseball right-handed pitcher who is currently a free agent. Wood has recorded over two hundred strikeouts in four different seasons between 1998�2003, with a high water mark of 266 K's in 2003. In recent years, he has had three serious arm injuries, and has only started a total of 14 major league games from Opening Day 2005 through the middle of 2006. Wood returned to the Cubs during the 2007 season as a relief pitcher and served as the team's All-Star closer in 2008.

Kerry Wood Early life
Wood became a high school phenom while attending Mac Arthur High School in Irving, Texas, for his first three seasons of high school baseball. He continued his domination of batters at Grand Prairie High School in his final season as a high school player.[1]


Kerry Wood Professional career

Kerry Wood 1995-1998
The Chicago Cubs drafted Wood as the fourth overall selection in the 1995 Amateur Draft. He spent three years playing in the Minor Leagues. His best season in the Minors came in 1996, when he posted a 10-2 record for the Daytona Cubs.[2] He spent his final two years in the minors playing for the Iowa Cubs.[2]


Kerry Wood 1998
A much-hyped prospect in the minor leagues, Wood made his MLB debut on April 12, 1998. He wasted no time showing the world his talent when - in only his fifth career start on May 6, 1998 - he threw a one-hit, no walk, 20-strikeout shutout against the Houston Astros, tying Roger Clemens' record for strikeouts in a 9-inning game and breaking Bill Gullickson's single-game rookie record of 18 strikeouts in 1980. The game is considered by many to be among the most dominant pitching performances in the history of baseball.[3] According to statistician Bill James's Game Score system, which attempts to assign a numerical value to a start, Wood's performance scored 105, the highest in the history of baseball.[citation needed] Moisés Alou, then of the Astros, called Wood's pitching performance "the best" he had ever seen.[4] Soon after the game, t-shirts started circulating around wrigley with the phrase "We got Wood!"[citation needed] The t-shirts remain popular today.[citation needed]

Wood finished the 1998 season with a 13�6 record, and despite missing the last month of the season with elbow soreness easily won the National League Rookie of the Year award. By season's end, Wood, who had come to be known by the nickname "Kid K," established himself as the Cubs' ace.[citation needed] He pitched one game in the playoffs against the Atlanta Braves, but suffered the loss. That would be his last appearance in a Cubs uniform for more than a year.


Kerry Wood 1999�2003
During Spring Training of 1999, Wood underwent Tommy John surgery to repair damage to the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. He missed the entire season to rehab from the surgery.

Wood returned in 2000 and struggled to an 8�7 record, but the following season, he returned to form. In 2001, Wood began a string of three straight seasons in which he began to once again show the promise he displayed as the young phenom just a few years earlier. He went 12-6 with a 3.36 ERA. The following season (2002), Wood finished 12�11 with a 3.67 ERA, but perhaps more important was the fact he didn't miss a start all year long, setting career highs with 213.6 innings pitched and 33 starts. In both seasons, he struck out 217.

In 2003, Wood continued to improve, setting career highs with 266 strikeouts, 14 wins (as part of a 14�11 record), a 3.20 ERA, and 2 shutouts. He also walked 100 batters and surrendered 24 home runs, also career highs, but was selected as a National League All-Star and helped lead the Cubs to the playoffs.

Wood teamed with fellow right-hander Mark Prior to form a dominating 1-2 punch dubbed "Chicago Heat" by the media, that led the Cubs to a NL Central title. Wood earned two wins in the Divisional Series against the Atlanta Braves and was the starter in Game 3 of the 2003 National League Championship Series, which the Cubs won in extra innings. However, the Cubs lost in seven games to the eventual World Series champion Florida Marlins. In the decisive Game 7, one day after the infamous Steve Bartman incident, Wood hit the first home run by a pitcher in a NLCS game since another Cub, Rick Sutcliffe, did so in Game 1 in 1984. However, the Marlins won the game 9-6. Wood was charged with the loss and the Cubs were eliminated.


Kerry Wood 2004�2006
Based on their promising 2003 performance and off-season moves, Kerry Wood and the Cubs were featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated for the 2004 Season baseball preview issue and were predicted to win the World Series. Perhaps another example of the so-called "SI Jinx," Wood went just 8-9 during the season and was sidelined for nearly two months with a strained triceps. Meanwhile, the Cubs led the Wild Card race by two games with a week to go in the season. However, they lost seven of their last nine games - including two losses by Wood - to finish 89-73, two games behind Houston, and out of the playoffs.

In 2005, the Cubs―and Wood―continued to struggle. On August 31, 2005, Wood underwent season-ending arthroscopic surgery. During Spring Training the following year, Wood suffered several setbacks which required an additional surgery on his knee and time off shortly after that for falling out of a hot tub. Finally, on May 18, 2006, Wood returned to the Cubs' rotation when he pitched in a game at home against the Washington Nationals. He took the loss, giving up four runs and three home runs while striking out six in five innings. In June, Wood returned to the DL with a sore shoulder. The following month, the Cubs announced that Wood had sustained a partially torn rotator cuff which was likely to keep him from pitching again for the rest of the year. At the end of the 2006 season, the Cubs exercised their option on Wood's contract and bought out the remaining $13M.


Kerry Wood 2007�present

Wood pitching as a member of the Class A Peoria Chiefs of the Midwest League in July 2007With his long history of injuries and inability to stay in the starting rotation, Wood accepted the Cubs offer to join their bullpen in 2007, signing an incentive laden one-year contract for $1.75 million. Wood explained at the time he felt he owed both the Cubs' Organization and their devoted fans for all the time missed due to his injury plagued past. Wood attempted to sustain a regular throwing schedule and appearances during Spring Training games. However, Wood was placed on the 15 day DL with soreness in his elbow and was then moved to the 60 day DL. He began playing catch on May 21. In his first rehab stint against in Cubs Rookie Ball, he struck out all three batters he faced. On July 24, he pitched 1 inning with the Peoria Chiefs, throwing 9 pitches. He made back-to-back appearances on July 26 and July 27, throwing his fastball between 92-94mph with no discomfort.

The Cubs activated Wood from the 60-Day Disabled List on August 3, causing many to believe that he would make his actual return on that day.[5] In the seventh inning, however, Lou Piniella opted to send Bob Howry to the mound, and most fans, eager to see Kerry back on the hill, mistakenly gave Howry a standing ovation, only to realize moments later it was actually not Wood.[6] Piniella later stated he wanted Wood to receive a "softer landing", or in other words, make his return in a game where the Cubs have a comfortable lead over their opponents.[7] Wood made his return on August 5, with the Cubs trailing the New York Mets by four runs.[8] He pitched a single inning, during which he allowed one hit, and struck out another batter.[8] Piniella praised Wood's performance, stating "He threw the ball real good", and "His breaking ball had some bite to it, and he threw it up there about 93-94, about what we expected".[9] Since then, he has remained healthy appearing in 22 games and posting a 1-1 record with a solid 3.33 ERA.

He was generally limited to one inning per outing and has not appeared in games on back to back days, though he did pitch in both halves of a double header on September 15. Wood was a major contributor to the Cub's NL Central Division Championship down the stretch in late September, earning a win and 8 holds. Wood filed for free-agency on November 11, 2007, though he suggested that he wanted to remain in pinstripes for the 2008 season. Despite multi-year offers from other teams, Wood agreed to a one year, $4.2 million deal with the Cubs.[10]

Wood, along with Bob Howry and Carlos Marmol, competed for the role as the Cubs' closer after Ryan Dempster was moved to the starting rotation.[10] After posting a 2.84 ERA in the spring, Wood won the job. He recorded his first career save April 3, 2008 with a win over the Brewers.[1][2] Wood has since recorded 33 saves in 39 opportunities, 82 strike-outs and a 1.12 WHIP. He was selected to the 2008 MLB All-Star Game as a relief pitcher on July 6, 2008 along with six other teammates.[11]

Wood was placed on the 15-day DL on July 24, 2008 with a blister on his right index finger.[12] He returned to throw a scoreless inning against the Houston Astros on August 5, 2008.

On November 13, 2008, after acquiring closer Kevin Gregg from the Florida Marlins, Cubs general manager Jim Hendry announced that the organization does not plan in resigning Wood. [3]

Jonestown

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Jonestown
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
"Jonestown, Guyana" redirects here. For the community in Demerara, Guyana, see Jonestown, Demerara.
For other uses, see Jonestown (disambiguation).

JonestownGeorgetownKaituma
Peoples Temple Agricultural Project ("Jonestown", Guyana)Jonestown was the informal name for the "Peoples Temple Agricultural Project", an intentional community in northwestern Guyana formed by the Peoples Temple, a cult from California led by Jim Jones. It became internationally notorious in November of 1978, when 918 people died in the settlement as well as in a nearby airstrip and in Georgetown, Guyana's capital. The name of the settlement became synonymous for the incidents at those locations.

On November 18, 1978, 909 Temple members died in Jonestown, all but two from apparent cyanide poisoning in an event termed "revolutionary suicide" by Jones and some members on an audio tape of the event and in prior discussions. To the extent the actions in Jonestown were viewed as a mass suicide, it is the largest such event in modern history. The incident at Jonestown was the greatest single loss of American civilian life in a non-natural disaster until the events of September 11, 2001.

The poisonings in Jonestown followed the murder of five others by Temple members at a nearby Port Kaituma airstrip. The victims included Congressman Leo Ryan, the first and only Congressman murdered in the line of duty in the history of the United States.
Jonestown Origins

Los AngelesSan FranciscoUkiahBakersfieldFresnoSacramentoSanta Rosa
Some of the Peoples Temple's California LocationsMain articles: Peoples Temple, Jim Jones, and Peoples Temple in San Francisco
The Peoples Temple was formed in Indianapolis, Indiana, during the mid-1950s.[1] It purported to practice what it called "apostolic socialism."[2] In doing so, the Temple preached to established members that "those who remained drugged with the opiate of religion had to be brought to enlightenment―socialism."[3][4]

After Jones received considerable criticism in Indiana for his integrationist views, the Temple moved to Redwood Valley, California in 1965.[5][6]

In the early 1970s the Peoples Temple opened other branches in California, including in Los Angeles and San Francisco. In the mid-1970s, the Temple moved its headquarters to San Francisco.[7]

After the Temple's move to San Francisco, it became more politically active. After Peoples Temple participation proved instrumental in the mayoral election victory of George Moscone in 1975, Moscone appointed Jones as the Chairman of the San Francisco Housing Authority Commission.[8] Unlike other figures considered as cult leaders, Jones enjoyed public support and contact with some of the highest level politicians in the United States. For example, Jones met with Vice Presidential Candidate Walter Mondale and Rosalynn Carter several times.[9][10] Governor Jerry Brown, Lieutenant Governor Mervyn Dymally and Assemblyman Willie Brown, among others, attended a large testimonial dinner in honor of Jim Jones during September 1976.[11]


Jonestown Jonestown established

Jonestown Jonestown before mass migration

Houses in JonestownIn 1974, the Temple leased over 3,800 acres (15.4 km2) of jungle land from the Guyanese government.[12] The site was isolated and possessed soil of poor fertility, even by Guyanese standards.[13] The nearest body of water was seven miles away by muddy roads.[13]

Jones saw Jonestown as both a "socialist paradise" and a "sanctuary" from media scrutiny that had started with newspaper articles by Lester Kinsolving in 1972 in the San Francisco Examiner.[14] Guyana's socialism matched what he conceived to be his own communal-agrarian ideals.[15] Former Temple member Tim Carter stated that the reason for choosing Guyana was the Temple's view of creeping fascism, the perception of the dominance of multinational corporations on the government, and perceived racism in the U.S. government.[16] Carter said the Temple concluded that Guyana, a predominantly black, English-speaking socialist country, would afford black members of the Temple a peaceful place to live.[16] Later, Guyanese Prime Minister Forbes Burnham stated that what may have attracted Jones was that "he wanted to use cooperatives as the basis for the establishment of socialism, and maybe his idea of setting up a commune meshed with that."[15]

A small group of Peoples Temple members began the construction of Jonestown. The Temple encouraged some of its members to move to Jonestown, which it called the "Peoples Temple Agricultural Project".[12] Jones began cultivating relationships with Guyanese officials before the Temple created its settlement at Jonestown. In 1976, Guyana executed a lease with the Temple for over 3,000 acres (12 km2) of land in Northwest Guyana, retroactive to April 1974.[17]

In 1974, Guyanese government officials granted the Temple permission to import certain items "duty free." [13] Later payoffs to Guyanese customs officials helped safeguard shipments of firearms and drugs through Guyanese customs. [18] The relatively large number of immigrants to Guyana overwhelmed the Guyanese government's small but stringent immigration infrastructure in a country where most people wanted to leave.[19] Jones reached an agreement to guarantee that Guyana would permit Temple members' mass migration. To do so, he stated that Temple members were "skilled and progressive", showed off an envelope he claimed had $500,000 and stated that he would invest most of the church's assets in Guyana.[19] Guyanese immigration procedures were also compromised to inhibit the departure of Temple defectors and curtail the visas of Temple opponents.[20]


