Breaking News
Follow Breaking News updates on RSS and Twitter
This page features brief excerpts of news stories published by the mainstream media and, less frequently, blogs, alternative media, and even obviously biased sources. The excerpts are taken directly from the websites cited in each source note. Quotation marks are not used.
Highlights
Breaking News
This page features brief excerpts of news stories published by the mainstream media and, less frequently, blogs, alternative media, and even obviously biased sources. The excerpts are taken directly from the websites cited in each source note. Quotation marks are not used. Because most of our readers read the NYT we usually do not include the paper's stories in HIGHLIGHTS.
Name of source: Telegraph (UK)
SOURCE: Telegraph (UK) (12-6-07)
Buried somewhere under a large, comfortable house in Johannesburg's northern suburbs lies Nelson Mandela's gun.
A semi-automatic Makarov pistol, either Russian or Bulgarian-made, it was given to him by Colonel Biru Tadesse, an Ethiopian army officer who trained him in guerrilla insurgency in the early 1960s.
In his memoirs, Long Walk to Freedom, the future Nobel peace prize laureate wrote of his teacher: "I was grateful, both for the gun and his instruction."
The weapon would make a superb exhibit for a museum that will open next year at Liliesleaf Farm, next door to the house on George Avenue in Rivonia. But four separate searches have failed to find it.
A semi-automatic Makarov pistol, either Russian or Bulgarian-made, it was given to him by Colonel Biru Tadesse, an Ethiopian army officer who trained him in guerrilla insurgency in the early 1960s.
In his memoirs, Long Walk to Freedom, the future Nobel peace prize laureate wrote of his teacher: "I was grateful, both for the gun and his instruction."
The weapon would make a superb exhibit for a museum that will open next year at Liliesleaf Farm, next door to the house on George Avenue in Rivonia. But four separate searches have failed to find it.
Thursday, December 6, 2007 - 20:38
Comments
SOURCE: Telegraph (UK) (12-5-07)
One of two surviving leaves from a Mozart manuscript has been sold for a record £110,900 at auction.
The page from a draft for the Sinfonia Concertante - regarded by many as the composer's first masterpiece - went under the hammer at Sotheby's in London.
The page from a draft for the Sinfonia Concertante - regarded by many as the composer's first masterpiece - went under the hammer at Sotheby's in London.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007 - 22:35
SOURCE: Telegraph (UK) (12-4-07)
Sumptuous pearls which graced the neck of Marie Antoinette, the last queen of France, will go on sale in London next week with an estimate of £400,000.
The 21 jewels were smuggled out of France during the French Revolution by the Countess of Sutherland, wife of the British ambassador and an ally of the extravagant queen.
The 21 jewels were smuggled out of France during the French Revolution by the Countess of Sutherland, wife of the British ambassador and an ally of the extravagant queen.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007 - 18:06
SOURCE: Telegraph (UK) (12-3-07)
The national anthem is not inclusive and should perhaps be changed, Lord Goldsmith, the former attorney general now leading a citizenship review for Gordon Brown, has suggested.
He said that there were problems with some of the later verses of the anthem, which refer to "rebellious Scots" being crushed.
Lord Goldsmith said: "Part of it is not actually that inclusive, but that's if you go on to the later verses.
"Some people have suggested we might think about whether there are different words that might be put in place which would be more inclusive."
He said that there were problems with some of the later verses of the anthem, which refer to "rebellious Scots" being crushed.
Lord Goldsmith said: "Part of it is not actually that inclusive, but that's if you go on to the later verses.
"Some people have suggested we might think about whether there are different words that might be put in place which would be more inclusive."
Monday, December 3, 2007 - 22:08
SOURCE: Telegraph (UK) (12-3-07)
India is to have its first museum celebrating the writer Rudyard Kipling, after decades in which the country he loved consigned him to obscurity as a prophet of British imperialism.
A dilapidated bungalow in the grounds of an art school in Bombay, where Kipling was born and lived until he was nearly six, is being restored to house a hoped-for collection of associated memorabilia. The move may be the first sign of his rehabilitation by a people who inspired some his most memorable poetry and prose. Long after they gained independence from Britain in 1947, Indians found it difficult to discuss Kipling - a proponent of the Empire, whose poems included The White Man's Burden - without rancour.
A dilapidated bungalow in the grounds of an art school in Bombay, where Kipling was born and lived until he was nearly six, is being restored to house a hoped-for collection of associated memorabilia. The move may be the first sign of his rehabilitation by a people who inspired some his most memorable poetry and prose. Long after they gained independence from Britain in 1947, Indians found it difficult to discuss Kipling - a proponent of the Empire, whose poems included The White Man's Burden - without rancour.
Monday, December 3, 2007 - 21:48
Name of source: NYT
SOURCE: NYT (12-6-07)
Over the past 40 years, Mr. Leal, the official historian of Havana, has pulled off a most unusual feat. While much of Cuba’s infrastructure has crumbled and its economy has limped along, he has rebuilt and refurbished more than 300 landmark buildings in Old Havana, from fortresses built in the colonial days to famous nightspots and hotels of the city’s swinging era just before the Cuban revolution.
