LBJ Library Opens New Exhibits
AUSTIN – On Saturday, Dec. 22, the LBJ Presidential Library will unveil innovative, state-of-the art exhibits giving visitors a contemporary experience relating to one of the most significant presidents and eras in our country’s history. Following a massive yearlong renovation, new exhibits have been installed on the three public floors of the Library.
By incorporating the latest technology and interactive elements used in museums today, the Library has a completely new look and feel.
“Our goal is for visitors to better understand this largely misunderstood president,” said Mark K. Updegrove, LBJ Library Director. “The redesigned Library will provide meaningful context to the vast and sweeping legislation passed during the Johnson Administration and visitors will learn how those laws impact us today. Exhibits will explore all aspects of Johnson’s presidency, including the Vietnam War. President Johnson insisted that the LBJ Library present an unvarnished look at his Presidency– the triumphs and the turmoil. Now we share this story with new generations.”
New features of the LBJ Presidential Library include:
- A downloadable app and handheld guide which give visitors the choice of several different tours, including a tour in Spanish
- Unprecedented access to private telephone conversations of the President
- An interactive Vietnam War exhibit where visitors experience elements of the President’s decision-making process
- The ability to join the conversation through social media as visitors tour exhibits
- An interactive look at how legislation passed under LBJ affects visitors today
- New theaters and films on President Johnson, civil rights, LBJ’s legacy, and the First Family
The redesign offers visitors a rich cultural and historical destination. Until now, the LBJ Library has been the only one of the 13 presidential libraries that has not charged admission. The LBJ Library will charge admission for the first time in its 41-year history when the new exhibits open in December.
This decision was made by the LBJ Foundation Board and has the support of the Johnson family.
“The redesign is an exciting new chapter in the history of the LBJ Library as a dynamic, forward-thinking organization,” said Larry Temple, chairman of the LBJ Foundation. “President Johnson wanted the Library to use the best technology available, giving visitors a comprehensive, engaging experience. The Board strongly believes he and Mrs. Johnson would approve this decision.”
For details on admission fees and the many free holidays, go to www.lbjlibrary.org.
In keeping with President and Mrs. Johnson’s commitment to transparency and objectivity, the new exhibits will showcase materials from the archives and museum collections that have never before been seen. To ensure accuracy, independent interpretation, and impartiality in the redesign of the exhibits, the LBJ Library consulted with, and sought the participation of, esteemed historians in presenting the history of Lyndon Johnson. Those include Michael Beschloss, Robert Dallek, Robert Caro, and Doris Kearns Goodwin, as well as many of those who worked in the Johnson Administration.
Renovation of the LBJ Library is funded by private donations through the LBJ Foundation. Kicking off the capital campaign were lead gifts totaling $1 million from Luci Baines Johnson and Lynda Johnson Robb, daughters of President and Mrs. Johnson. Former Texas Lt. Governor Bill Hobby and Austin civic leader Ann Butler each pledged $1 million to the redesign.
Significant contributions have also been made by Eleanor B. Crook of San Marcos, Texas, Diane Connell of Killeen, Texas, and the J. B. Fuqua Foundation of Atlanta.
“Through these new exhibits, the political and personal lives of Lyndon and Lady Bird Johnson come alive for visitors,” said Elizabeth Christian, president of the LBJ Foundation. “They will learn about the decisions President Johnson faced, the impact of his social programs, and his passion for critical issues such as education, civil rights, the environment, health care, and the arts.”
About the LBJ Presidential Library
The LBJ Presidential Library is one of13 presidential libraries administered by the National Archives and Records Administration. Its mission is to preserve and protect the historical materials in the collections of the library and make them readily accessible; to increase public awareness of the American experience through relevant exhibits and educational programs; and to advance the LBJ Library’s standing as a center for intellectual activity and community leadership while meeting the challenges of a changing world.
The Library is open daily from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. (except Christmas Day). For more information about the Library, visit www.lbjlibrary.org.
Peru Passes 10-Year Ban On GMOs
The Republic of Peru, a country in western South America, has passed a law banning genetically modified ingredients anywhere within the country for 10 years before coming up for another review. This is considered a major blow to companies that specialize in genetically altered foods, such as Monsanto, Bayer, and Dow, among others.
Peru’s Plenary Session of the Congress approved the decree despite previous governmental pushes for GM legalization.
The Peruvian congress expressed concerns that the introduction of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) will compromise the native species of Peru, such as the giant white corn, purple corn and, the country’s famous species of Peruvian potatoes.
According to Anibal Huerta, President of Peru’s Agrarian Commission, the ban was needed to prevent the ”danger that can arise from the use of biotechnology.”
The ban will curb the planting and importation of GMOs in the country, although research had found that 77 percent of supermarket products tested contained GM contaminants. The study revealed that GM foods are prevalent, especially in America, and people consume these goods without knowing it, due to inadequate labeling of the products. It noted that through pollination and being sneaked into processed foods, information about GM distribution is being blocked.
“There is an increasing consensus among consumers that they want safe, local, organic fresh food and that they want the environment and wildlife to be protected,” wrote Walter Pengue from the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina, in a recent statement concerning GMOs in South America.
“South American countries must proceed with a broader evaluation of their original agricultural policies and practices using the precautionary principle.”
Texas Wealth/Income Gap Growing
AUSTIN, Texas – A new study based on census figures shows the gap between the rich and poor continues to grow quickly. The most recent figures say Texas has the seventh-highest inequality of any state. Analysts say it’s becoming a serious issue for the economy as a whole.