Prime Minister Forbes BurnhamJones purported to establish Jonestown as a benevolent communist community, stating: "I believe we're the purest communists there are."[21] Marceline Jones described Jonestown as "dedicated to live for socialism, total economic and racial and social equality. We are here living communally."[21] Jones wanted to construct a model community and claimed that Prime Minister Burnham "couldn't rave enough about us, uh, the wonderful things we do, the project, the model of socialism."[22] In that regard, like the restrictive emigration policies of the Soviet Union, Cuba, North Korea and other communist republics, Jones did not permit members to leave Jonestown.[23]


The Temple's house in GeorgetownThe Temple established offices in Georgetown and conducted numerous meetings with Burnham and other Guyanese officials.[24] In 1976, Temple member Michael Prokes requested that Guyana's Prime Minister Forbes Burnham receive Jones as a foreign dignitary along with other "high ranking U.S. officials."[25] Jones traveled to Guyana with Lieutenant Governor Mervyn Dymally to meet with Burhnam and Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Willis. [25] In that meeting, Dymally agreed to pass on the message to the U.S. State Department that socialist Guyana wanted to keep an open door to cooperation with the United States.[25] Dymally followed up that meeting with a letter to Burnham stating that Jones was "one of the finest human beings" and that Dymmally was "tremendously impressed" by his visit to Jonestown.[25]

Temple members took pains to stress their loyalty to Burnham's Peoples National Congress Party.[26] One Temple member, Paula Adams, was involved in a romantic relationship with Guyana's Ambassador to the United States, Laurence "Bonny" Mann. Jones bragged about other Temple members he referred to as "public relations women" giving all for the cause in Georgetown.[27] [note 1] Viola Burnham, the Guyanese Prime Minister's wife, was also a strong advocate of the Temple.[15]

Later, Burnham stated that Guyana allowed the Temple to operate in the manner it did on the references of Vice President Mondale, Rosalyn Carter and Mayor Moscone. [28] Burnham also said that, when Deputy Minister Ptolemy Reid traveled to Washington in September of 1977 to sign the Panama Treaties, Mondale asked him "How's Jim?", which indicated to Reid that Mondale had a personal interest in Jones' well being.[28]


Jonestown Investigation and mass migration

Migration to Jonestown (Migration figures after June 1978 are not known, Jonestown Report)Further information: Peoples Temple in San Francisco
In the summer of 1977, Jones and several hundred Temple members moved to Jonestown to escape building pressure from San Francisco media investigations.[29] Jones left the same night that an editor at New West magazine read Jones an article to be published by Marshall Kilduff detailing allegations by former Temple members.[29][30] Jonestown's population increased from 50 members in early 1977 to just under 1000 at its peak in 1978.


Jonestown Jonestown life after mass migration
Many members of the Peoples Temple believed that Guyana would be, as Jones promised, a paradise, or a utopia.[31] After the mass migration, Jonestown became overcrowded.[32]

After Jones arrived, Jonestown life significantly changed.[32] Entertaining movies from Georgetown that the pioneers had watched were eliminated in favor of propaganda shorts on Soviet life provided by the Soviet embassy and documentaries on problems such as elderly life in the U.S. and returning Vietnam veterans' adjustment to civilian life.[32] Bureaucratic requirements after Jones' arrival sapped labor resources for other needs.[32] Buildings fell into disrepair and weeds encroached on fields.[32] School study and night time lectures for adults turned to Jones discussions about revolution and enemies, with lessons focusing on Soviet alliances, Jones' crises and the purported "mercenaries" of Timothy Stoen.[32]

For the first several months, Temple members worked six days a week, from approximately 6:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., with an hour for lunch.[33] In mid-1978, after Jim Jones' health deteriorated and Marcy Jones began managing more of Jonestown's operations, the work week was reduced to eight hours a day for five days a week.[16]


Troolie CottagesAfter the day's work ended, Temple members would attend several hours of activities in a pavilion structure, including classes in socialism.[34] Jones described this study as like that of the North Korean system of eight hours of daily work followed by eight hours of study.[35][36] This also comported with the Temple's practice of gradually subjecting its followers to sophisticated mind control and behavior-modification techniques borrowed from post-revolutionary China and North Korea.[37] Jones would often read news and commentary, including some from Radio Moscow and Radio Havana.[38]

"Discussion" around the topics raised often took the form of Jones interrogating individual followers about the implications and subtexts of a given item, or delivering lengthy and often confused monologues on how his people should 'read' the events. In addition to Soviet documentaries, Conspiracy theory movies such as Executive Action, written by Temple attorneys Mark Lane and Donald Freed, and The Parallax View (incorrectly attributed by Jones to Lane and Freed) were screened and minutely dissected by Jones as primers on the 'true nature' of the Temple's capitalist enemies.[38]

Jones' recorded readings of the news were part of the constant broadcasts over Jonestown's tower speakers, such that all members could hear them throughout the day and night.[39] Jones' news readings usually portrayed the United States as a "capitalist" and "imperialist" villain, while casting "socialist" leaders, such as former North Korean dictator Kim Il-sung ("great leader of the revolution, is in the vanguard of the Korean working class"[40]), Robert Mugabe ("long known for his communist inspiration to the people of Zimbabwe… one of the revolutionary heroes"[41]) and Joseph Stalin (disturbed by people criticizing Stalin[42]), in a positive light.


Jonestown radio towerJonestown's primary means of communication with the outside world was a shortwave radio. [43] All voice communications with San Francisco and Georgetown were transmitted using this radio, from mundane supply orders to confidential Temple business.[43] The FCC cited the Temple for technical violations and for using amateur frequencies for commercial purposes. [43] Because shortwave radio was Jonestown's only effective means of non-postal communication, the Temple felt that the FCC's threats to revoke its operators' licenses threatened Jonestown's existence.[44]

Jonestown, being on poor soil, was not self-sufficient and had to import large quantities of commodities such as wheat.[45] Temple members lived in small communal houses, some with walls woven from Troolie palm, and ate meals which reportedly consisted of nothing more on some days than rice, beans, greens and sometimes meat sauce and eggs (more on others).[46][45] Despite theoretically having access to millions of dollars in Temple funds, Jones also lived in a tiny communal house (pictured below), though fewer people lived there than in other communal houses.[46] His house reportedly held a small refrigerator, containing, at times, eggs, meat, fruit, salads and soft drinks.[46] Medical problems, such as severe diarrhea and high fevers, struck half the community in February 1978.

Although Jonestown contained no dedicated prison and no form of capital punishment, various forms of punishment were used against members considered to be serious disciplinary problems. Methods included imprisonment in a 6 x 4 x 3-foot (1.8 x 1.2 x 0.9m) plywood box and forcing children to spend a night at the bottom of a well, sometimes upside-down.[1] For some members who attempted to escape, drugs such as Thorazine, sodium pentathol, chloral hydrate, Demerol and Valium were administered in an "extended care unit."[47] Armed guards patrolled the area day and night to enforce Jonestown's rules. Some local Guyanese, including a police official, related stories about harsh beatings and a "torture hole", the well into which the children were placed when they were perceived to have misbehaved.[48][49]


Jim Jones' cabinChildren, generally surrendered to communal care, addressed Jones as "Dad" and some at times were only allowed to see their real parents briefly at night. Jones was called "Father" or "Dad" by the adults as well.[50] The community had a nursery at which 33 infants were born.[51]

Up to $65,000 in monthly welfare payments from government organizations in the United States to Jonestown residents were signed over to the Temple.[52] In 1978, officials from the United States Embassy in Guyana interviewed Social Security recipients on multiple occasions to make sure they were not being held against their will.[53] None of the 75 people interviewed by the Embassy stated that they were being held against their will, were forced to sign over welfare checks or wanted to leave Jonestown.[54][53]

The Temple's wealth was estimated in late 1978 to be approximately $26 million.[55]


Jonestown Events in Jonestown prior to Ryan visit

Jonestown White Nights
Jones made frequent addresses to Temple members regarding Jonestown's safety, including statements that the CIA and other intelligence agencies were conspiring with "capitalist pigs" to destroy Jonestown and harm its members.[41][56][57] After work, when purported emergencies arose, the Temple sometimes conducted what Jones referred to as "White Nights".[58] During such events, Jones would sometimes give the Jonestown members four choices: (1) attempt to flee to the Soviet Union; (2) commit "revolutionary suicide"; (3) stay in Jonestown and fight the purported attackers or (4) flee into the jungle.[59]

On at least two occasions during White Nights, after a "revolutionary suicide" vote was reached, a simulated mass suicide was rehearsed. Peoples Temple defector Deborah Layton described the event in an affidavit:

"Everyone, including the children, was told to line up. As we passed through the line, we were given a small glass of red liquid to drink. We were told that the liquid contained poison and that we would die within 45 minutes. We all did as we were told. When the time came when we should have dropped dead, Rev. Jones explained that the poison was not real and that we had just been through a loyalty test. He warned us that the time was not far off when it would become necessary for us to die by our own hands."[60]

The Temple had received monthly half-pound shipments of cyanide since 1976 after Jones obtained a jeweler's license to buy the chemical to purportedly clean gold. [61].


Jonestown Stoen custody dispute
Main article: Timothy Stoen

John (right) (photo: Jonestown Institute)In September 1977, former Temple members Timothy and Grace Stoen battled in a Georgetown court to produce an order for the Temple to show cause why a final order should not be issued returning their purported son, John, to his mother Grace.[62] A few days later, a second order was issued for the arrest of John by authorities. [63]

The fear of being held in contempt of the orders caused Jones to set up a false sniper attack upon himself and begin his first series of White Nights, called the "Six Day Siege", where Jones spoke to Temple members about attacks from outsiders and had them surround Jonestown with guns and machetes.[64] The fiery rallies took an almost surreal tone as Angela Davis and Huey Newton communicated via radio-telephone to the Jonestown crowd, urging them to hold strong against the "conspiracy."[65] Jones made radio broadcasts stating "we will die unless we are granted freedom from harassment and asylum."[66] Guyana Deputy Minister Ptolemy Reid finally assured Jones' wife Marceline that Guyanese Defense Forces would not invade Jonestown. [67]


Jonestown Exploring another potential exodus
After the Six Day Siege, Jones no longer believed the Guyanese could be trusted.[68] Jones directed Temple members to write over a dozen foreign governments inquiring about immigration policies relevant to another exodus by the Temple.[68] He also wrote the U.S. State department inquiring about North Korea and Stalinist Albania.[68]

In Georgetown, the Peoples Temple conducted frequent meetings with the embassies of the Soviet Union, North Korea, Yugoslavia and Cuba.[69] Their negotiations with the Soviet Union included extensive discussions of possible resettlement there and the Temple produced memoranda discussing potential places within the Soviet Union in which they might settle.[69] Sharon Amos, Michael Prokes and other Temple members took active roles in the "Guyana-Korea Friendship Society", which sponsored two seminars on revolutionary concepts of North Korean leader Kim Il Sung.[70]

On October 2, 1978, Feodor Timofeyev from the Soviet Union embassy in Guyana visited Jonestown for two days and gave a speech.[71] Jones stated before the speech that "For many years, we have let our sympathies be quite publicly known, that the United States government was not our mother, but that the Soviet Union was our spiritual motherland," which was followed by extended cheers and applause from the Jonestown crowd.[71] Timofeyev opened the speech stating that the USSR would like to send "our deepest and the most sincere greetings to the people of this first socialist and communist community of the United States of America, in Guyana and in the world," followed by cheers and applause from the crowd.[71] Timofeyev also stated "I'd like to wish you, dear comrades, all the successes to your great, to your very big work you're doing here."[71]

By October 1978, Temple members met almost weekly with Timofeyev discussing a potential exodus to the Soviet Union.[69]


Jonestown Concerned Relatives
Main article: Timothy Stoen
Meanwhile, in late 1977 and early 1978, Tim and Grace Stoen participated in meetings with other relatives of Jonestown residents at the home of Jeannie Mills, and they collectively called themselves the "Concerned Relatives."[72]Tim Stoen engaged in letter writing campaigns to the Secretary of State and the government of Guyana, and traveled to Washington to attempt to begin an investigation. [73] In January of 1978, Stoen wrote a "white paper" to Congress detailing the problems and requesting that Representatives write Forbes Burnham, and 91 Congressmen wrote such letters, including Congressman Leo Ryan[74][75]

Feeling pressure from the United States, on February 17, Jones submitted to an interview with San Francisco Examiner journalist Tim Reiterman. [76] Reiterman wrote a story the next day about Stoen's attempts to gain custody of his son in the San Francisco Examiner, which prompted the immediate threat of a lawsuit by the Temple.[77] The repercussions were devastating for the Temple's reputation, and made most former supporters even more suspicious of the Temple's claims that it was being subjected to a "rightist vendetta."[77]