The center of the city was once a dark warren of cobblestone streets, worn facades and decaying ruins. Now it has some streets that rival Prague or Paris for cleanliness and beauty. Tourists throng the Plaza del Catedral, with its 259-year-old cathedral, and wander up Calle Obispo, a street lined with luxury shops, to the Floridita, the plush bar where Hemingway drank mojitos and daiquiris.
“There were years when not everyone believed in this,” Mr. Leal said, as he walked up Calle Obispo and shook hands with well-wishers. “Years when there was a lot of work, a lot of difficulties, but now it’s easier, because now you can see all the people, how they support you, they give you a smile, some happiness, and this makes it possible to continue at least for a little while longer.”
Yet the renovation has only gone so far, and tens of thousands of people are still trapped in squalid buildings just blocks from the refurbished zones, giving rise to grumbling among some residents that the renovation amounts to a Potemkin village for visitors.
The center of the city was once a dark warren of cobblestone streets, worn facades and decaying ruins. Now it has some streets that rival Prague or Paris for cleanliness and beauty. Tourists throng the Plaza del Catedral, with its 259-year-old cathedral, and wander up Calle Obispo, a street lined with luxury shops, to the Floridita, the plush bar where Hemingway drank mojitos and daiquiris.
“There were years when not everyone believed in this,” Mr. Leal said, as he walked up Calle Obispo and shook hands with well-wishers. “Years when there was a lot of work, a lot of difficulties, but now it’s easier, because now you can see all the people, how they support you, they give you a smile, some happiness, and this makes it possible to continue at least for a little while longer.”
Yet the renovation has only gone so far, and tens of thousands of people are still trapped in squalid buildings just blocks from the refurbished zones, giving rise to grumbling among some residents that the renovation amounts to a Potemkin village for visitors.
Thursday, December 6, 2007 - 20:36
SOURCE: NYT (12-5-07)
The Flushing Remonstrance made a rare visit yesterday to the old neighborhood.
The fragile, fire-scorched, 350-year-old document arrived secretly by courier at the Queens Public Library in Flushing. Marie Culver, a preservation expert from the New York State Archives in Albany who accompanied the Remonstrance during its journey to Queens, immediately began installing an exhibition of the document, an important early recorded defense of the freedom to worship that has been called the religious Magna Carta of the New World.
Relatively little known, this 1657 appeal by some 30 Flushing farmers for freedom to practice their Quaker religion goes on display to the public today in the library at 41-17 Main Street, at Kissena Boulevard. The unveiling will mark the beginning of an abundance of festivities celebrating the 350th anniversary of this precursor to the Constitution.
The fragile, fire-scorched, 350-year-old document arrived secretly by courier at the Queens Public Library in Flushing. Marie Culver, a preservation expert from the New York State Archives in Albany who accompanied the Remonstrance during its journey to Queens, immediately began installing an exhibition of the document, an important early recorded defense of the freedom to worship that has been called the religious Magna Carta of the New World.
Relatively little known, this 1657 appeal by some 30 Flushing farmers for freedom to practice their Quaker religion goes on display to the public today in the library at 41-17 Main Street, at Kissena Boulevard. The unveiling will mark the beginning of an abundance of festivities celebrating the 350th anniversary of this precursor to the Constitution.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007 - 22:12
SOURCE: NYT (12-2-07)
At 91, [George M. Houser is] one of only two people alive who participated in the first freedom ride through the segregated South that preceded the famous one of 1961 by 14 years.
And at a time when religion in American politics almost invariably means the religious right, he’s a vibrant reminder that faith cuts through politics from more than one direction, with more than one message.
Mr. Houser, a Methodist minister, isn’t forgotten. He’s often cited in civil rights histories and has been featured in several PBS documentaries as a co-founder of the Congress of Racial Equality and a longtime participant in efforts to end colonialism in Africa.
But to understand his most remarkable moment it’s essential to remember that before Rosa Parks there was Irene Morgan.
Mrs. Morgan, who died in August, was a black woman who worked in a plant that made World War II bombers. The mother of two small children, she was returning to Baltimore aboard a Greyhound bus in 1944 after a visit to her mother in Virginia. When told to give up her seat to a white passenger, she refused, as Mrs. Parks did 11 years later, and took her case to court.
And at a time when religion in American politics almost invariably means the religious right, he’s a vibrant reminder that faith cuts through politics from more than one direction, with more than one message.
Mr. Houser, a Methodist minister, isn’t forgotten. He’s often cited in civil rights histories and has been featured in several PBS documentaries as a co-founder of the Congress of Racial Equality and a longtime participant in efforts to end colonialism in Africa.
But to understand his most remarkable moment it’s essential to remember that before Rosa Parks there was Irene Morgan.
Mrs. Morgan, who died in August, was a black woman who worked in a plant that made World War II bombers. The mother of two small children, she was returning to Baltimore aboard a Greyhound bus in 1944 after a visit to her mother in Virginia. When told to give up her seat to a white passenger, she refused, as Mrs. Parks did 11 years later, and took her case to court.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007 - 02:02
SOURCE: NYT (12-3-07)
Shortly after the outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950, Kim Man-sik, a military police sergeant, received an urgent radio message from the South Korean Army’s Counterintelligence Corps: Go to local police stations, take custody of scores of Communist suspects held there and execute them.
Mr. Kim complied. What he did and saw in those days is etched permanently in his mind.
