QUES: The Agencies Confer When they learned a second plane had struck the World Trade Center, nearly everyone in the White House told us, they immediately knew it was not an accident. The Secret Service initiated a number of security enhancements around the White House complex. The officials who issued these orders did not know that there were additional hijacked aircraft, or that one such aircraft was en route to Washington. These measures were precautionary steps taken because of the strikes in New York. The FAA and White House Teleconferences. The FAA, the White House, and the Defense Department each initiated a multiagency teleconference before 9:30. Because none of these teleconferences-at least before 10:00- included the right officials from both the FAA and Defense Department, none succeeded in meaningfully coordinating the military and FAA response to the hijackings. At about 9:20, security personnel at FAA headquarters set up a hijacking teleconference with several agencies, including the Defense Department. The NMCC officer who participated told us that the call was monitored only periodically because the information was sporadic, it was of little value, and there were other important tasks. The FAA manager of the teleconference also remembered that the military participated only briefly before the Pentagon was hit. Both individuals agreed that the teleconference played no role in coordinating a response to the attacks of 9/11. Acting Deputy Administrator Belger was frustrated to learn later in the morning that the military had not been on the call. At the White House, the video teleconference was conducted from the Situation Room by Richard Clarke, a special assistant to the president long involved in counterterrorism. Logs indicate that it began at 9:25 and included the CIA; the FBI; the departments of State, Justice, and Defense; the FAA; and the White House shelter. The FAA and CIA joined at 9:40. The first topic addressed in the White House video teleconference-at about 9:40-was the physical security of the President, the White House, and federal agencies. Immediately thereafter it was reported that a plane had hit the Pentagon. We found no evidence that video teleconference participants had any prior information that American 77 had been hijacked and was heading directly toward Washington.
Do you have any questions?
MY QUESTION: When did the teleconference held by Richard Clarke begin in the White House Situation Room?

QUES: Tokugawa Takes All: When Hideyoshi died in 1598, he hoped to have his five-year-old son continue his "dynasty," initially under the tutelage of five regents. But one of the regents was Ieyasu Tokugawa, who had been biding his time at Edo for 12 years, nurturing dynastic ambitions of his own. Of the cunning, ruthless triumvirate that came out on top at the end of the country's century of civil war, Tokugawa was without doubt the most patient, the most prudentand most treacherous. He moved quickly to eliminate his strongest rivals, crushing them in 1600 at the great Battle of Sekigahara (near modern Nagoya). During its subsequent two and a half centuries of rule from the new capital established at Edo, the Tokugawa organized a tightly controlled coalition of some 260 daimyo in strategic strongholds throughout the country. The allegiance of this highly privileged and prestigious group was ensured by cementing their ethical principles in the code of bushido, "The way of the warrior": loyalty to one's master, defense of one's status and honor, and fulfillment of all obligations. Loyalty was further enforced by holding the vassals' wives and children hostage in Edo. All roads into Edo, the most famous being the Tokaido Highway, had checkpoints for guns coming in and for wives going out. One of the most effective ways of keeping a tight rein on the country was to cut it off from the outside world, to keep Japan Japanese. At first, Ieyasu Tokugawa was eager to promote foreign trade. He wanted silk and encouraged the Dutch and British as good, nonproselytizing Protestants just interested in trade. But he didn't like the Portuguese and Spanish Catholic missionaries, who he felt were undermining traditional Japanese values. He banned their activities in 1612 and two years later ordered the expulsion of all missionaries and unrepentant Japanese converts. Executions and torture followed. Converts were forced to renounce their faith by trampling crucifixes and effigies of Jesus and Mary. The Catholic Church has counted 3,125 martyrs in Japan from 1597 (beginning under Hideyoshi) to 1660. In 1635 the Japanese were forbidden, on pain of death, to attempt to travel abroad, and Japanese citizens already overseas were prevented from returning, in case they brought back subversive Christian doctrines. Western books were banned, as were Chinese books that mentioned Christianity.
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MY QUESTION: What actions did the Tokugawa take towards missionaries and those who converted to Catholicism?

QUES: The series starts in Baghdad at an undetermined time . The Sultan Shahryar has gone mad after accidentally killing his wife during a failed coup d' tat , Which she had planned with Shahryar's brother Schahzenan . In his madness , Shahryar believes that all women now want to kill him , but the law states that the Sultan must be married again or the throne will be passed to his brother . Shahryar therefore orders Grand Vizier Ja'Far ( ( ( Jim Carter to bring him a harem girl to marry and then have executed the next day . In order to prevent this , the Grand Vizier's clever daughter , Scheherazade , decides to marry the Sultan herself . Scheherazade has a plan to prevent her execution and at the same time cure the Sultan of his madness . With the help of some tutoring from a bazaar storyteller , Scheherazade tells the Sultan a story every night , stopping at dawn with a cliffhanger and refusing to continue until dusk . Shahryar must therefore let Scheherazade live for another day in order to hear the rest of the story . Cunningly , Scheherazade has hidden a moral within every story , to bring the Sultan out of his madness . Meanwhile , Schahzenan hears about the Sultan's madness and that he is unable to execute Scheherazade . Perceiving this as weakness , Schahzenan leads his army to Baghdad in an attempt to take the throne by force . However , by the time Schahzenan's army reaches the city , Scheherazade's plan has worked . As a result of her stories , Shahryar has overcome his madness and has fallen in love with Scheherazade .
Do you have any questions?
MY QUESTION:
How does Scheherazade's plan work to keep her alive and cure the sultan?