One day later, on Sunday February 19, 1978, Harvey Milk wrote a letter of support for the Peoples Temple to President Jimmy Carter.[78] Milk wrote that Jones was known "as a man of the highest character".[78] Regarding defecting Temple members pressing for an investigation of the Peoples Temple, Milk wrote "they are attempting to damage Rev. Jones' reputation" with "apparent bold-faced lies".[78]

On April 11, 1978, the Concerned Relatives distributed a packet of documents, including letters and affidavits, that they titled an "Accusation of Human Rights Violations by Rev. James Warren Jones" to the Peoples Temple, members of the press and members of Congress.[79] In June of 1978, Peoples Temple defector Deborah Layton provided the group with a further affidavit detailing alleged crimes by the Peoples Temple and substandard living conditions in Jonestown.[60]

Stoen represented three members of the Concerned Relatives in lawsuits filed in May and June 1978 against Jim Jones and other Temple members seeking in excess of $56 million in damages.[80] The Temple, represented by Charles R. Garry, filed a suit against Tim Stoen on July 10, 1978 seeking $150 million in damages. [81]


Jonestown Digging in
During the summer of 1978, Jones hired JFK assassination conspiracy theorists Mark Lane and Donald Freed to help make the case of a "grand conspiracy" by intelligence agencies against the Peoples Temple.[82] Jones told Lane he wanted to "pull an Eldridge Cleaver", referring to a fugitive Black Panther who was able to return to the United States after repairing his reputation.[82] In September 1978, Lane spoke to the residents of Jonestown, providing support for Jones' theories and drawing parallels between Martin Luther King, Jr. and Jim Jones.[82] Lane then held press conferences stating that "none of the charges" against the Temple "are accurate or true" and that there was a "massive conspiracy" against the Temple by "intelligence organizations," naming the CIA, FBI, FCC and even the U.S. Post Office.[82] Though Lane represented himself as disinterested, Jones was actually paying him $6,000 per month to generate such theories.[83]


Jonestown Declining health
Jones' health significantly declined in Jonestown, and a doctor who examined Jones in 1978 told him that he might have a lung infection.[84] Jones was said to be abusing injectable Valium, Quaaludes, uppers and barbiturates.[85] His once sharp voice later sounded slurred, words ran together and Jones would not finish sentences even when reading.[85]

Journalist Tim Reiterman was surprised by the severe deterioration of Jones' health when Reiterman first saw Jones in Jonestown on November 17, 1978.[51] After covering Jones for 18 months for the San Francisco Examiner, Reiterman thought it was "shocking to see his glazed eyes and festering paranoia face to face, to realize that nearly a thousand lives, ours included, were in his hands." [51]


Jonestown Ryan delegation's initial investigation in Georgetown

Leo RyanOn November 1, 1978, Congressman Leo Ryan, who represented a district in Northern California, announced that he would visit Jonestown.[86] Ryan was friends with the father of Bob Houston, whose mutilated body was found near train tracks on October 5, 1976, three days after a taped telephone conversation with Houston's ex-wife in which leaving the Temple was discussed.[87] Over the following months Ryan's interest was further aroused by the complaints of the Concerned Relatives represented by Timothy Stoen and the allegations following the defection of Deborah Layton.[87]

On November 14, 1978, Ryan flew to Georgetown, Guyana (150 miles from Jonestown), along with a team of 18 people consisting of government officials, media representatives and some members of the Concerned Relatives.[88] The group included Ryan, his legal advisor Jackie Speier (now a Congresswoman), Neville Annibourne (representing Guyana's Ministry of Information) Richard Dwyer (Deputy Chief of Mission of the US Embassy to Guyana), Tim Reiterman (San Francisco Examiner reporter), Don Harris (NBC reporter), Greg Robinson (San Francisco Examiner photographer), Steve Sung (NBC sound man), Bob Flick (NBC producer), Charles Krause (Washington Post reporter), Ron Javers (San Francisco Chronicle reporter), Bob Brown (NBC camera man), and Concerned Relatives representatives Anthony Katsaris, Jim Cobb, Sherwin Harris, and Carolyn Houston Boyd.[89]

The Peoples Temple's lawyers, Mark Lane and Charles Garry, initially refused to allow Ryan's party access to Jonestown.[90]


Jonestown Ryan delegation visits Jonestown

Jonestown Aerial (photo:Jonestown Institute)By late morning on Friday, November 17, Lane and Garry informed Jones that Ryan would likely leave for Jonestown at 2:30 pm, regardless of Jones' schedule or willingness.[91] Ryan's party did so at roughly that time, accompanied by Lane and Garry, and came to Port Kaituma airstrip, 6 miles (10km) from Jonestown, some hours later.[92] Only Ryan and three others were initially accepted into Jonestown, but the rest of Ryan's group was allowed in after sunset.[93] It was later reported (and verified by audiotapes recovered by investigators) that Jones had run rehearsals in how to receive Ryan's delegation in order to convince them that everyone was happy and in good spirits.[94]

That night, the Ryan delegation attended a reception in the pavilion.[95] While the party received a friendly reception, Jones said he felt like a dying man and ranted about government conspiracies and martyrdom as he decried attacks by the press and his enemies.[51] Two Peoples Temple members, Vernon Gosney and Monica Bagby, made the first move for defection that night. In the pavilion, Gosney passed a note to Don Harris (mistaking him for Ryan), reading "Dear Congressman, Vernon Gosney and Monica Bagby. Please help us get out of Jonestown."[96]


Road to Jonestown (photo:Jonestown Institute)That night the Ryan delegation (Ryan, Speier, Dwyer, and Annibourne) stayed in Jonestown.[97] The entire press corps and members of Concerned Relatives were told that they had to find other accommodations, and so they went to Port Kaituma and stayed at a small café.[97]

In the early morning of November 18, eleven Temple members sensed danger enough to walk out of the colony toward train tracks in order to take a train to Matthew's Ridge, which is located in the opposite direction from the airstrip at Port Kaituma along those tracks.[98][99] Those defectors included members of the Evans family and the Wilson family (the family of Jonestown's head of security, Joe Wilson).[98][100][101][102] When reporters and Concerned Relatives arrived in Jonestown later that day, Jim Jones' wife Marceline gave them a tour of the settlement.[103]


Entrance to Jonestown (photo:Jonestown Institute)That afternoon, two families stepped forward and asked to be escorted out of Jonestown by the Ryan delegation.[104] They were the Parks and the Bogue families, along with Christopher O'Neal and Harold Cordell, who were partners of women in the two families.[104][105][98] When Jones' adopted son Johnny attempted to talk Jerry Parks out of leaving, Parks told him "No way, it's nothing but a communist prison camp."[106]

Jones gave the two families, along with Gosney and Bagby, permission to leave.[107] Under the Pavilion, Don Harris of NBC handed Jones the note written by Vernon Gosney while other reporters huddled around Jones.[108] Jones told those reporters that, like others who left the the community, the defectors would "lie" and destroy Jonestown.[108]

After a sudden violent rainstorm started, some emotional scenes developed between family members.[109] Al Simon, an American Indian member of the Peoples Temple, was taking two of his children to Ryan to send them back to the United States.[109] His wife, Bonnie, summoned on the loudspeakers by Jones' staff, loudly denounced her husband.[109] He pleaded in vain with her to return to the U.S., but she rejected his suggestion.[109]


Jonestown The Port Kaituma airstrip shootings
Port Kaituma airstrip shootings

The tractor and trailer driven by the Twin Otter shooters, as recorded by Bob Brown of NBC News. One shooter is visible in front of the vehicle, having just fired a shot.
Location Port Kaituma, Guyana
Date November 18, 1978
5:20 p.m. � 5:25 p.m. (UTC-4)
Attack type Mass murder
Weapon(s) Firearms
Deaths 5[110]
Injured 11[110]
Perpetrator(s) Larry Layton (Cessna attack)
Suspected perpetrator(s) Joe Wilson (Twin Otter attack)
Thomas Kice Sr. (Twin Otter attack)
Ronnie Dennis (Twin Otter attack)
Approximately 5-6 additional Peoples Temple members (Twin Otter attack)
Because of the defectors, a second aircraft was required for those departing Jonestown. While this group began to depart, Congressman Ryan's group planned to stay behind in Jonestown to process any additional defectors.[111]

Shortly before the delegation departed for the airstrip, Jones loyalist Larry Layton demanded to join the group.[111] Several Jonestown defectors voiced their suspicions about Layton's motives.[111]

Shortly after the group left by truck transport, Temple member Don Sly (nicknamed "Ujara") grabbed Ryan while wielding a knife.[112] While Congressman Ryan was unhurt after others wrestled Sly to the ground, Deputy Chief of Mission Dwyer strongly suggested that Ryan leave Jonestown while Dwyer filed a criminal complaint against Sly.[113] Ryan did so, promising to return later to address the dispute.[114]

The truck departing to the airstrip had stopped after hearing of the attack on Ryan.[115] Ryan then boarded the truck, traveled with the group to Port Kaituma airstrip and arrived there later that afternoon.[115]

The entourage planned to use two planes, a six-passenger Cessna and a slightly larger Twin Otter, to fly to Georgetown.[116] The planes were not ready for departure when the group arrived; the group had to wait at the airstrip until approximately 5:10 p.m.[114]

Larry Layton was a passenger on the Cessna, which was the first aircraft to set up for takeoff.[117] Just as the Cessna had taxied to the far end of the airstrip, Layton produced a gun and started shooting at the passengers.[118] He wounded Monica Bagby and Vernon Gosney, and tried to kill Dale Parks, who disarmed him.[118]


Joe WilsonAt this time, the larger Twin Otter was partially boarded with passengers.[119] Concurrent with the shootings on the Cessna, a tractor with a trailer attached driven by members of the Temple's Red Brigade security squad approached the Otter.[119] When the tractor neared within approximately 30 feet (9.1 m) of the Otter, the Red Brigade opened fire on the aircraft while at least two members circled the plane on foot.[114] There were perhaps nine shooters whose identities are not all certainly known, but most sources agree that Joe Wilson, Jones' head of security, Thomas Kice Sr., and Ronnie Dennis were among them.[120]

A few seconds of the shooting were captured on camera by NBC cameraman Bob Brown.[121] Congressman Ryan, Bob Brown, photographer Greg Robinson, NBC reporter Don Harris and Temple defector Patricia Parks were killed in the few minutes of shooting.[121] Jackie Speier, Steve Sung and Anthony Katsaris were among the nine injured in and around the Twin Otter.[121] After the shootings, the Cessna's pilot and the pilot and copilot of the Otter fled in the Cessna to Georgetown, leaving behind the gunfire-damaged Otter and the injured Ryan delegation members.[118]

The murder of Congressman Ryan was the first and only murder of a Congressman in the line of duty in the history of the United States.[122]


Jonestown Deaths in Jonestown

Jones, Garry and DwyerBefore leaving Jonestown for the airstrip, Congressman Ryan had told Temple attorney Charles Garry that he would issue a report that would describe Jonestown "in basically good terms."[123] Ryan stated that none of the sixty relatives Ryan had targeted for interviews wanted to leave, the 14 defectors constituted a very small portion of Jonestown's residents, that any sense of imprisonment the defectors had was likely because of peer pressure and a lack of physical transportation, and even if 200 of the 900+ wanted to leave "I'd still say you have a beautiful place here."[123] Similarly, Washington Post reporter Charles Krause stated that, on the way back to the airstrip, he was unconvinced that Jonestown was as bad as defectors had claimed because there were no signs of malnutrition or physical abuse, while many members appeared to enjoy Jonestown and only a small number of the over 900 residents elected to leave.[124]

Despite Garry's report, Jones told him "I have failed."[125] Garry reiterated that Ryan would be making a positive report, but Jones maintained that "All is lost."[125]

A 44-minute cassette tape (the "death tape"),[126] recorded at least part of a meeting Jones called under the pavilion in the early evening. Before the meeting, aides prepared a metal vat with Flavor Aid, poisoned with Valium, chloral hydrate, Penegram[clarify] and cyanide.[127]

When the assembly gathered, Jones told the gathering "one of the people on that plane is gonna shoot the pilot, I know that. I didn't plan it but I know it's going to happen. They're gonna shoot that pilot and down comes the plane into the jungle and we had better not have any of our children left when it's over, because they'll parachute in here on us…"[126] Parroting Jones' prior statements that hostile forces would convert captured children to Fascism, one temple member states: "The ones that they take captured, they're gonna just let them grow up and be dummies."[126]