“They were all tied together with military communications wire,” said Mr. Kim, now 81. “So when we opened fire, they all pulled at each other to try to escape. The wire cut into their wrists. Blood was splattered all over their white clothes.”
That Mr. Kim’s story has emerged after half a century is a testament to this nation’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, modeled after the South African group set up in the 1990s to expose crimes and injustices committed during the apartheid era.
Mr. Kim complied. What he did and saw in those days is etched permanently in his mind.
“They were all tied together with military communications wire,” said Mr. Kim, now 81. “So when we opened fire, they all pulled at each other to try to escape. The wire cut into their wrists. Blood was splattered all over their white clothes.”
That Mr. Kim’s story has emerged after half a century is a testament to this nation’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, modeled after the South African group set up in the 1990s to expose crimes and injustices committed during the apartheid era.
Monday, December 3, 2007 - 23:15
SOURCE: NYT (12-2-07)
The filibuster may be well established in the popular consciousness — think of long-winded senators speechifying for days. But because modern Senate rules allow lawmakers to avoid the spectacle of pontificating by merely threatening the act, filibusters and the efforts to overcome them are being used more frequently, and on more issues, than at any other point in history.
So far in this first year of the 110th Congress, there have been 72 motions to stop filibusters, most on the Iraq war but also on routine issues like reauthorizing Amtrak funding. There were 68 such motions in the full two years of the previous Congress, 53 in 1987-88 and 23 in 1977-78. In 1967-68, there were 5 such votes, one of them on a plan to amend cloture itself, which failed.
For policy making, this is the legislative equivalent of gum on a shoe.
So far in this first year of the 110th Congress, there have been 72 motions to stop filibusters, most on the Iraq war but also on routine issues like reauthorizing Amtrak funding. There were 68 such motions in the full two years of the previous Congress, 53 in 1987-88 and 23 in 1977-78. In 1967-68, there were 5 such votes, one of them on a plan to amend cloture itself, which failed.
For policy making, this is the legislative equivalent of gum on a shoe.
Sunday, December 2, 2007 - 18:02
SOURCE: NYT (12-1-07)
After years of tough talk and high-profile court cases to force the return of archaeological artifacts, Italian cultural officials and American museum directors this week seemed intent on charting a new course.
It was not simply that Italian officials expressed relief to be recouping rare treasures after signing accords over the last two years with the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. As the two sides reminded each other in frank exchanges on Wednesday, they need each other — for art loans, joint scholarship and possible collaboration on archaeological digs. And their mutual mistrust has faded considerably.
At least that was the sense that emerged from the meetings, which were attended by several American museum directors; current and former leaders of the Association of Art Museum Directors in North America and Italian cultural officials.
It was not simply that Italian officials expressed relief to be recouping rare treasures after signing accords over the last two years with the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. As the two sides reminded each other in frank exchanges on Wednesday, they need each other — for art loans, joint scholarship and possible collaboration on archaeological digs. And their mutual mistrust has faded considerably.
At least that was the sense that emerged from the meetings, which were attended by several American museum directors; current and former leaders of the Association of Art Museum Directors in North America and Italian cultural officials.
Sunday, December 2, 2007 - 18:01
Name of source: AFP
SOURCE: AFP (12-5-07)
A tiny and extremely rare 5,000-year-old white limestone sculpture from ancient Mesopotamia sold for 57.2 million dollars in New York on Wednesday, smashing records for both sculpture and antiquities.
The carved Guennol Lioness, measuring just over eight centimeters (3 1/4 inches) tall, was described by Sotheby's auction house as one of the last known masterworks from the dawn of civilization remaining in private hands.
"It was an honor for us to handle The Guennol Lioness, one of the greatest works of art of all time," Richard Keresey and Florent Heintz, the experts in charge of the sale, said in a joint statement.
The carved Guennol Lioness, measuring just over eight centimeters (3 1/4 inches) tall, was described by Sotheby's auction house as one of the last known masterworks from the dawn of civilization remaining in private hands.
"It was an honor for us to handle The Guennol Lioness, one of the greatest works of art of all time," Richard Keresey and Florent Heintz, the experts in charge of the sale, said in a joint statement.
Thursday, December 6, 2007 - 20:19
SOURCE: AFP (12-3-07)
President Nicolas Sarkozy of France began a three-day visit to Algeria on Monday, denouncing colonialism as “profoundly unjust” but stopping short of apologizing for the atrocities France was accused of committing there.
“Yes, the colonial system was profoundly unjust, contrary to the three founding words of our Republic: freedom, equality, brotherhood,” Mr. Sarkozy said.
But he steered clear of bending to Algerian demands to say he was sorry for atrocities that French troops and settlers were accused of committing during the North African country’s bitter and bloody war of independence, from 1954 to 1962.
Mr. Sarkozy said “terrible crimes” were committed on both sides throughout the war with numerous victims, whom he said he wished to honor.
“Yes, the colonial system was profoundly unjust, contrary to the three founding words of our Republic: freedom, equality, brotherhood,” Mr. Sarkozy said.
But he steered clear of bending to Algerian demands to say he was sorry for atrocities that French troops and settlers were accused of committing during the North African country’s bitter and bloody war of independence, from 1954 to 1962.
