Hiwa Abdul Rahman Rashul

Hiwa Abdul Rahman Rashul, nicknamed Triple-X by his American guards, was the first ghost detainee to be publicly acknowledged by American authorities.

Captured by Kurdish forces in Iraq in June or July 2003, he was turned over to the CIA who believed he was a member of Ansar al-Islam. He was then moved to a CIA prison in Afghanistan.

Office of Legal Counsel representative Jack L. Goldsmith informed Alberto R. Gonzales in October 2003 that Rashul was legally protected under the 4th Geneva Convention, and must legally be returned to Iraq.

On June 16, 2004 Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld acknowledged that he had ordered Rashul to be imprisoned without record, at the request of DCI George Tenet.

Rashul was nicknamed "Triple-X" because, since he was kept off the books, his guards never learned his real name. When some of the circumstance of his incarceration became public, it was suggested that the reason he had been secretly incarcerated for seven months, without being interrogated, was that he got lost. Because of the order to keep him off the books those who would have interrogated him forgot about him, or could not find him.

Barbie

Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by the American toy-company Mattel, Inc. and launched in March 1959. American businesswoman Ruth Handler is credited with the creation of the doll using a German doll called Bild Lilli as her inspiration.

Barbie is the figurehead of a brand of Mattel dolls and accessories, including other family members and collectible dolls. Barbie has been an important part of the toy fashion doll market for over fifty years, and has been the subject of numerous controversies and lawsuits, often involving parody of the doll and her lifestyle.

History

Ruth Handler watched her daughter Barbara play with paper dolls, and noticed that she often enjoyed giving them adult roles. At the time, most children's toy dolls were representations of infants. Realizing that there could be a gap in the market, Handler suggested the idea of an adult-bodied doll to her husband Elliot, a co-founder of the Mattel toy company. He was unenthusiastic about the idea, as were Mattel's directors.

St. Jo, Texas

Saint Jo is a city in Montague County, Texas, United States. The population was 977 at the 2000 census.

History

Established in 1856, the city was originally known as Head of Elm, named for its location at the headwaters of the Elm Fork of the Trinity River.

However, there are two conflicting stories regarding how Head of Elm became Saint Jo, both of which involve Joe Howell, who originally laid out the town.

One theory revolves around a Tennessean named Irby Holt Boggess giving leadership in partnership with Joe Howell, in or around 1872. This was displayed in the Stonewall Saloon Museum on the town square of Saint Jo in 1986 and is incorporated in a story about Mr. Boggess.

The other theory involves Howell's personal beliefs. Howell was an avid opponent of alcoholic beverage sales, and was thereby given the pejorative nickname of "Saint Jo", which managed to stick to both Howell and the town he founded. Saint Jo remained a "dry" city until a vote in May 2009 passed allowing for the legal sale of alcoholic beverages for off premises consumption.

Spring break

Spring break is a U.S. phenomenon and an academic tradition which started in the United States and is observed in some other western countries. Spring break is also a vacational period in early spring at universities and schools in various countries in the world, where it is known by names such as Easter vacation, Easter Holiday, March break, spring vacation, Mid-Term Break, study week, reading week, reading period, or Easter week, depending on regional conventions. However, these vacations differ from Spring Break in the United States, both in intent and intensity.

History and timing

Spring break is an academic tradition in various mostly western countries, that is scheduled for different periods depending on the state and sometimes the region.

In Asia

In Japan, the spring break starts with the end of the academic year in March and ends on April 1 with the beginning of a new academic year.

In South Korea, the spring break starts in mid-February (the end of the academic year) and ends on March 1 (a national holiday) with the beginning of a new academic year.