Jim McElvane
Christine MillerOn the death tape, only one Temple member, Christine Miller, openly disagreed with the decision for Temple members to commit what they had long referred to as "revolutionary suicide".[126] Miller argued that the Temple should attempt an alternative airlift to Russia.[126] After several exchanges in which Jones argued that a Soviet exodus would not be possible, along with reactions by other temple members hostile to Miller, Miller backed down.[126] However, Miller may have ceased dissenting when Jones confirmed at one point that "the Congressman is dead" after members of his "Red Brigade" squad returned from the airstrip after shooting Ryan. Jim McElvane, a former therapist who had arrived in Jonestown only two days earlier, assisted Jones by arguing against Miller's resistance to suicide, citing possible reincarnation.[126]

After the airstrip shooters arrived back in Jonestown, Tim Carter, a Vietnam war veteran, recalled the shooters having the "thousand-yard stare" of weary soldiers.[128]

After Jones announced that "the congressman is dead" no dissent occurs on the death tape.[126] Directly after this, referring to his Red Brigade security squad that shot Ryan, Jones stated "What the Red Brigade doin' one bit that made any sense anyway" and "Red Brigade showed them justice."[126] In response to reactions of seeing the poison take effect on others, Jones commanded "Stop this hysterics. This is not the way for people who are Socialists or Communists to die. No way for us to die. We must die with some dignity." In addition to Jim McElvane, several other temple members gave speeches praising Jones and his decision for the community to commit suicide, even after Jones stopped appreciating this praise and begged for the process to go faster.[126]


Aftermath of the suicides. The vat containing the poison is visible in the foreground.According to escaped Temple member Odell Rhodes, first to take the poison were Ruletta Paul and her one-year-old infant.[129] A needle-less syringe was used to squirt poison into the infant's mouth and then Paul squirted another syringe into her own mouth.[129] Stanley Clayton also saw mothers with their babies first approach the table containing the poison.[130] Clayton said that Jones approached people to encourage them to drink the poison and that, after adults saw the poison begin to take effect, "they showed a reluctance to die."[130]


Aftermath - Jim Jones pavilion chair and signThe poison caused death within around five minutes.[131] After consuming the poison, according to Rhodes, people were then escorted away down a wooden walkway leading outside the Pavilion.[129] It is not clear if some initially thought the exercise was another "White Night" rehearsal. Rhodes reported being in close contact with dying children.[129]

Jones made reference to the cries and screams: "I don't care how many screams you hear, I don't care how many anguished cries, death is a million times preferable to ten more days of this life. If you knew what was ahead of you � if you knew what was ahead of you, you'd be glad to be stepping over tonight."[126] However, survivor Odell Rhodes stated that while the poison was squirted in some children's' mouths, there was no panic or emotional outburst and people looked like they were "in a trance".[132]

Jones was found dead in a deck chair with a gunshot wound to his head that Guyanese coroner Cyrill Mootoo stated was consistent with a self-inflicted gun wound.[133]

The events at Jonestown constituted the greatest single losses of American civilian life in a non-natural disaster until the incidents of September 11, 2001.[134]


Jonestown Survivors/eyewitnesses

Letter to Timofeyev from the Jonestown Institute.Three high ranking Temple member survivors claim they were given an assignment and thereby escaped death. Brothers Tim and Mike Carter, 30 years old and 20 years old respectively, and Mike Prokes, 31, were given luggage containing $550,000 US currency, $130,000 in Guyanese currency and an envelope, which they were told to deliver to Guyana's Soviet Embassy, in Georgetown.[135] The envelope contained two passports and three instructional letters, the first of which was to Feodor Timofeyev of the Embassy of the Soviet Union in Guyana, stating:

Dear Comrade Timofeyev,
The following is a letter of instructions regarding all of our assets that we want to leave to the Communist Party of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Enclosed in this letter are letters which instruct the banks to send the cashiers checks to you. I am doing this on behalf of Peoples Temple because we, as communists, want our money to be of benefit for help to oppressed peoples all over the world, or in any way that your decision-making body sees fit.[136][135]

The letters included listed accounts with balances totaling in excess of $7.3 million to be transferred to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union [136][137][138] The Carters and Prokes soon ditched most of the money and were apprehended heading for the Temple boat (Cudjo) at Kaituma.[135] It is unknown how they were supposed to reach Georgetown, 150 miles (240 km) away, since the boat had been sent away by Temple leadership earlier that day.[135]

Just before start of the final meeting in the pavilion, lawyers Charles Garry and Mark Lane were told that the people were angry at them. The lawyers were escorted to a house used to accommodate visitors. According to the lawyers, they talked their way past armed guards and made it to the jungle, before eventually arriving in Port Kaituma.[139] While in the jungle near the settlement, they heard cheering, then gunshots. This observation concurs with the testimony of Clayton, who heard the same sounds as he was sneaking back into Jonestown to retrieve his passport.


Odell RhodesFour more people who were intended to be poisoned managed to survive.[135] Grover Davis, 79, who was hearing impaired, missed the announcement to assemble on the loudspeaker, lay down in a ditch and pretended to be dead.[140][141] Hyacinth Thrash, 76, slept through the suicide drills and awoke to find her sister and friends dead.[141][140] Odell Rhodes, 36, a Jonestown teacher and craftsman, volunteered to fetch a stethoscope and hid under a building.[129] Stanley Clayton, 25, a kitchenworker and cousin of Huey Newton, tricked security guards and ran into the jungle.[130]

The sheer scale of the event, as well as Jones' socialist leanings, led some to suggest CIA involvement, though the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence investigated the Jonestown mass suicide and announced that there was no evidence of CIA involvement at Jonestown.[142]


Jonestown Medical examinations
The only medical doctor to initially examine the scene at Jonestown was Guyanese Chief Medical Examiner Dr Leslie Mootoo. Mootoo visually examined over 200 bodies and later told a Guyanese coroner's jury that he saw needle marks on at least 70.[143] However, no determination was made as to whether those injections initiated the introduction of poison or whether they were so-called "relief" injections to quicken death and reduce suffering from convulsions from those who had previously taken poison orally. Mootoo and American pathologist Dr. Lynn Crook determined that cyanide was present in some of the bodies, while analysis of the contents of the vat revealed tranquilizers and two poisons: potassium cyanide and potassium chloride.[143]

Plastic cups, Flavor-Aid packets and syringes, some with needles and some without, littered the area where the bodies were found.[144] Mootoo concluded that the gunshot wound to Annie Moore could not have been self-inflicted, though Moore had also ingested a lethal dose of cyanide.[144]

Guyanese authorities waived their requirement for autopsies in the case of unnatural death.[143] Doctors in the United States performed autopsies on only seven bodies, including those of Jim Jones, Dr. Lawrence Schact, Annie Moore and Carolyn Layton.[143] Annie Moore and Carolyn Layton were selected among those autopsied, in part, because of the urging of the Moore family, including the two victims' sister, Rebecca Moore, who was not a Temple member herself.[143]


Jonestown Notes from non-surviving residents

Will of Marceline Jones from the Jonestown Institute.Found near Marceline Jones' body was a typewritten note, dated November 18, 1978, signed by Marceline Jones and witnessed by Annie Moore and Maria Katsaris, stating:

I, Marceline Jones, leave all bank accounts in my name to the Communist Party of the USSR. The bank accounts are located in the Bank of Nova Scotia, Nassau, Bahamas. Please be sure that these assets do get to the USSR. I especially request that none of these are allowed to get into the hands of my adopted daughter, Suzanne Jones Cartmell. For anyone who finds this letter, please honor this request as it is most important to myself and my husband James W. Jones.[145]

Annie Moore left a note, which in part stated: "I am at a point right now so embittered against the world that I don't know why I am writing this. Someone who finds it will believe I am crazy or believe in the barbed wire that does NOT exist in Jonestown."[146] The last line ("We died because you would not let us live in peace.") is written in different color ink. No other specific reference is made to the events of the day. Moore also wrote, "JONESTOWN ― the most peaceful, loving community that ever existed."[146] In addition she stated,"JIM JONES ― the one who made this paradise possible ― much to the contrary of the lies stated about Jim Jones being a power-hungry sadistic, mean person who thought he was God ― of all things."[146] And "His hatred of racism, sexism, elitism, and mainly classism, is what prompted him to make a new world for the people ― a paradise in the jungle. The children loved it. So did everyone else."[146]


Carolyn Layton (left) and Annie Moore (middle)Another note, found 25 years later, was buried among reams of unrelated paperwork. The document, titled "Last Words", unsigned, was attributed most likely to Richard Tropp.[147] The note contained references to the events of the last day:


Maria KatsarisWe did not want it this way. All was going well as Ryan completed [his] first day here. Then a man tried to attack him, unsuccessfully at some time, several set out into jungle wanting to overtake Ryan, aide, and others who left with him. They did, and several killed. When we heard this, we had no choice. We would be taken. We have to go as one, we want to live as Peoples Temple, or end it. We have chosen. It is finished.[147]

A note likely written by Tish Leroy stated:

Dad I see no way out - I agree with your decision - I fear only that without you the world may not make it to communism - Tish For my part - I am more than tired of this wretched, merciless planet & the hell it holds for the masses of so many beautiful people - thank you for the only life I've known.[148]

Found near Maria Katsaris' body was a handwritten note signed by Katsaris, dated November 18, 1978, witnessed by Jim McElvane and Marilee Bogue, stating, "I Maria Katsaris leave all of the money in the Banco Union de Venezuela in Caracas to the Communist Party Soviet Union."[149]

Found near Carolyn Layton's body was a handwritten note signed by Carolyn Layton, witnessed by Maria Katsaris and Annie Moore, dated November 18, 1978, stating, "This is my last will and testament. I hereby leave all assets in any bank account to which I am a signatory to the Communist Party of the U.S.S.R."[150]


Jonestown Deaths in Georgetown

Sharon, Martin and Christa Amos
Liane HarrisIn the early evening of November 18, at the Temple's headquarters in Georgetown, Temple member Sharon Amos received a radio communication from Jonestown instructing the members at the headquarters to take revenge on the Temple's enemies and then commit revolutionary suicide.[151]Later, after police arrived at the Temple headquarters, Sharon Amos escorted her children, Liane (21), Christa (11) and Martin (10), into a bathroom.[152] Wielding a kitchen knife, Sharon first killed Christa and then Martin.[152] Then Liane assisted Sharon to kill herself with the knife, followed by Liane killing herself with the knife.[152]

Jonestown Aftermath
Further information: Peoples Temple in San Francisco, Jim Jones, and Peoples Temple
At the airstrip, journalist Tim Reiterman photographed the aftermath of the violence.[153] Dwyer assumed leadership at the scene and, at his recommendation, Layton was arrested by Guyanese state police.[154] Dwyer was grazed by one bullet in his buttock during the airstrip shootings.[154] It took several hours before the ten wounded and others in their party gathered themselves together.[154] Most of them spent the night in a café.[154] The more seriously wounded slept in a small tent on the airfield.[154] A Guyanese government plane arrived the following morning to evacuate the wounded.[153] Five teenaged members of the Parks and Bogue families, with one boyfriend, followed the instructions of defector Gerald Parks to hide in the adjacent jungle until help arrived and their safety was assured.[155] Thereafter those members were lost for three days in the jungle and nearly died. Guyanese soldiers eventually found them.

After escaping Jonestown, Odell Rhodes arrived in Port Kaituma on the night of November 18, 1978.[129] That night Stanley Clayton stayed with a local Guyanese family and travelled to Port Kaituma the next morning.[130] The Carter brothers and Michael Prokes were put into protective custody in Port Kaituma.[135] They were later released in Georgetown. Rhodes, Clayton and the two lawyers (Garry and Lane) were also brought to Georgetown. Michael Prokes committed suicide in March 1979, four months after the Jonestown incident.[156]

Larry Layton, who had fired a gun at several people aboard the Cessna, was originally found not guilty of attempted murder in a Guyanese court, employing the defense that he was "brainwashed".[157] Layton could not be tried in the United States for the attempted murders of Vern Gosney, Monica Bagby, the Cessna pilot and Dale Parks on Guyanese soil and was, instead, tried under a federal statute against assassinating members of Congress and internationally protected people (Ryan and Dwyer).[157] He was convicted for conspiracy and aiding and abetting the murder of Congressman Leo Ryan and attempted murder of Richard Dwyer.[157] Paroled in 2002, he is the only person ever to have been held criminally responsible for the events at Jonestown.[158]


Newsweek CoverThe event was one of the most heavily covered by the media and adorned newspaper and magazine covers for months after its occurrence. In February 1979, 98% of Americans polled said that they had heard of the tragedy.[159] George Gallup stated that "few events, in fact, in the entire history of the Gallup Poll have been known to such a high percentage of the U.S. public."[159]

After the tragedy, both the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and the State Department itself criticized the State Department's handling of the Temple.[160] Political opposition to Guyanese Prime Minister Burnham seized the opportunity to embarrass Burnham by establishing an inquest which concluded that Burnham was responsible for the deaths at Jonestown. [160]


Jonestown Former site
Now deserted, the compound at Jonestown was first tended by the Guyanese government following the deaths.[161] The government then allowed its re-occupation by Hmong refugees from Laos for a few years in the early 1980s.[161] The buildings and grounds were looted by local Guyanese people, but were not taken over because of their association with the mass killing. The buildings were mostly destroyed by a fire in the mid-1980s, after which the ruins were left to decay and be reclaimed by the jungle.