Mr. Sarkozy said “terrible crimes” were committed on both sides throughout the war with numerous victims, whom he said he wished to honor.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007 - 17:57
Name of source: Secrecy News, written by Steven Aftergood, is published by the Federation of American Scientists
SOURCE: Secrecy News, written by Steven Aftergood, is published by the Federation of American Scientists (12-6-07)
When the Central Intelligence Agency released several declassified
histories of its clandestine services program this week, it seemed like
a solid indication of progress towards opening up the historical record
of U.S. intelligence (Secrecy News, 12/05/07).
But upon closer inspection of the newly released documents, the opposite appears to be closer to the truth. It turns out that CIA has engaged in pointless multiple reviews of the same document, and has even attempted to classify and to withhold information that had previously been declassified and disclosed.
Today, the Federation of American Scientists asked the Information Security Oversight Office to investigate the matter.
The 1961"Record of Paramilitary Action Against the Castro Government of Cuba" that was posted on the CIA web site this week was first processed for declassification in 1997 in response to a request from Peter Kornbluh, the Cuba expert at the National Security Archive, and the lightly redacted document was posted on the Archive web site in 1998.
In 2007, the same document was again subjected to declassification review. It was re-scanned by CIA reviewers and this time the redactions were made by whiting out the text instead of blacking it out as had been done ten years ago. But appearances aside, a comparison of the two documents indicates that no new information was released since 1997.
In other words, despite the CIA's expenditure of scarce declassification resources to process the document twice, no value was added by doing so.
Even more problematic is the Agency's handling of the declassified history of"The Berlin Tunnel Operation, 1952-1956," because the CIA attempted to withhold portions of that report as classified even though they had previously been released.
The Berlin Tunnel history has been reviewed several times for declassification. The latest version that was released by the CIA this week was"approved for release" in July 2007. Another version of the same document was previously"approved for release" in February 2007 (Secrecy News, 04/05/07).
Astonishingly, much of the text that was released in February is marked as classified in the July version!
So, for example, the codename of the Berlin Tunnel Operation -- PBJOINTLY -- was published in the February edition of the history (at page i), but censored in the July edition that was released this week.
More substantively, a fifteen page appendix (App. A) entitled"Discovery by the Soviets of PBJOINTLY" was published in full in February but was almost entirely redacted in July.
Likewise, a six page appendix (App. B) entitled"Recapitulation of the Intelligence Derived" was published in full in February but redacted in July. And there are many other examples of such attempted reclassifications scattered throughout.
A copy of the more complete February 2007 version is posted here:
http://www.fas.org/irp/cia/product/tunnel-200702.pdf
And for comparison, the more recent but less revealing July 2007 version is here:
http://www.fas.org/irp/cia/product/tunnel-200707.pdf
"For the CIA to represent the material that was newly redacted in July 2007 as classified when in fact it has been declassified and published by the CIA itself is, I believe, a violation of the executive order," I wrote in a letter to the Information Security Oversight Office today."It generates confusion and suggests poor quality control, if not something worse."
"I hope that ISOO may be able to help clarify the source of CIA's defective declassification practice in this instance and to identify an appropriate corrective."
http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/2007/12/fas120607.pdf
"We'll look into it," replied Bill Leonard, the ISOO Director.
Thursday, December 6, 2007 - 16:11
SOURCE: Secrecy News, written by Steven Aftergood, is published by the Federation of American Scientists (12-5-07)
The Central Intelligence Agency has recently declassified and released several additional volumes of its coveted Clandestine Services History series. These are official Agency histories prepared for internal use
regarding significant episodes in the Agency's cold war record.
Scholarly access to such documents has been sporadic and subject to strict controls.
The following clandestine service history volumes were approved for release in July 2007 following a new declassification review and were recently disclosed.
"The Secret War in Korea, June 1950 to June 1952," March 1964:
http://www.fas.org/irp/cia/product/korea.pdf
"Record of Paramilitary Action Against the Castro Government of Cuba, 17 March 1960 - May 1961," May 1961:
http://www.fas.org/irp/cia/product/cuba.pdf
"The Evolution of Ground Paramilitary Activities at the Staff Level, October 1949-September 1955," November 1968:
http://www.fas.org/irp/cia/product/paramil.pdf
"The Berlin Tunnel Operation, 1952-1956," 24 June 1968:
http://www.fas.org/irp/cia/product/tunnel.pdf
The declassified documents were made available on CIA's useful Freedom of Information Act site at www.foia.cia.gov.
regarding significant episodes in the Agency's cold war record.
Scholarly access to such documents has been sporadic and subject to strict controls.
The following clandestine service history volumes were approved for release in July 2007 following a new declassification review and were recently disclosed.
"The Secret War in Korea, June 1950 to June 1952," March 1964:
http://www.fas.org/irp/cia/product/korea.pdf
"Record of Paramilitary Action Against the Castro Government of Cuba, 17 March 1960 - May 1961," May 1961:
http://www.fas.org/irp/cia/product/cuba.pdf
"The Evolution of Ground Paramilitary Activities at the Staff Level, October 1949-September 1955," November 1968:
http://www.fas.org/irp/cia/product/paramil.pdf
"The Berlin Tunnel Operation, 1952-1956," 24 June 1968:
http://www.fas.org/irp/cia/product/tunnel.pdf
The declassified documents were made available on CIA's useful Freedom of Information Act site at www.foia.cia.gov.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007 - 15:50
Name of source: National Security Archive Press Release (Click here to read the Harpers article.)
