Tuskegee Airman Honored By West Point Academy Decades After School Shunned Him

Benjamin O. Davis Jr. entered West Point in 1932 as its only black cadet and spent the next four years shunned, writes the Associated Press.

He roomed alone, and no one befriended him. The future Tuskegee Airman and trailblazing Air Force general later said he was “an invisible man,” writes AL.com.

Now – more than a decade after his death – the academy that allowed Davis to be ostracized is giving him an honor.

A new cadet barracks being constructed at the U.S. Military academy will be named for Davis. It is a rare privilege previously granted to graduates like MacArthur and Eisenhower, writes the New Zealand Herald.

Officials at the legendary military university say Davis was a good choice because of his career and character. It also gives the academy a chance to belatedly do right by Davis.

“If you want to know what, ‘Duty, Honor, Country’ look like, just read a little bit about Benjamin O. Davis Jr., and your jaw will drop because he is the epitome of what we want at a time when we didn’t know what ‘right’ looked like,” said Colonel Ty Seidule, the head of West Point’s history department, writes the Salt Lake Tribune. “So it’s our chance to acknowledge one of our greatest graduates.”

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11446567

http://www.sltrib.com/news/2496627-155/story.html

‘Ludicrous’ Red Tape Delaying New Zealand Earthquake Rebuild

Developers in Christchurch, New Zealand say that “ludicrous” rules are delaying the city’s rebuild from an earthquake that happened in February  of 2011.

Building owner Richard Peebles said the Christchurch City Council consenting department had become more efficient but was still asking “ridiculous” questions.  He said the consenting process for construction was “bananas.”

“The red tape is just f…… unbelievable.”

His Kilmore St/Cambridge Tce building was in its fifth month in the consenting process, Peebles said.

The council asked him how he planned to clean the building’s windows.

“I went back and said ‘warm water and a soapy cloth’. I’ve never known that to be part of your consent process.”

He blamed legislation, rather than the council.

For another building, the council had asked him to move a disabled toilet 20 millimeters because it would fail compliance otherwise.

Requests like these were “delaying the rebuild”, Peebles said.

“We were asked to show one of our car parks would be able to hold a fire engine. We had to prove a truck would not fall through the seal.”

Developer Antony Gough said the consenting process seemed “ludicrous” at times and made life difficult for developers.

Part of his central city development The Terrace failed council inspection because fire exits were not the required eight meters (roughly 25ft) apart.

The council agreed on a second fire escape that could be accessed though “a maze of corridors”.

“The solution was technically right but did not make any sense on a practical level,” he said.

Council inspectors were being “pedantic” and their overly cautious approach slowed down the rebuild, Gough said.

Not everyone had a problem with delays.  Developer Nick Hunt said he had no complaints.  Hunt is developing a retail and office complex.

Council inspectors had been “pretty good up until now,” said Hunt, and he had had no consenting issues.

More:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/66949677/When-will-Christchurch-police-station-implode

(Updated article)

Building Collapse In Bangladesh

euronews

Police said at least five people were killed and about 100 feared trapped after a cement factory collapsed in Bangladesh on Thursday, according to Reuters.

Soldiers and sailors in the port town of Mongla helped emergency services search through the rubble and pull out more than 40 survivors, according to Reuters

Euronews claims at least six people have died and 30 more have been injured in the collapse.

Another 50 are still feared trapped, according to euronews.  Authorities said that up to 100 people were inside five-story cement factory at the time of the accident.

“Most of the people inside the building were the construction workers including the people who recovered alive … The recovery efforts are going on very carefully to avoid further risk” said Khulna district police chief Nizamul Haque Mollah, Reuters reported.