During a visit in 1998 to film a segment for the ABC news show 20/20, Jim Jones, Jr. discovered the rusting remains of an oil drum near the former entrance to the Pavilion.[162] Jones recognized the drum, originally adapted for use during meal times, as the drum used for drink mixtures used during the "white night" exercises, and which he believed was used to hold the poison and Flavor-Aid liquid used on November 18, 1978.[162]

There is now little left save an old oil tank turned on its side, and very little indication at all of the former settlement, other than aging fruit trees that were part of the Jonestown orchard, the oil tank, and an abandoned truck that was presumably owned by Peoples Temple.[163] The former pilot then led the host of the show to where the Pavilion once was and they found daisies growing where the bodies had once lain. While they were out in the jungle earlier in the show they had found a desk drawer while searching around.[164]

Westmont College

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
History
The school's mission is to "provide a high quality undergraduate liberal arts program in a residential campus community that assists college men and women toward a balance of rigorous intellectual competence, healthy personal development, and strong Christian commitments." Ruth Kerr, owner of the Kerr Mason Jar Company, established the school as the Bible Missionary Institute (1937), later renamed the Western Bible College (1939). During these early years, Ruth and the other founders decided that a liberal arts curriculum was the best direction for the school. In 1940 Dr. Wallace Emerson, the first president, renamed the school Westmont College, envisioning a Christian liberal arts college that would take its place among the best in the nation.

By 1944, Westmont College had outgrown its facilities in downtown Los Angeles. After a failed attempt to move the campus to Altadena in early 1945 the desperate search for a new campus led Mrs. Kerr and the trustees to the former Dwight Murphy estate in Montecito with its 125 acres (0.51 km2). Westmont purchased this property and moved to the Santa Barbara area in the Fall of 1945.

Set in the foothills of the Santa Ynez Mountains, Westmont's wooded and scenic acres provide an environment for a residential college. The campus includes buildings and land from two former estates and the historic Deane School for Boys. The grounds still feature the pathways, stone bridges, and garden atmosphere typical of Montecito, a suburb of Santa Barbara.

While Westmont has sought to preserve and use the original structures, it has also built new facilities, including the J. Misenhimer Library, the restored Westmont Art Center, the A. Nelson Science Building, the Murchison Gymnasium Complex, and the Ruth Kerr Memorial Student Center. They are currently anticipating the addition of the Winter Hall for Science and Mathematics, and the Adams Center for the Visual Arts as the completion of the master plan.

Westmont is ranked #111 in the US News & World Report "America's Best Colleges 2009" list of liberal arts colleges.


U.S. University Rankings


USNWR Liberal Arts College[1] 111
[1]


Westmont College Academics
Westmont offers 26 majors. The student/faculty ratio is 13 to 1; percentage of faculty with doctorates is 79%[2] those who are without terminal degrees are coaches who teach PE courses; average class size is 18.5[3]. The students come from 25 states, 11 countries, and 33 Christian denominations. Graduation rate in 4 years is 87%.

The majors are not impacted, therefore students are able to change majors easily. Students aren't required to declare their major until the end of their sophomore year so as to graduate on time.

The weekly student newspaper is the Horizon, which can also be found online at http://horizon.westmont.edu [4].

Campus
Westmont College is located a few miles off of U.S. 101 just to the east of Santa Barbara. The city of Santa Barbara is on the central Californian coast and is 100 miles north of Los Angeles and 250 miles south of San Francisco.

The campus itself resides in the hills of Montecito and features 110 acres (0.45 km2) of hills, gardens, and trees. A small creek runs down the campus often dry during summer and autumn and typically full during the rainy spring months and has even flooded campus buildings in El Nino years.

The campus has five on-campus dorms. The two freshman dorms are Page and Clark which are located at the upper corners of campus. Armington is at the lowest point on campus, and is usually the sophomore dorm. Emerson (formerly known as New Dorm and Everest), is at the top of campus and has ocean views in many of its rooms. Van Kampen, the most popular dorm for upper-classmen, is located in the center of the campus and was recently renovated and modernized in the summer of 2006. This renovation included rooms with new windows and cabinets. The bathrooms were competently updated and the kitchens added marble counter tops and large community refrigerators. A 60-inch plasma screen and a regulation size shuffleboard table were added to the Van Kampen lounge. Another option for upper classmen students is the Ocean View Apartments, a college owned apartment building on the east side of Santa Barbara.


Westmont College Off-campus programs
Westmont also offers a significant number of off-campus programs. These programs are run with a faculty member and include Europe semester, England Semester, Westmont in Mexico and the San Francisco Urban program. Westmont is also a member of the Christian College Consortium and there exists the opportunity to study at other Christian colleges including Seattle Pacific, Gordon and Houghton. Additionally, many students may participate in other qualifying programs, including semesters in New Zealand, Belize, Washington D.C., Chile, Italy, France and Lithuania. Students benefit from these programs which provide transferable credit while at the same time exposing them to a different area. Students may decide to do an internship while they are off campus, and many choose Washington DC or the San Francisco Urban program for this purpose. Some students may also go abroad to study a language or another culture as well. Another popular off campus program is in Italy, where students go to study art. Clearly, off campus programs are an important part of the Westmont experience with over 60% percent of students participating in a program during their time studying at Westmont.


Westmont College Spring Sing
Westmont hosts an annual event entitled Spring Sing. This event is a competition between the dorms with eight minute musical comedy skits. The dorms are further divided by gender into male and female houses (with the exception of the Emerson dorm).

The skits incorporate an average of four or five clips of popular songs with altered original lyrics. The lyrics are usually changed to reflect a humorous progression of the skit's main story.

Each Spring Sing house is lead by one or two directors. It is the directors' responsibility to lead their respective house in creating their Spring Sing skit. A director's job typically consists of helping coordinate the skit's script, lyrics, props, side-mics (to bring clarity to the lyrics), dance choreography, and any other snag that the production may encounter. The directors are typically seen guiding their house during the skit dressed in amusing costumes.

Anand Jon

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Anand Jon
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Anand Jon Alexander (born 1973 in India) is a former fashion designer turned convicted rapist who had previously appeared on America's Next Top Model and rose to fame in the fashion industry prior to being convicted of several counts of sexual abuse.


US career
Jon was born in South India, and came to the US to study at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale and later at Parsons. He sold collections at stores including Bergdorf Goodman in New York City, Wilkes Bashford in San Francisco, and Luisa Via Roma in Florence, Italy. [1]. His clothes had been modeled by and designed for celebrities such as Paris Hilton,[2], Rosario Dawson [3], Lawrence Fishburn, Gina Torres [4], Oprah Winfrey [5], and Janet Jackson [6]. His style was primarily known for its specific detail and Indian influence.[7].


Arrest & conviction
Jon was arrested in March 2007 in Beverly Hills on rape and related charges based on the allegations of numerous aspiring models, including committing a lewd act on a child.[1] Later the prosecutor added 15 additional felony counts as the investigation expanded. He was required to turn his passport over, and not allowed to leave the country. [2] He plead not guilty to all charges.

On November 13, 2008 Jon was convicted of 16 out of 23 counts of sexual abuse, including the forcible rape of 7 women and girls aged 14 to 21. Jon is scheduled to be sentenced on January 13, 2009. Because the case involves special circumstances against multiple victims, the penalty is a mandatory life sentence, therefore Jon will only be eligible for parole in 67 years.[3][4]

Jon still faces charges in New York and is also under investigation for similar charges in Texas and Massachusetts. [5]


References

James Otto

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
James Allen Otto (born July 29, 1973 at Fort Lewis in Washington, USA) is an American country music artist who is a member of the MuzikMafia, a group of country musicians known for their "country music without prejudice". Otto began his career on Mercury Nashville Records in 2002, charting three minor singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts and recording his debut album Days of Our Lives for the label before being dropped in 2004.

In late 2007, he signed to Warner Bros. Records. His second album, Sunset Man, was released in April 2008. It was produced by John Rich (of Big & Rich) and Jay DeMarcus (of Rascal Flatts), the latter of whom is Otto's brother-in-law. The lead-off single to Sunset Man, "Just Got Started Lovin' You", became Otto's first Number One hit.
Biography
James Otto was born on July 29, 1973 on the Fort Lewis Army Base in the state of Washington.[1] He first took up singing at age four, and later learned to play violin and saxophone. However, he wanted to learn to play guitar as well, and at age thirteen, he received a guitar for his birthday.[1]

He traveled throughout the country for most of his childhood, but his family finally settled in the small town of Benton City, Washington. After graduating from Kiona-Benton High School, Otto joined the United States Navy, where he served for two years.[1] In 1998, he moved to Nashville, Tennessee, and began attending songwriters' nights there; three years later, he joined the MuzikMafia, a group of country music songwriters which includes Big & Rich and Gretchen Wilson.


James Otto Musical career
In 2002, Otto met Scott Parker of Mercury Nashville Records, who signed him to a record deal that year.[1] His first single, "The Ball", peaked at #45 on the Billboard country charts, while a second single, "Long Way Down", failed to chart at all. Due to the poor chart performance of these singles, Otto's debut album was delayed.

"Days of Our Lives", his third release for the label, was released in late 2003, peaking at #33 on the country charts.[2] Shortly after the song peaked, his debut album (also entitled Days of Our Lives) was released on Mercury, and in 2004, Otto was signed as an opening act for Shania Twain on her Up! Tour. [1] His fourth single for Mercury, "Sunday Morning and Saturday Night", peaked at #58; after the song fell from the charts, Otto exited Mercury's roster.


James Otto Sunset Man
By 2007, Otto signed to Warner Bros. Records Nashville. His first single for the label, "Just Got Started Lovin' You", was released at the end of that year, as the lead-off single to his second album (2008's Sunset Man). The album was co-produced by Otto's brother-in-law, Jay DeMarcus of Rascal Flatts, along with John Rich of Big & Rich.[3] "Just Got Started Lovin' You" reached Number One on the Hot Country Songs charts in May of 2008, becoming the highest-charting single of his career.[4]

Also in mid-2008, Otto was commissioned to perform a new theme song for the Atlanta Braves, entitled "The Braves Play Here," composed by Greg Barnhill and Randy Wachtler for 615 Music.[5] Otto also co-wrote Jamey Johnson's 2008 single "In Color", the first release from Johnson's 2008 album That Lonesome Song.[6] Otto's second single from Sunset Man, the song "For You", reached #39 in September 2008. It was followed by "These Are the Good Ole Days".

Lady Antebellum

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Lady Antebellum is an American country music group formed in Nashville, Tennessee in 2006 by Charles Kelley (lead and background vocals), Dave Haywood (background vocals, guitar) and Hillary Scott (lead and background vocals).[1][2] The trio made their debut in 2007 as guest vocalists on Jim Brickman's single "Never Alone", a #14 hit on the Billboard Adult Contemporary charts. By the end of the year, they had signed to Capitol Records Nashville, and had released their first country single, "Love Don't Live Here".[2][3] The song, which entered the Top 5 on the Hot Country Songs charts in May 2008, served as the lead-off single to the group's self-titled debut album.

Lady Antebellum was formed in 2006[4] in the city of Nashville, Tennessee by Charles Kelley, Dave Haywood and Hilary Scott. Hillary Scott is the daughter of 1990s country music artist Linda Davis,[2] while Charles Kelley (who had previously recorded two solo pop albums) is the brother of pop artist Josh Kelley. Charles Kelley moved to Nashville in the summer of 2005 from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where he'd been working construction with his brother John. Trying to become a successful solo country artist, Charles convinced his old middle-school classmate (Haywood) to move to Nashville from Georgia in 2006 so they could write music together. Shortly thereafter, Kelley met Scott at a Nashville music club and invited Scott to join him and Haywood in the new group, which assumed the name Lady Antebellum.[1]

The trio made the rounds in Nashville playing at various venues; eventually, adult contemporary artist Jim Brickman chose the trio to sing on his 2007 single "Never Alone", a #14 hit on the Billboard adult contemporary charts. The trio also wrote a song for the MTV reality television series "The Hills".[5]

Lady Antebellum was then signed in 2007 to a recording contract with Capitol Records Nashville.[2] Their single "Love Don't Live Here" was released in September of that year, with a music video for the song following in December.[6] "Love Don't Live Here" was the lead-off single to the band's self-titled debut album. Released on April 15, 2008, it was produced by Paul Worley and Victoria Shaw.[4] This song reached #3 on the Hot Country Songs charts. A second single, "Lookin' for a Good Time", was issued in June 2008.