Harpers Magazine carries a feature article this month by the National Security Archive's Kate Doyle on what has been described by the New York Times as “the biggest trove of files found in the history of Latin America.” Titled “The Atrocity Files: Deciphering the Archives of Guatemala's Dirty War,” the 7,000-word article describes the massive effort underway to rescue the recently discovered records of the brutal former Guatemalan National Police – estimates are that the collection may reach 50 million pages – and how analysts and human rights investigators are sifting through the documents for evidence of human rights crimes.
Doyle directs the Guatemala Documentation Project at the National Security Archive. She has played a key role in organizing international efforts to secure, preserve, and analyze records from the National Police Archive. “The discovery of this stunning cache of police files offers Guatemalans an unparalleled opportunity to recover a secret history,” says Doyle, “and confirms through official records a government policy of repression and terror that left more than 200,000 citizens dead or disappeared after 36 years of civil conflict.”
Sample text:
“As we moved from room to room, the policewomen accompanied us, obligingly yanking open drawers when requested or slipping pages out of bound folders to show us. They balked only once, when we came upon a pile of records from the old Detective Corps, a greatly feared special-operations squad that existed in the 1970s and early 1980s, notorious for the kidnapping, torture, and execution of suspected subversives. We asked the woman in charge to hand us some file folders, but she began shaking her head no and then her finger, shaking it at us, no, no, “No se puede, no se puede,” “that can’t be done.” It took us a few minutes to understand: we weren’t prohibited from looking at them, but she still had strict orders, almost ten years after the abolition of the National Police, not to touch.”
Doyle directs the Guatemala Documentation Project at the National Security Archive. She has played a key role in organizing international efforts to secure, preserve, and analyze records from the National Police Archive. “The discovery of this stunning cache of police files offers Guatemalans an unparalleled opportunity to recover a secret history,” says Doyle, “and confirms through official records a government policy of repression and terror that left more than 200,000 citizens dead or disappeared after 36 years of civil conflict.”
Sample text:
“As we moved from room to room, the policewomen accompanied us, obligingly yanking open drawers when requested or slipping pages out of bound folders to show us. They balked only once, when we came upon a pile of records from the old Detective Corps, a greatly feared special-operations squad that existed in the 1970s and early 1980s, notorious for the kidnapping, torture, and execution of suspected subversives. We asked the woman in charge to hand us some file folders, but she began shaking her head no and then her finger, shaking it at us, no, no, “No se puede, no se puede,” “that can’t be done.” It took us a few minutes to understand: we weren’t prohibited from looking at them, but she still had strict orders, almost ten years after the abolition of the National Police, not to touch.”
Wednesday, December 5, 2007 - 14:48
Name of source: http://www.mentalfloss.com/
SOURCE: http://www.mentalfloss.com/ (11-29-07)
During World War II, the British secret service hatched a master plan to smuggle escape gear to captured Allied soldiers inside Germany. Their secret weapon? Monopoly boxes. The original notion was simple enough: Find a way to sneak useful items into prison camps in an unassuming form. But the idea to use Monopoly came from a series of happy coincidences, all of which started with maps.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007 - 14:47
Name of source: USA Today
SOURCE: USA Today (12-4-07)
Are you feelin' groovy? Do you remember when you didn't trust anybody over 30? Does the word "plastics" bring to mind Dustin Hoffman?
If you're a baby boomer, you'll probably get this. And now, so will some college kids.
They're the first group of students at American University taking a class called "Talking About My Parents' Generation: Understanding Baby Boomers and How They've Shaped Us."
Communication professor Leonard Steinhorn's honors class, wrapping up its first semester, is a multimedia and interdisciplinary approach to studying the history, psychology and sociology of the generation born between 1946 and 1964 and how boomers are portrayed in media. The course is an amalgam of images, books and other readings of the time, along with lots of facts and figures. Course credit is in history (yes, it is history to them) or communication.
Students get more than a glimpse in the rearview mirror. YouTube videos and clips from seminal movies, TV shows and commercials help the Internet generation forget their 21st-century mind-set and see the world through a different lens.
If you're a baby boomer, you'll probably get this. And now, so will some college kids.
They're the first group of students at American University taking a class called "Talking About My Parents' Generation: Understanding Baby Boomers and How They've Shaped Us."
Communication professor Leonard Steinhorn's honors class, wrapping up its first semester, is a multimedia and interdisciplinary approach to studying the history, psychology and sociology of the generation born between 1946 and 1964 and how boomers are portrayed in media. The course is an amalgam of images, books and other readings of the time, along with lots of facts and figures. Course credit is in history (yes, it is history to them) or communication.
Students get more than a glimpse in the rearview mirror. YouTube videos and clips from seminal movies, TV shows and commercials help the Internet generation forget their 21st-century mind-set and see the world through a different lens.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007 - 14:35
Name of source: Clarion-Ledger
SOURCE: Clarion-Ledger (12-2-07)
Billy Wayne Posey has admitted he was with the Klansmen who chased, kidnapped, shot and buried three civil rights workers in Neshoba County in the summer of 1964.
But the state can't use his confession and never charged him in the killings.
The Clarion-Ledger has obtained a copy of his statement and nearly 40,000 pages of mostly sealed federal and state documents.