According to Elizabeth McNichol, a senior fellow with the state fiscal project of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in Washington, D.C., the gap has grown nationally for three decades, but has become worse in the last 10 years.
“When the economy has grown, the lion’s share of that has gone to households at the top. What we’ve seen in the last decade is that the incomes of the households at the bottom are actually declining.”
Economists stress that rising inequality is not inevitable, noting that the gap between rich and poor actually fell between World War II and 1970. It also fell for a brief period during the economic growth of the late 1990s, they add, partly due to Clinton-era tax policies and a rise in the minimum wage.
McNichol calls inequality bad because it makes the economy less flexible. People who work hard and play by the rules should be rewarded, she says.
“There’s a question of fairness. Economic growth comes from the contributions of people in all walks of life. When your place on the income scale determines whether you get rewards for that work, then that’s a problem.”
Education, job training and tax policies at the state level can make a big difference, she adds.
“Assistance in child care, job training, transportation and health insurance can help families get jobs and move up the income scale.”
Texas also ranks seventh among the states for income inequality between high- and middle-income
households.
Costly Roadways Impacting Landscapes
The move is under way to rip apart our scenic Hill Country in order to provide large profits for developers and road companies from which they may toss some back to elected officials via perks and campaign contributions.
The new road proposals essentially carve up much of our open lands and break up our private properties to new and unsustainable growth patterns. The corrupt process of appointing designated associates by County Commissioners comprising persons with already-voiced interests in either building roads or being involved in development, who then sit down and decide for the rest of the citizens (and LANDOWNERS) of this County what should happen to their lives is undemocratic, blatantly contemptible and should not be tolerated.
Most people know little or nothing about these new proposed roads, and there has been NO PUBLIC INTEREST in building more roads. Instead, it is a top-down bogus process of handing over public tax money to private entities in the form of road contracts and eventual housing and commercial development.
Our lands and our lifestyle must not for sale, nor open to controlled special interest decisions about where increased vehicular traffic, overpopulation and additional air and noise pollution should be directed and how.
Local news media along with community residents must rise up together as a giant tsunami of protest. We recognize that the county is growing and that we must make improvements to our roads, but not this way.
Peter Stern, Driftwood, Texas
Growing Opposition To U.S. Drones
Currently, President Obama is directly overseeing a drones program that potentially violates a number of international legal norms. In October 2009, Philip Alston, then UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions, stated that the drones program would be illegal if the U.S. was failing to take “all of the relevant precautions to make sure that civilians are not killed, in accordance with the relevant international rules.” Alston continued, “The problem is that we have no real information on this program.”
In May we learned that the President personally maintains a “Kill List” and holds weekly meetings during which, as judge, jury and executioner, he determines who lives and who dies. It was also revealed that the President counts all military-age males killed in drone strikes as militants. However, as a show of his compassion and fairness, the President does leave open the possibility for those killed to be proved innocent posthumously.
Such brazen counting and book cooking would make the sneakiest Wall Street accountants blush. It is also what allowed Counterterrorism Adviser John Brennan to maintain for over a year that there had not been a single civilian casualty from drone strikes. In May, Brennan corrected his patently absurd and dishonest claim, stating that innocent loss of life “is exceedingly rare, but it has happened.”
There is also the president’s personal authorization of the use of “signature strikes” in Pakistan and Yemen. Signature strikes target unidentified and unconfirmed individuals based in behavioral characteristics that are perceived to be those of militants or terrorists. Of course, it doesn’t actually matter whether an individual killed by a signature strike is a militant because he will be counted as one regardless.
President Obama’s method of distinguishing militants from civilians inherently violates the principle of distinction precisely because it fails to distinguish civilians from militants. It also potentially violates the principle of proportionality. There are limits to even unintentional civilian deaths in war. The number of civilians killed in a military action cannot be “excessive in relation to the concrete and direct overall military advantage anticipated.”
The president’s system of counting civilian deaths is only one potentially criminal component of his drones program. In February, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism and the Sunday Times published the results of a joint investigation into the practice of targeting rescuers who converge on the scene of an initial drone strike. They concluded that between 2009 and 2011, more than a dozen such attacks occurred, resulting in the deaths of at least 50 civilians.
After a brief lull, similar attacks were carried out numerous times this year. The most recent “double tap” occurred last month in Pakistan. Intentionally targeting rescuers and the wounded are clear violations of international humanitarian law and US rules of warfare. Of course, the president attempts to evade accountability by presuming all those killed in both the initial strike and the follow-up to be militants. Fire and medical personnel are terrorists?
Not everyone agrees. There is a growing international movement against the impunity with which President Obama runs his drones program. UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Counter-Terrorism Ben Emmerson has called for an independent investigation into each and every death that results from drone strikes. Such investigations are worthwhile in response to all future drone attacks, but are too little too late for those already victimized by President Obama’s potential war crimes.
We need more than an end to the “conspiracy of silence” concerning the president’s drone attacks; we need an investigation into the legality of the Obama Administration’s favored means of making war. U.S. foreign policy cannot be immunized from the very same laws used as the impetus for applying sanctions and making war against others. International law’s legitimacy is grounded in its consistent application. Selectively applying and enforcing international law undermines the law, as well as the moral high ground claimed by those who use it as a tool against “rogue” elements while immunizing themselves.
Jeff Bachman is a professor of human rights at American University, with a focus in state responsibility for violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.