In addition, Lady Antebellum has been signed as an opening act on Martina McBride's Waking Up Laughing Tour in 2008.[7]

Colby Buzzell

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Buzzell grew up in San Ramon, California and enlisted in the United States Army at the age of 26. Prior to joining the Army he described his life as engaging in a lot of drinking, drug use, dead-end jobs and a minor criminal record. He was very optimistic about his Army service and was determined to follow the Army recruiting slogan of "Be All That You Can Be". He joined the service as an infantryman and spent 2003 in Iraq, assigned to a Stryker Brigade Combat Team. In his book he expresses a great deal of enthusiasm about the benefits of wheels over traditional treaded armor in urban settings.

It was in Iraq that Buzzell began publishing a blog under the title "CBFTW", "Colby Buzzel Fuck The War[1]", as a replacement for his habitual journaling back in the States. The blog[1] gained popularity quickly, because as an anonymous soldier-blogger Buzzell was able to share more lucid experiences than an embedded journalist, and he was also able to share a bit more of the truth than the Army was able to.

Buzzell's blog gained recognition for it's realistic portrayal of gripping first hand accounts of the war in Iraq. [2] This 'milblog' won praise as "an unfiltered, often ferocious expression of his boots-on-the-ground view of the Iraq war" [3]

Colby published a book on his experiences entitled, My War: Killing Time in Iraq combining narrative, blog entries, and emails that evolved from his blog over time. The book received good reviews and has been recommended for public libraries [2].

In 2004, Buzzell was profiled in Esquire magazine's "Best and Brightest" issue and has since contributed regularly. In 2007, Buzzell received the 2007 Lulu Blooker Prize for My War: Killing Time in Iraq.

On 2008 Buzzell was re-called for active duty.[4] but after he arrived at his post, he was examined by the medical staff at Fort Benning, and marked "NOT DEPLOYABLE" due to posttraumatic stress disorder.[5]

chunnel

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Channel Tunnel (French: Le tunnel sous la Manche), also known by the portmanteau Chunnel[1], is a 50.5 km (31.4 mi) undersea rail tunnel linking Folkestone, Kent in England with Coquelles near Calais in northern France beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover. At its lowest point it is 75 m (250 ft) deep.[2] It has the longest undersea portion of any tunnel in the world, although Japan's Seikan Tunnel is longer overall at 53.85 km (33.5 mi) and reaches a depth of 240 m (790 ft).

The tunnel carries high-speed Eurostar passenger trains, Eurotunnel ro-ro vehicle transport and international rail freight trains. In 1996 the American Society of Civil Engineers identified the tunnel as one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World.
Overview
Ideas for a cross-Channel fixed link existed as early as 1802 but the eventual successful project, organised by Eurotunnel, began construction in 1988, opening in 1994. The cost overran predictions by 80%, and concessionaire Eurotunnel overestimated tunnel traffic and has met financial difficulty. Fires have disrupted operation of the tunnel. Illegal immigrants and asylum seekers have used the tunnel to enter Britain, causing a minor diplomatic row over the siting of the Sangatte refugee camp, which was eventually closed in 2002.

Eleven tunnel boring machines working from both the UK and France cut through chalk marl to construct two rail tunnels and a service tunnel. Rolling stock using the tunnel includes Eurostar passenger trains based on the French TGV and vehicle shuttle wagons that are the largest in the world; the tunnel has its own fleet of service vehicles. The vehicle shuttle terminals are at Cheriton (Part of Folkestone) and Coquelles, and are connected to the British and French motorways.


chunnel History
Key dates
1802 Albert Mathieu put forward a cross-Channel tunnel proposal.
1875 The Channel Tunnel Company Ltd[3] began preliminary trials.
1882 The Abbot's Cliff heading had reached 897 yards and that at Shakespeare Cliff was 2,040 yards in length.
January 1974 A UK�France government backed scheme that started in 1974 was cancelled.
February 1986 The Treaty of Canterbury was signed allowing the project to proceed.
June 1988 First tunnelling commenced in France.
December 1988 UK TBM commenced operation.
December 1990 The service tunnel broke through under the Channel.
May 1994 The tunnel was formally opened by HM The Queen and President Mitterand.
Mid 1994 Freight and passenger trains commenced operation.
November 1996 A fire in a lorry shuttle severely damaged the tunnel
November 2007 High Speed 1, linking London to the tunnel, opened.
Proposals for a fixed link across the English Channel go back to Albert Mathieu's 1802 plan involving horse-drawn carts and an artificial mid-Channel island. For over 150 years, British political and press pressure over compromised national security stalled attempts to construct a tunnel. In 1974, French and UK government-funded construction commenced on both sides of the Channel, but the project was cancelled by the UK government over financial concerns. In 1985, the UK and French governments invited submissions for a fixed link. Eurotunnel, a group of ten construction companies and five banks, was awarded the project, a triple-bore railway tunnel based on the 1974 attempt. Tunnelling commenced in 1988, and the tunnel began operating in 1994. In 1985 prices, the total construction cost was £4650 million (£10,153 million inflation-adjusted to 2007)[4], an 80% cost overrun. At the peak of construction 15,000 people were employed with daily expenditure over £3 million.[5] Ten workers died during construction between 1987 and 1993, the majority being killed in the first few months of boring. Of the 10 deaths, 8 were British workers.[6][7][8]

Three services use the tunnel: Eurotunnel Shuttle (formerly Le Shuttle), a roll-on roll-off shuttle service for road vehicles including lorries; Eurostar passenger trains; and freight trains. Eurotunnel's traffic predictions for the tunnel were overestimated and the group has been challenged financially. In 1996 and again in 2006 and 2008, heavy goods vehicle shuttle wagon fires caused damage and restricted use of the tunnel, although nobody was seriously hurt in any of the incidents. Five years after the opening of the tunnel there were few and small impacts on the wider economy, and it was difficult to identify major developments associated with the tunnel.[9] In 1996 the American Society of Civil Engineers, with Popular Mechanics, selected the tunnel as one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World.[10]


chunnel Proposals and attempts

Thomé de Gamond's 1856 plan for a cross-Channel link, with a port/airshaft on the Varne sandbank mid-Channel.In 1802 French mining engineer Albert Mathieu put forward a proposal to tunnel under the English Channel, with illumination from oil lamps, horse drawn coaches, and an artificial island mid-Channel for changing horses.[11] In the 1830s Frenchman Aimé Thomé de Gamond performed the first geological and hydrographical surveys on the Channel, between Calais and Dover. Thomé de Gamond explored several schemes, and in 1856 he presented a proposal to Napoleon III for a mined railway tunnel from Cap Gris-Nez to Eastwater Point with a port/airshaft on the Varne sandbank[12] at a cost of 170 million francs, or less than 7 million pounds sterling.[13]

In 1865, a deputation led by George Ward Hunt proposed the idea of a tunnel to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, William Ewart Gladstone.[14] After 1867, William Low and Sir John Clarke Hawkshaw promoted ideas, but none were implemented. An official Anglo-French protocol was established in 1876 for a cross-Channel railway tunnel. In 1881, British railway entrepreneur Sir William Watkin and French Suez Canal contractor Alexandre Lavalley were in the Anglo-French Submarine Railway Company that conducted exploratory work on both sides of the Channel. On the English side a 2.13-metre (6.99 ft) diameter Beumont-English boring machine dug a 1,893-metre (6,211 ft) pilot tunnel from Shakespeare Cliff. On the French side a similar machine dug 1,669 metres (5,476 ft) from Sangatte. The project was abandoned in May 1882 owing to British political and press campaigns arguing that a tunnel would compromise Britain's national defences.[15]

In 1955 defence arguments were accepted to be irrelevant because of the dominance of air power. The British and French governments supported technical and geological surveys. Construction work commenced on both sides of the Channel in 1974, a government-funded project using twin tunnels on either side of a service tunnel, with capability for car shuttle wagons. In January 1975, to the dismay of the French partners, the British government cancelled the project. The government had changed to the Labour Party and there was uncertainty about EC membership, cost estimates had ballooned to 200% and the national economy was troubled. By this time the British Priestly TBM was ready and the Ministry of Transport was able to do a 300 m experimental drive.[15]

In 1979 the "Mouse-hole Project" was suggested when the Conservatives came to power in Britain. The concept was a single-track rail tunnel with a service tunnel, but without shuttle terminals. The British government took no interest in funding the project but Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said she had no objection to a privately funded project. In 1981 British and French leaders Margaret Thatcher and Fran?ois Mitterrand agreed to set up a working group to look into a privately funded project, and in April 1985 promoters were formally invited to submit scheme proposals. Four submissions were shortlisted:

a rail proposal based on the 1975 scheme presented by Channel Tunnel Group/France�Manche (CTG/F�M),
Eurobridge � a 4.5 km span suspension bridge with a roadway in an enclosed tube
Euroroute � a 21 km tunnel between artificial islands approached by bridges, and
Channel Expressway � large diameter road tunnels with mid-channel ventilation towers.[15]
The cross-Channel ferry industry protested under the name "Flexilink". In 1975 there was no campaign protesting against a fixed link, with one of the largest ferry operators (Sealink) being state owned. Flexilink continued rousing opposition throughout 1986 and 1987.[15] Public opinion strongly favoured a drive-through tunnel, but ventilation issues, concerns about accident management, and fear of driver mesmerisation led to the only shortlisted rail submission, CTG/F-M, being awarded the project.[15]


chunnel Organisation

A flow chart describing the organisation structure used on the project. Eurotunnel is the central organisation for construction and operation (via a concession) of the tunnel.The Channel Tunnel Group consisted of two banks and five construction companies and the French equivalent, France�Manche, consisted of three banks and five construction companies. The role of the banks was to advise on financing and secure loan commitments. On 2 July 1985 the groups formed Channel Tunnel Group/France�Manche (CTG/F�M). Their submission to the British and French governments was drawn from the 1975 project, including 11 volumes and a substantial environmental impact statement.[15]

The design and construction was done by the ten construction companies in the CTG/F-M group. The French terminal and boring from Sangatte was undertaken by the five French construction companies in the joint venture group GIE Transmanche Construction. The English Terminal and boring from Shakespeare Cliff was undertaken by five English construction companies in the Trankslink Joint Venture. The two partnerships were linked by TransManche Link (TML), a binational project organisation.[15] The Ma?tre d'Oeuvre was a supervisory engineering body employed by Eurotunnel under the terms of the concession that monitored project activity and reported back to the governments and banks.[16]

In France, with its long tradition of infrastructure investment, the project garnered widespread approval and in April 1987 the French National Assembly gave unanimous support and after a public inquiry the Senate gave unanimous support in June 1987. In Britain, select committees examined the proposal, making history by holding hearings outside of Westminster, in Kent. In February 1987 the third reading of the Channel Tunnel Bill occurred in the House of Commons, and was carried by 94 votes to 22. The Channel Tunnel Act passed into British law in July.[15]

The Channel Tunnel is a build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) project with a concession.[17] TML would design and build the tunnel, but financing was through a separate legal entity: Eurotunnel. Eurotunnel absorbed CTG/F-M and signed a construction contract with TML; however, the British and French governments controlled final engineering and safety decisions. The British and French governments gave Eurotunnel a 55- (later 65-) year operating concession to repay loans and pay dividends. A Railway Usage Agreement was signed between Eurotunnel, British Rail and the Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Fran?ais guaranteeing future revenue in exchange for the railways obtaining half of the tunnel's capacity.