These documents include the entire FBI file in the June 21, 1964, killings of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner and the state's most recent investigation, which ended with the 2005 conviction of Klan leader Edgar Ray Killen.
The Clarion-Ledger's analysis of those files uncovered sealed confessions by Posey and then-Deputy Cecil Price, documents detailing how a defense lawyer leaked information to the FBI, documents revealing who broke the Klan's code of silence in telling where the bodies were buried, and documents pointing to potential new witnesses.
But the state can't use his confession and never charged him in the killings.
The Clarion-Ledger has obtained a copy of his statement and nearly 40,000 pages of mostly sealed federal and state documents.
These documents include the entire FBI file in the June 21, 1964, killings of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner and the state's most recent investigation, which ended with the 2005 conviction of Klan leader Edgar Ray Killen.
The Clarion-Ledger's analysis of those files uncovered sealed confessions by Posey and then-Deputy Cecil Price, documents detailing how a defense lawyer leaked information to the FBI, documents revealing who broke the Klan's code of silence in telling where the bodies were buried, and documents pointing to potential new witnesses.
Related Links
Grand jury came within one vote of indictment
Wednesday, December 5, 2007 - 02:09
Name of source: Guardian
SOURCE: Guardian (12-4-07)
Britain's largest Muslim body has voted to end its boycott of Holocaust memorial day, the Guardian has learned.
The Muslim Council of Britain voted this weekend to end its six-year protest, which had angered the government and Jewish groups.
The decision may lead to some groups leaving the MCB, an umbrella organisation with over 500 members. Its working committee voted 18 to 8 to end the boycott, which began in 2001. Those who voted to attend said the stance had allowed the MCB to be accused of antisemitism and seeming to disrespect the suffering of Jews.
The Muslim Council of Britain voted this weekend to end its six-year protest, which had angered the government and Jewish groups.
The decision may lead to some groups leaving the MCB, an umbrella organisation with over 500 members. Its working committee voted 18 to 8 to end the boycott, which began in 2001. Those who voted to attend said the stance had allowed the MCB to be accused of antisemitism and seeming to disrespect the suffering of Jews.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007 - 02:07
SOURCE: Guardian (12-3-07)
A once top-secret manuscript that is widely recognised as a milestone in the development of modern rockets is to go under the hammer in New York today.
Wernher von Braun, the Nazi physicist-turned-leading figure in US space exploration, created the 166-page document for his PhD dissertation in April 1934. It contains the scientist's handwritten annotations as well as his charts and graphs.
Von Braun was awarded a doctorate in physics on the basis of the dissertation, but its contents were considered so pivotal to the future of rocket development that it was seized by the German military and remained classified until 1960.
Wernher von Braun, the Nazi physicist-turned-leading figure in US space exploration, created the 166-page document for his PhD dissertation in April 1934. It contains the scientist's handwritten annotations as well as his charts and graphs.
Von Braun was awarded a doctorate in physics on the basis of the dissertation, but its contents were considered so pivotal to the future of rocket development that it was seized by the German military and remained classified until 1960.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007 - 02:06
SOURCE: Guardian (12-5-07)
Nearly two years after the internationally acclaimed author Orhan Pamuk narrowly escaped imprisonment for statements that were thought to "insult Turkishness", the publisher of a British writer goes on trial today accused of the same charge.
Ragip Zarakolu is facing up to three years in prison for publishing a book - promoting reconciliation between Turks and Armenians - by George Jerjian, a writer living in London.
Jerjian's book, The Truth Will Set Us Free, which was translated into Turkish in 2005, chronicles the life of his Armenian grandmother who survived the early 20th century massacres of Armenians thanks to an Ottoman soldier. The historical account has prompted as much controversy among the Armenian diaspora, not least in the US, as it has in Turkey.
Ragip Zarakolu is facing up to three years in prison for publishing a book - promoting reconciliation between Turks and Armenians - by George Jerjian, a writer living in London.
Jerjian's book, The Truth Will Set Us Free, which was translated into Turkish in 2005, chronicles the life of his Armenian grandmother who survived the early 20th century massacres of Armenians thanks to an Ottoman soldier. The historical account has prompted as much controversy among the Armenian diaspora, not least in the US, as it has in Turkey.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007 - 01:33
Name of source: Brian M. Sobel in the WSJ
SOURCE: Brian M. Sobel in the WSJ (12-4-07)
[Mr. Sobel is a frequent contributor to magazines and newspapers and an on-air political and military analyst for several radio and TV stations.]
On Dec. 7, 1941, just after 8 a.m., a 1,760-pound armor-piercing bomb penetrated the decks of the USS Arizona, striking the forward magazine. The resulting explosion was volcanic as nearly a million pounds of gunpowder erupted into a fireball of death and destruction. The Arizona would sink in nine minutes, taking to the harbor floor 1,177 sailors and Marines. Just 337 crewmen aboard the Arizona survived the blast. The fire was so intense that it would burn for two days. By the end of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, 21 U.S. ships had been sunk or damaged.
