Jeffry Ahson, Battle of Midway Vet, dies at 79

Ahson Obituary/Newell
Jeffry Ahson, Battle of Midway Vet. Dies at 79
By Marni Newell



KALAMAZOO, Mich.---Jeffry R. Ahson former Navy war hero and later car salesman in Kalamazoo, died of emphysema Wednesday at his home. He was 79.
Mr. Ahson served as petty officer in the Navy during the Battle of Midway in June 1942. He was awarded the Purple Heart and Navy Cross for his valor on the USS Emery when he crossed the burning deck to save four wounded sailors and remove a body of a gunner who had been shot down. He also shot down three enemy planes and was later promoted to ensign.
“Ahson was a genuine American hero,” said Jeraldine Fyfe, Navy Lieutenant Commander in a press conference Wednesday.
In 1946, Mr. Ahson moved to Kalamazoo after retiring from the Navy. In Kalamazoo, he developed an interest in the history of firefighters and fire truck restoration, the fruits of his hobby can now be viewed at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum.
Along with serving as a firefighter, Mr. Ahson was Post Commander at the American Legion post 702, a member of the Elk’s Lodge, Veterans of Foreign Wars post 4206, the National Checker Association, and Gideon’s International. He was also an usher at the John Calvin Presbyterian Church in Kalamazoo.
In his later years, Mr. Ahson worked as a new car salesman at Don Seelye Ford in Kalamazoo until he retired in 1985.
Mr. Ahson is survived by his wife Therese Alpert, his three children Richard D. Ahson of Phillibsberg, Kan.; Angela Molino of Omaha; and Lela Stalling of Pipe Creek, Texas, along with five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. He is also survived by his brother Henry Ahson of San Francisco; and his sisters Judith Eaker of Reidsville, N.C.; and Shirly Solomon of Newark, N.J.
Viewing for friends and family is scheduled for 4-5:30 p.m. and 7:30-9 p.m. on Friday at the Littleton Mortuary. Services for Mr. Ahson will be at 10 a.m. on Saturday at the Littleton Mortuary, immediately followed by his burial at Memorial Park Cemetary. The family has requested no flowers.

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Thai citizens protest Thaksin

This story can be found at: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/03/world/asia/03thai.html?_r=1&hp

Lede: BANGKOK — Thailand’s high court disbanded the ruling party for electoral fraud and brought down the government on Tuesday, prompting antigovernment protesters to declare an end to their debilitating weeklong blockade of Bangkok’s airports.
Summary lede stating place and time. This has been an ongoing and updated story, so it packs in a lot of material: the inital protests, the reason of the protests, when they stopped and why.

Nut Graf: I'm actually a little confused about which paragraph is the nut graf, and also the significance of the nut graf. Here are the next two paragraphs:
Leaders of the disbanded party, People Power, said they would reconstitute the government under another party name and hold on to power, although the count of parliamentary votes was not assured.
But the protesters — who had also occupied the prime minister’s office for more than three months, calling for the ouster of the government — said they would end all their blockades by Wednesday morning.

It doesn't really sound like anything's going to be changed but the name of the political party in power. And even then, "the count of the parliamentary votes was not assured," about that, so the name might even stay the same. I'm a bit confused about why the protestors have ended the blockades.
The next paragraph goes into the history of Thaksin, who was the prime minister before the 2006 coup, and how the current government is corrupt and has ties to Thaksin still.

I found a bit more of an explanation a few paragraphs in: The ruling disbanded not only the governing People Power Party but also two smaller coalition parties; the court found that they had committed fraud during the elections last December that brought them to power. It forced out Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat, a brother-in-law of Mr. Thaksin’s.

The article switches between a scene in the airport of protestors celebrating and their comments and background information on the protests and the government.

The article ends by giving more history of Thai government, with this little gem: In September this year, Mr. Somchai’s predecessor, Samak Sundaravej, was forced out after less than eight months in office when the court ruled that he had unlawfully accepted payments to appear on television cooking shows while prime minister.

Not really a fizzle ending, at least it shouldn't be. If I were to read this story in print and that final paragraph hadn't been there, I wouldn't have enjoyed the article as much.