Private funding for such a complex infrastructure project was of unprecedented scale. An initial equity of £45 million was raised by CTG/F-M, increased by £206 million private institutional placement, £770 million was raised in a public share offer that included press and television advertisements, a syndicated bank load and letter of credit arranged £5 billion.[15] Privately financed, the total investment costs at 1985 prices were £2600 million. At the 1994 completion actual costs were, in 1985 prices, £4650 million: an 80% cost overrun.[18] The cost overrun was partly due to enhanced safety, security, and environmental demands.[17] Financing costs were 140% higher than forecast.[19]


chunnel Progress

The Channel Tunnel was opened in Calais on 6 May 1994 by Queen Elizabeth II and French President Fran?ois Mitterrand.A small two-inch (50-mm) diameter pilot hole allowed the service tunnel to break through without ceremony on 30 October 1990.[20] On 1 December 1990 Englishman Graham Fagg and Frenchman Phillipe Cozette broke through the service tunnel with the media watching.[21] Eurotunnel completed the tunnel on time,[17] and the tunnel was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II and French President Fran?ois Mitterrand in a ceremony held in Calais on 6 May 1994. The Queen travelled through the tunnel to Calais on a Eurostar train, which stopped nose to nose with the train that carried President Mitterrand from Paris.[22] Following the ceremony President Mitterrand and the Queen travelled on Le Shuttle to a similar ceremony in Folkestone.[22]

The Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL), now called High Speed 1, runs 69 miles (111 km) from St Pancras railway station in London to the Channel Tunnel portal at Folkestone in Kent. It cost £5.8 billion. On 16 September 2003 UK Prime Minister Tony Blair opened the first section of High Speed 1, from Folkestone to north Kent. On 6 November 2007 the Queen officially opened High Speed 1 and St Pancras International station[23], replacing the original slower link to Waterloo International railway station. On High Speed 1 trains travel at speeds up to 300 km/h (186 mph), the journey from London to Paris taking 2 hours 15 minutes and London to Brussels taking 1 hour 51 minutes.[24]


chunnel Usage and operation

A Channel Tunnel traffic graph showing the number of passengers and tonnes of freight. Freight vehicle shuttle numbers dropped in 1996/7 owing to closure of the service after the November 1996 fire.
The British terminal at Cheriton in west Folkestone. The terminal services shuttle trains that carry vehicles, and is linked to the M20 motorway.Services offered by the tunnel are:

Eurostar passenger trains.
Eurotunnel Shuttle roll-on roll-off shuttle service for road vehicles.
Through freight trains.[25]
Both the freight and passenger traffic forecasts that led to the construction of the tunnel were largely and universally overestimated. Particularly, Eurotunnel's commissioned forecasts were over-predictions.[26] Although the captured share of Channel crossings (competing with air and sea) was forecast correctly, high competition and reduced tariffs has led to low revenue. Overall cross-Channel traffic was overestimated � a cost benefit analysis of the Channel Tunnel indicated that the British economy would have been better off if the Tunnel had not been constructed.[27]

Channel Tunnel passenger volumes were overestimated, peaking at 18.4 million in 1998, and down to 14.7 million in 2003. At the time of deciding to build the tunnel 15.9 million passengers were predicted for Eurostar trains in the opening year. In 1995, the opening year, actual numbers were 2.9 million. Passenger numbers in 2001 were 6.9 million.[26] Tunnel freight traffic volumes have been erratic, with a decrease during 1997 due to a closure caused by a fire in a freight shuttle. The total freight crossings increased over the period, indicating the substitutability of the tunnel by sea crossings. The tunnel has achieved a cross-Channel freight traffic market share close to or above Eurotunnel's 1980s predictions but Eurotunnel's 1990 and 1994 predictions were overestimates. The first year freight prediction was 7.2 million gross tonnes, however, the 1995 figure was 1.3 million gross tonnes, in 2001 this had increased to 2.4 million tonnes.[26] Freight traffic growth has occurred since opening, with 18.4 million tonnes recorded in 2003.[27]

Shares in Eurotunnel were issued at £3.50 per share on 9 December 1987. By mid-1989 the price had risen to £11.00. Delays and cost overruns led to the share price dropping; during demonstration runs in October 1994 the share price reached an all-time low value. Eurotunnel suspended payment on its debt in September 1995 to avoid bankruptcy. In December 1997 the British and French governments extended Eurotunnel's operating concession by 34 years to 2086. Financial restructuring of Eurotunnel occurred in mid-1998, reducing debt and financial charges. Despite the restructuring The Economist reported in 1998 that to break even Eurotunnel would have to increase fares, traffic and market share for sustainability.[28]

Under the terms of the Concession Eurotunnel was obliged to investigate a cross-Channel road tunnel. In December 1999 road and rail tunnel proposals were presented to the British and French governments, but it was stressed that there was not enough demand for a second tunnel.[29] A three-way treaty between the United Kingdom, France and Belgium governs border controls, with the establishment of control zones wherein the officers of the other nation may exercise limited customs and law enforcement powers. For most purposes these are at either end of the tunnel, with the French border controls on the UK side of the tunnel and vice versa. For certain city-to-city trains the train itself represents a control zone.[30] A binational emergency plan coordinates UK and French emergency activities.[31]

Eurotunnel's freight subsidiary is Europorte 2.[32] In September 2006 EWS, the UK's largest rail freight operator, announced that owing to cessation of UK-French government subsidies of £52 million per annum to cover the Channel Tunnel "Minimum User Charge" (a subsidy of around £13,000 per train, at a traffic level of 4,000 trains per annum), freight trains would stop running after 30 November.[33]


chunnel Fires
There have been three fires in the Channel Tunnel that were significant enough to close the tunnel, all on the HGV shuttles.


chunnel 1996
Main article: 1996 Channel Tunnel fire
On 18 November 1996 a fire broke out on a heavy goods vehicle shuttle wagon in the tunnel but nobody was seriously hurt. The exact cause is unknown, although it was not a Eurotunnel equipment or rolling stock problem; it may have been due to arson of a heavy goods vehicle. It is estimated that the heart of the fire reached 1,000 °C (1,800 °F), with the tunnel severely damaged over 46 metres (151 ft), with some 500 metres (1,640 ft) affected to some extent. Full operation recommenced six months after the fire.[34]


chunnel 2006
The tunnel was closed for several hours on 21 August 2006, when a lorry on a shuttle train caught fire.[35]


chunnel 2008
Main article: 2008 Channel Tunnel fire
On 11 September 2008 a fire occurred in the Channel Tunnel at 13:57 GMT. The incident started on a freight-carrying vehicle train travelling towards France. The event occurred 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) from the French entrance to the tunnel. No one was killed but several people were taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation, and minor cuts and bruises. The tunnel was closed to all traffic, with the undamaged South Tunnel reopening for limited services two days later. A third of the north tunnel remains closed.[36].


chunnel Regional impact
A 1996 report from the European Commission predicted that Kent and Nord-Pas de Calais had to face increased traffic volumes due to general growth of cross-Channel traffic and traffic attracted by the tunnel. In Kent, a high-speed rail line to London would transfer traffic from road to rail.[37] Kent's regional development would benefit from the tunnel, but being so close to London restricts the benefits. Gains are in the traditional industries and are largely dependent on the development of Ashford International passenger station, without which Kent would be totally dependent on London's expansion. Nord-Pas-de-Calais enjoys a strong internal symbolic effect of the Tunnel which results in significant gains in manufacturing.[38]

The removal of a bottleneck by means like the Channel Tunnel does not necessarily induce economic gains in all adjacent regions, the image of a region being connected to the European high-speed transport and active political response are more important for regional economic development. Tunnel-induced regional development is small compared to general economic growth.[39] The South East of England is likely to benefit developmentally and socially from faster and cheaper transport to continental Europe, but the benefits are unlikely to be equally distributed throughout the region. The overall environmental impact is almost certainly negative.[40]

Five years after the opening of the tunnel there were few and small impacts on the wider economy, and it was difficult to identify major developments associated with the tunnel.[9]


chunnel Asylum and immigration
Illegal immigrants and would-be asylum seekers have been known to use the tunnel to attempt to enter Britain. By 1997, the problem had already attracted international press attention, and the French Red Cross opened a refugee centre at Sangatte in 1999, using a warehouse once used for tunnel construction; by 2002 it housed up to 1500 persons at a time, most of them trying to get to the UK.[41] At one point, large numbers came from Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran, but African and Eastern European countries are also represented.[42] Most migrants who got into Britain found some way to ride a freight train, but others used Eurostar. Though the facilities were fenced, airtight security was deemed impossible; refugees would even jump from bridges onto moving trains. In several incidents people were injured during the crossing; others tampered with railway equipment, causing delays and requiring repairs.[43] Eurotunnel said it was losing £5m per month because of the problem.[44] A dozen refugees have died in crossing attempts.[41] In 2001 and 2002, several riots broke out at Sangatte and groups of refugees (up to 550 in a December 2001 incident) stormed the fences and attempted to enter en masse.[45] Immigrants have also arrived as legitimate Eurostar passengers without proper entry papers.[46]

Local authorities in both France and the UK called for the closure of Sangatte, and Eurotunnel twice sought an injunction against the centre.[41] The United Kingdom blamed France for allowing Sangatte to open, and France blamed the UK for its lax asylum rules and the EU for not having a uniform immigration policy.[44] The cause célèbre nature of the problem even included journalists detained as they followed refugees onto railway property.[47] In 2002, after the European Commission told France that it was in breach of European Union rules on the free transfer of goods, because of the delays and closures as a result of its poor security, a double fence was built at a cost of £5 million, reducing the numbers of refugees detected each week reaching Britain on goods trains from 250 to almost none.[48] Other measures included CCTV cameras and increased police patrols.[49] At the end of 2002, the Sangatte centre was closed after the UK and France agreed to take shares of the refugees.[50]


chunnel Engineering

The Channel Tunnel exhibit at the National Railway Museum in York, England, showing the circular cross section of the tunnel with the overhead line powering a Eurostar train. Also visible is the segmented tunnel lining.Surveying undertaken in the 20 years before tunnel construction confirmed earlier speculations that a tunnel route could be bored through a chalk marl stratum. The chalk marl was conducive to tunnelling, with impermeability, ease of excavation and strength. While on the English side the chalk marl ran along the entire length of the tunnel, on the French side a length of 5 kilometres (3 mi) had variable and difficult geology. The Channel Tunnel consists of three bores: two 7.6-metre (25 ft) diameter rail tunnels, 30 metres (98 ft) apart, 50 kilometres (31 mi) in length with a 4.8-metre (16 ft) diameter service tunnel in between. There are also cross-passages and piston relief ducts. The service tunnel was used as a pilot tunnel, boring ahead of the main tunnels to determine the conditions. English access was provided at Shakespeare Cliff, while French access came from a shaft at Sangatte. The French side used five tunnel boring machines (TBMs), the English side used six. The service tunnel uses Service Tunnel Transport System (STTS) and Light Service Tunnel Vehicles (LADOGS). Fire safety was a critical design issue.

Between the portals at Beussingue and Castle Hill the tunnel is 50.5 kilometres (31 mi) long, with 3.3 kilometres (2 mi) under land on the French side, 9.3 kilometres (6 mi) under land on the UK side and 37.9 kilometres (24 mi) under sea.[51] This makes the Channel Tunnel the second longest rail tunnel in the world, behind the Seikan Tunnel in Japan, but with the longest under-sea section.[52] The average depth is 45 metres (148 ft) below the seabed.[53] On the UK side, of the expected 5 million m3 of spoil approximately 1 million m3 was used for fill at the terminal site, and the remainder was deposited at Lower Shakespeare Cliff behind a seawall, reclaiming 74 acres (30 ha)[5] of land.[54] This land was then made into the Samphire Hoe Country Park. Environmental impact assessment did not identify any major risks for the project, and further studies into safety, noise, and air pollution were overall positive. However, environmental objections were raised over a high-speed link to London.[55]


chunnel Surveying
Marine soundings and samplings by Thomé de Gamond were carried out during 1833�67, establishing the seabed depth at a maximum of 55 m and the continuity of geological strata (layers). Surveying continued over many years, with 166 marine and 70 land-deep boreholes being drilled and over 4000 line kilometres of marine geophysical survey completed.[56] Surveys were undertaken in 1958�59, 1964�65, 1972�74 and 1986�88.

The surveying in 1958�59 catered for immersed tube and bridge designs as well as a bored tunnel, and thus a wide area was investigated. At this time marine geophysics surveying for engineering projects was in its infancy, with poor positioning and resolution from seismic profiling. The 1964-65 surveys concentrated on a northerly route that left the English coast at Dover harbour, using 70 boreholes an area of deeply weathered rock with high permeability was located just south of Dover harbour.[56]

Given the previous survey results and access constraints a more southerly route was investigated in the 1972�73 survey and the route was confirmed to be feasible. Information for the tunnelling project also came from work before the 1975 cancellation. On the French side at Sangatte a deep shaft with adits was made. On the English side at Shakespeare Cliff the government allowed 250 metres (820 ft) of 4.5 metres (15 ft) diameter tunnel to be driven. The actual tunnel alignment, method of excavation and support were essentially the same as the 1975 attempt. In the 1986�97 survey, previous findings were reinforced and the nature of the gault clay and tunnelling medium, chalk marl that made up 85% of the route, were investigated. Geophysical techniques from the oil industry were employed.[56]


chunnel Geology

Geological profile along the tunnel as constructed. For the majority of its length the tunnel bores through a chalk marl stratum (layer).Successful tunnelling under the channel required a sound understanding of the topography and geology and the selection of the best rock strata to tunnel through. The geology generally consists of northeasterly dipping Cretaceous strata, part of the northern limb of the Wealden-Boulonnais dome. Characteristics include:

as observed by Verstegan in 1698, the chalk of the cliffs on either side of the Channel is continuous, and contains no major faulting
the cliffs consist of four geological strata, marine sediments laid down 90�100 million years ago; pervious upper and middle chalk above slightly pervious lower chalk and finally impermeable Gault Clay. A sandy stratum, glauconitic marl (tortia), is in between the chalk marl and gault clay
a 25�30 metre (82�98 ft) layer of chalk marl (French: craie bleue)[57] in the lower third of the lower chalk appeared to present the best tunnelling medium. The chalk has a clay content of 30�40% providing impermeability to groundwater yet relatively easy excavation with strength allowing minimal support. Ideally the tunnel would be bored in the bottom 15 m of the chalk marl, allowing water inflow from fractures and joints to be minimised, but above the gault clay that would increase stress on the tunnel lining and swell and soften when wet.
On the English side of the channel the strata dip less than 5°, however on the French side this increases to 20°. Jointing and faulting is present on both the English and French sides. On the English side only minor faults of displacement less than 2 metres (7 ft) exist. On the French side displacements of up to 15 metres (49 ft) are present owing to the Quenocs anticlinal fold. The faults are of limited width, filled with calcite, pyrite and remoulded clay. The increased dip and faulting restricted the selection of route on the French side. To avoid confusion microfossil assemblages were used to classify the chalk marl. On the French side, particularly near the coast, the chalk was harder and brittler and more fractured than on the English side. This led to the adoption of different tunnelling techniques on the French and English sides.[58]