Sadly for the Arizona, after 229 bodies were recovered the Navy was forced to stop because of increasingly dangerous conditions. Not long after, a decision was made to leave the dreadnought where it lay and in the process create a lasting and powerful tribute to those who lost their lives and remain entombed in the ship. When the Arizona sank it also took well over a million gallons of fuel to the bottom. Now, at a rate of two quarts a day, tiny oil droplets, known as "black tears," rise to the surface every 20 seconds--and will continue to do so for decades to come.
Not all of the wreckage is at the memorial on Ford Island. "After the bombing, the USS Arizona had much of the superstructure and metal above the water line cut away and sent to the mainland, either for use on other ships or designated for scrap," explains Agnes Tauyan, deputy director in the public affairs office of the commander, Navy Region Hawaii. Still later, additional pieces of wreckage, several tons of the Arizona, were removed from the ship during the construction of the memorial and transported to a spot across the channel from Ford Island, where they have been ever since, holding a silent and lonely vigil against time and the elements.
Daniel Martinez, National Park Service historian who has worked at the Arizona Memorial since 1985 and is an expert on the bombing of Pearl Harbor, says, "Someone, and we don't know who, since documentation does not exist, realized the importance of this wreckage of the martyred ship and put it in a place where it would be preserved." The specific location of what Ms. Tauyan calls the "sacred relics" is a closely guarded secret. The Navy will acknowledge for the record only that sections of the Arizona are on Waipio Peninsula, strictly off limits to the public and safely guarded in a storage area on a military reservation, but it granted access for this article to further tell the story of the famed battleship and its continuing contribution today.
To reach the site, a visitor must proceed through locked gates, down roads and deep into an area that is protected by wasps and the thickets and thorns of Kiawe trees. There, in a clearing, is a debris field that is not large but unmistakably contains a unique look into history....
On Dec. 7, 1941, just after 8 a.m., a 1,760-pound armor-piercing bomb penetrated the decks of the USS Arizona, striking the forward magazine. The resulting explosion was volcanic as nearly a million pounds of gunpowder erupted into a fireball of death and destruction. The Arizona would sink in nine minutes, taking to the harbor floor 1,177 sailors and Marines. Just 337 crewmen aboard the Arizona survived the blast. The fire was so intense that it would burn for two days. By the end of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, 21 U.S. ships had been sunk or damaged.
Sadly for the Arizona, after 229 bodies were recovered the Navy was forced to stop because of increasingly dangerous conditions. Not long after, a decision was made to leave the dreadnought where it lay and in the process create a lasting and powerful tribute to those who lost their lives and remain entombed in the ship. When the Arizona sank it also took well over a million gallons of fuel to the bottom. Now, at a rate of two quarts a day, tiny oil droplets, known as "black tears," rise to the surface every 20 seconds--and will continue to do so for decades to come.
Not all of the wreckage is at the memorial on Ford Island. "After the bombing, the USS Arizona had much of the superstructure and metal above the water line cut away and sent to the mainland, either for use on other ships or designated for scrap," explains Agnes Tauyan, deputy director in the public affairs office of the commander, Navy Region Hawaii. Still later, additional pieces of wreckage, several tons of the Arizona, were removed from the ship during the construction of the memorial and transported to a spot across the channel from Ford Island, where they have been ever since, holding a silent and lonely vigil against time and the elements.
Daniel Martinez, National Park Service historian who has worked at the Arizona Memorial since 1985 and is an expert on the bombing of Pearl Harbor, says, "Someone, and we don't know who, since documentation does not exist, realized the importance of this wreckage of the martyred ship and put it in a place where it would be preserved." The specific location of what Ms. Tauyan calls the "sacred relics" is a closely guarded secret. The Navy will acknowledge for the record only that sections of the Arizona are on Waipio Peninsula, strictly off limits to the public and safely guarded in a storage area on a military reservation, but it granted access for this article to further tell the story of the famed battleship and its continuing contribution today.
To reach the site, a visitor must proceed through locked gates, down roads and deep into an area that is protected by wasps and the thickets and thorns of Kiawe trees. There, in a clearing, is a debris field that is not large but unmistakably contains a unique look into history....
Wednesday, December 5, 2007 - 02:06
Name of source: http://www.bnd.com
SOURCE: http://www.bnd.com (12-3-07)
Baron Manfred von Richthofen buzzed above the muddy World War I battlefields in his red Fokker tri-plane, downing a record 80 Allied aircraft on his way to becoming the war's top fighter ace and earning the famed "Red Baron" nom de guerre.
But von Richthofen, who was shot down and killed just before his 26th birthday in 1918, has been a legend in limbo since Poland's borders moved west after World War II and swallowed the baron's hometown of Schweidnitz -- today called Swidnica.
Honoring a German soldier in Poland, which lost some 6 million citizens under the Nazi occupation, can still be a touchy issue. The two countries continue to wrestle with efforts by some Germans to regain property lost to Poland when the borders shifted west after World War II.
Swidnica resident Jerzy Gaszynski is trying to change that with a new memorial to the Red Baron, and reckons he might even pull in a few tourists at the same time.
But von Richthofen, who was shot down and killed just before his 26th birthday in 1918, has been a legend in limbo since Poland's borders moved west after World War II and swallowed the baron's hometown of Schweidnitz -- today called Swidnica.
Honoring a German soldier in Poland, which lost some 6 million citizens under the Nazi occupation, can still be a touchy issue. The two countries continue to wrestle with efforts by some Germans to regain property lost to Poland when the borders shifted west after World War II.