No major geological hazards were identified, however the Quaternary undersea valley Fosse Dangaered, and Castle Hill landslip located at the English portal were concerning. Identified by the 1964�65 geophysical survey the Fosse Dangaered is an infilled valley system extending 80 metres (262 ft) below the seabed, 500 metres (1,640 ft) south of the tunnel route, located mid-channel. A 1986 survey showed that a tributary crossed the path of the tunnel and so the tunnel route was made as far north and deep as possible. The English terminal had to be located in the Castle Hill landslip, which consists of displaced and tipping blocks of lower chalk, glauconitic marl and gault debris. Thus the area was stabilised by buttressing and inserting drainage adits.[58] The service tunnels were pilot tunnels preceding the main tunnels so that the geology, areas of crushed rock and zones of high water inflow could be predicted. Exploratory probing took place in the service tunnels in the form of extensive forward probing, vertical downward probes and sideways probing.[58]


chunnel Tunnelling

Typical tunnel cross section, with a service tunnel in between twin rail tunnels. Shown linking the rail tunnels is a piston relief duct, necessary to manage pressure changes due to the movement of trains.Tunnelling between England and France was a major engineering challenge with the only precedent being the undersea Seikan Tunnel in Japan. A serious risk with underwater tunnels is major water inflow due to the water pressure from the sea above under weak ground conditions. The Channel Tunnel also had the challenge of time - being privately funded, early financial return was paramount.

The objective was to construct: two 7.6-metre (25 ft) diameter rail tunnels, 30 metres (98 ft) apart, 50 kilometres (31 mi) in length; a 4.8-metre (16 ft) diameter service tunnel between the two main tunnels; pairs of 3.3-metre (11 ft) diameter cross-passages linking the rail tunnels to the service tunnel at 375-metre (1,230 ft) spacing; piston relief ducts 2-metre (7 ft) diameter connecting the rail tunnels at 250-metre (820 ft) spacing; two undersea crossover caverns to connect the rail tunnels.[59] The service tunnel always preceded the main tunnels by at least 1 kilometre (0.6 mi) to ascertain the ground conditions, experience with tunnelling through chalk had occurred in the mining industry. The undersea crossover caverns were a complex engineering problem. The French cavern was based on the Mount Baker Ridge freeway tunnel in the USA. The UK cavern was dug from the service tunnel ahead of the main tunnels to avoid delay.

Precast segmental linings in the main TBM drives were used, but different solutions were used on the English and French sides. On the French side neoprene and grout sealed bolted linings made of cast iron or high-strength reinforced concrete were used. On the English side the main requirement was for speed, and bolting of cast-iron lining segments was only carried out in areas of poor geology. In the UK rail tunnels eight lining segments plus a key segment were used, on the French side five segments plus a key segment.[60] On the French side a 55-metre (180 ft) diameter 75-metre (246 ft) deep grout-curtained shaft at Sangatte was used for access. On the English side a marshalling area was 140 metres (459 ft) below the top of Shakespeare Cliff, and the New Austrian Tunnelling method (NATM) was first applied in the chalk marl here. On the English side the land tunnels were driven from Shakespeare Cliff, the same place as the marine tunnels, not from Folkestone. The platform at the base of the cliff was not large enough for all of the drives, and despite environmental objections tunnel spoil was placed behind a reinforced concrete seawall, on condition of placing the chalk in an enclosed lagoon to avoid wide dispersal of chalk fines. Owing to limited space the precast lining factory was on the Isle of Grain in the Thames estuary.[59]

On the French side, owing to the greater permeability of water, earth pressure balance TBMs with open and closed modes were used. The TBMs were of a closed nature during the initial 5 kilometres (3 mi) but then operated as open, boring through the chalk marl stratum.[59] This minimised the impact to the ground and allowed high water pressures to be withstood, and it also alleviated the need to grout ahead of the tunnel. The French effort required five TBMs: two main marine machines, one main land machine (the short land drives of 3 km allowed one TBM to complete the first drive then reverse direction and complete the other), and two service tunnel machines. On the English side the simpler geology allowed faster open-faced TBMs.[61] Six machines were used, all commencing digging from Shakespeare Cliff, three marine bound and three for the land tunnels.[59] Towards the completion of the undersea drives the UK TBMs were driven steeply downwards and buried clear of the tunnel. The French TBMs then completed the tunnel and were dismantled.[62] A 900 mm gauge railway was used on the English side during construction.[63]


chunnel Railway design and rolling stock

Interior of Eurotunnel Shuttle, a vehicle shuttle train. The largest railway wagons in the world,[5] the shuttle trains transport vehicles between terminals either side of the tunnel.There are three communication systems in the tunnel: concession radio (CR) for mobile vehicles and personnel within Eurotunnel's Concession (terminals, tunnels, coastal shafts); track-to-train radio (TTR) for secure speech and data between trains and the railway control centre; Shuttle internal radio (SIR) for communication between shuttle crew and to passengers over car radios.[64] All tunnel services run on electricity, shared equally from English and French sources. Power is delivered to the locomotives via an overhead line (catenary).[65] A cab signalling system is used that gives information directly to train drivers on a display. There is automatic train protection (ATP) that stops the train if the speed differs from that indicated on the in-cab display. TVM430, as used on TGV Nord, is used in the tunnel. [66] The American Sonneville International Corporation track system was used in the tunnel, ballasted track was ruled out owing to maintenance constraints and a need for geometric stability. The Sonneville system has UIC60 rails on 900A grade resting on microcellular EVA pads, bolted into concrete. [67]

Initially 38 Le Shuttle locomotives were commissioned, working in pairs with one at each end of a shuttle train. The shuttles have two separate halves: single and double deck. Each half has two loading/unloading wagons and 12 carrier wagons. Eurotunnel's original order was for 9 shuttles. 46 Class 92 locomotives for hauling freight and overnight passenger trains were commissioned, which can run on both overhead AC and third-rail DC power. Freight shuttles also have two halves, with each half containing one loading wagon, one unloading wagon and 14 carrier wagons. There is a club car behind the leading locomotive. Eurotunnel originally ordered 6 freight shuttles. 31 Eurostar trains, based on the French TGV with many modifications for safety within the tunnel, were commissioned, with split ownership between British Rail, French National Railway Company and National Railway Company of Belgium. British Rail ordered seven more for services north of London.[68]


chunnel Services
The service tunnel is used for access to technical equipment in cross-passages and equipment rooms, to provide fresh-air ventilation, and for emergency evacuation. The Service Tunnel Transport System (STTS) allows fast access to all areas of the tunnel. The service vehicles are rubber-tyred with a buried guidance wire system. 24 STTS vehicles were made, and are used mainly for maintenance but also for firefighting and in emergencies. "Pods" with different purposes, up to a payload of 2.5�5 tonnes, are inserted into the side of the vehicles. The STTS vehicles cannot turn around within the tunnel, and are driven from either end. The maximum speed is 80 km/h (50 mph) when the steering is locked. A smaller fleet of 15 Light Service Tunnel Vehicles (LADOGS) were introduced to supplement the STTSs. The LADOGS have a short wheelbase with a 3.4 m turning circle allowing two-point turns within the service tunnel. Steering cannot be locked like the STTS vehicles, and maximum speed is 50 km/h (31 mph). Pods up to 1 tonne can be loaded onto the rear of the vehicles. Drivers in the tunnel sit on the right, and the vehicles drive on the left. Owing to the risk of French personnel driving on their native right side of the road, sensors in the road vehicles alert the driver if the vehicle strays to the right side of the tunnel.[69]

The three tunnels contain 6000 tonnes of air that needs to be conditioned for comfort and safety. Air is supplied from ventilation buildings at Shakespeare Cliff and Sangatte, with each building capable of full duty providing 100% standby capacity. Supplementary ventilation also exists on either side of the tunnel. In the event of a fire, ventilation is used to keep smoke out of the service tunnel and move smoke in one direction in the main tunnel to give passengers clean air. The Channel Tunnel was the first mainline railway tunnel to have special cooling equipment. Heat is generated from traction equipment and drag. The design limit was set at 30 °C (90 °F), using a mechanical cooling system with refrigeration plants on both the English and French sides that run chilled water circulating in pipes within the tunnel.[70]

Trains travelling at high speed create piston-effect pressure changes that can affect passenger comfort, ventilation systems, tunnel doors, fans and the structure of the trains, and drag on the trains.[70] Piston relief ducts of 2-metre (7 ft) diameter were chosen to solve the problem, with 4 ducts per kilometre to give close to optimum results. Unfortunately this design led to unacceptable lateral forces on the trains so a reduction in train speed was required and restrictors were installed in the ducts.[71]

The safety issue of a fire on a passenger-vehicle shuttle garnered much attention, with Eurotunnel itself noting that fire was the risk gathering the most attention in a 1994 Safety Case for three reasons: ferry companies opposed to passengers being allowed to remain with their cars; Home Office statistics indicating that car fires had doubled in ten years; and the long length of the tunnel. Eurotunnel commissioned the UK Fire Research Station to give reports of vehicle fires, as well as liaising with Kent Fire Brigade to gather vehicle fire statistics over one year. Fire tests took place at the French Mines Research Establishment with a mock wagon used to investigate how cars burned.[72] The wagon door systems are designed to withstand fire inside the wagon for 30 minutes, longer than the transit time of 27 minutes. Wagon air conditioning units help to purge dangerous fumes from inside the wagon before travel. Each wagon has a fire detection and extinguishing system, with sensing of ions or ultraviolet radiation, smoke and gases that can trigger halon gas to quench a fire. Since the Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) wagons are not covered, fire sensors are located on the loading wagon and in the tunnel itself. A 10-inch (254-mm)[73] water main in the service tunnel provides water to the main tunnels at 125-metre (410 ft) intervals. The ventilation system can control smoke movement. Special arrival sidings exist to accept a train that is on fire, as the train is not allowed to stop whilst on fire in the tunnel. Eurotunnel has banned a wide range of hazardous goods from travelling in the tunnel. Two STTS vehicles with firefighting pods are on duty at all times, with a maximum delay of 10 minutes before they reach a burning train.[34]


chunnel Terminals

A vehicle entering a shuttle wagon at the French terminal at Coquelles near Calais in northern France.The terminals sites are at Cheriton (Folkestone in the United Kingdom) and Coquelles (Calais in France). The terminals are unique facilities designed to transfer vehicles from the motorway onto trains at a rate of 700 cars and 113 heavy vehicles per hour. The UK site uses the M20 motorway. The terminals are organised with the frontier controls juxtaposed with the entry to the system to allow travellers to go onto the motorway at the destination country immediately after leaving the shuttle. The area of the UK site was severely constrained and the design was challenging. The French layout was achieved more easily. To achieve design output, the shuttles accept cars on double-decks; for flexibility, ramps were placed inside the shuttles to provide access to the top decks.[74] At Folkestone there is 20 kilometres (12 mi) of mainline track and 45 turnouts with eight platforms. At Calais there is 30 kilometres (19 mi) of track with 44 turnouts. At the terminals the shuttle trains traverse a figure eight to reduce uneven wear on the wheels.[67]


chunnel In fiction
The tunnel was featured in the explosive climax of the 1996 blockbuster film Mission: Impossible, where a helicopter entered the tunnel.[75] The tunnel mouth, the inside of the tunnel, the TGV train and the helicopter in the film were all computer generated imagery, with the entrance to the tunnel shot against scenes of a railway line in Scotland.[76] This was necessary because of significant deviations from reality: the tunnel in the film had two tracks in a single tube (to allow space for the helicopter and to have passing trains), and there was no overhead line (to allow descent from the helicopter). The type of train seen computer animated in the film, TGV Réseau, (which, unlike the Eurostars, can only be powered from overhead wire) does not run through the tunnel. Other inaccuracies included the train changing from one side of the track to another in various shots.

An episode of the popular sitcom Seinfeld featured a fictional action movie named Chunnel, the premise of which included the President of the United States' daughter being trapped in the Channel Tunnel.


chunnel Notes

bnzv