Swidnica resident Jerzy Gaszynski is trying to change that with a new memorial to the Red Baron, and reckons he might even pull in a few tourists at the same time.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007 - 01:18
Name of source: http://www.berkeleydaily.org
SOURCE: http://www.berkeleydaily.org (12-4-07)
Zachary Running Wolf and some members of the Ohlone people say the site is sacred, the resting place of villagers who once dwelt along the shores of Strawberry Creek.
“There is no specific, verified evidence of burials,” other than one cited by a consulting archaeologist, said Dan Mogulof, UC Berkeley’s executive director of public affairs.
But Richard Schwartz, a writer with several books on Berkeley history to his credit, says a look at the record raises critical questions about the university’s claim.
There is no dispute that a dozen or so burials were found at Faculty Glade, a short walk downstream from the stadium.
The evidence is less clear about the stadium area itself, but Schwartz would argue that absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
“There is no specific, verified evidence of burials,” other than one cited by a consulting archaeologist, said Dan Mogulof, UC Berkeley’s executive director of public affairs.
But Richard Schwartz, a writer with several books on Berkeley history to his credit, says a look at the record raises critical questions about the university’s claim.
There is no dispute that a dozen or so burials were found at Faculty Glade, a short walk downstream from the stadium.
The evidence is less clear about the stadium area itself, but Schwartz would argue that absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007 - 01:14
Name of source: http://kob.com/article
SOURCE: http://kob.com/article (12-3-07)
Human remains are getting in the way of a plan to expand an Albuquerque elementary school.
Alameda Elementary is supposed to get an upgraded drainage system, and a new playground, track, and soccer field.
But archeologists have found an 800-year-old Indian burial ground under the school, putting a stop to the school's plans.
Now archaeologists must dig up the remains and artifacts before the school can start the renovation process.
Alameda Elementary is supposed to get an upgraded drainage system, and a new playground, track, and soccer field.
But archeologists have found an 800-year-old Indian burial ground under the school, putting a stop to the school's plans.
Now archaeologists must dig up the remains and artifacts before the school can start the renovation process.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007 - 01:12
Name of source: AP
SOURCE: AP (12-4-07)
Zimbabwe's president has a simple answer to why his country's rich farmland is wasting away as inflation soars: colonialism.
While critics in and outside his country blame Robert Mugabe's land seizures and draconian rule for Zimbabwe's crisis, Mugabe told attendees at a recent state dinner that Britain, the former colonial master, was crippling his country.
Applause was loud and long.
European and African leaders want to look ahead to better trade deals, meeting the challenge of immigration and other issues at a summit of continents this weekend. But the past continues to tug at their relationship, with colonial wounds still painful — and still carrying political weight.
While critics in and outside his country blame Robert Mugabe's land seizures and draconian rule for Zimbabwe's crisis, Mugabe told attendees at a recent state dinner that Britain, the former colonial master, was crippling his country.
Applause was loud and long.
European and African leaders want to look ahead to better trade deals, meeting the challenge of immigration and other issues at a summit of continents this weekend. But the past continues to tug at their relationship, with colonial wounds still painful — and still carrying political weight.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007 - 22:06
SOURCE: AP (12-2-07)
A Jewish group on Sunday presented a candelabra symbolizing Jewish victims of the Nazi Holocaust to a Catholic cardinal, a way of underlining positive changes in Jewish-Catholic relations in recent decades.
The candelabra has six branches, in memory of the 6 million Jews killed by German Nazis and their collaborators during World War II.
The candelabra has six branches, in memory of the 6 million Jews killed by German Nazis and their collaborators during World War II.
Monday, December 3, 2007 - 22:05
SOURCE: AP (11-29-07)
A wall mentioned in the Bible's Book of Nehemiah and long sought by archaeologists apparently has been found, an Israeli archaeologist says.
A team of archaeologists discovered the wall in Jerusalem's ancient City of David during a rescue attempt on a tower that was in danger of collapse, said Eilat Mazar, head of the Institute of Archaeology at the Shalem Center, a Jerusalem-based research and educational institute, and leader of the dig.
Artifacts including pottery shards and arrowheads found under the tower suggested that both the tower and the nearby wall are from the 5th century B.C., the time of Nehemiah, Mazar said this week. Scholars previously thought the wall dated to the Hasmonean period from about 142 B.C. to 37 B.C.
The findings suggest that the structure was actually part of the same city wall the Bible says Nehemiah rebuilt, Mazar said. The Book of Nehemiah gives a detailed description of construction of the walls, destroyed earlier by the Babylonians.
A team of archaeologists discovered the wall in Jerusalem's ancient City of David during a rescue attempt on a tower that was in danger of collapse, said Eilat Mazar, head of the Institute of Archaeology at the Shalem Center, a Jerusalem-based research and educational institute, and leader of the dig.
Artifacts including pottery shards and arrowheads found under the tower suggested that both the tower and the nearby wall are from the 5th century B.C., the time of Nehemiah, Mazar said this week. Scholars previously thought the wall dated to the Hasmonean period from about 142 B.C. to 37 B.C.
The findings suggest that the structure was actually part of the same city wall the Bible says Nehemiah rebuilt, Mazar said. The Book of Nehemiah gives a detailed description of construction of the walls, destroyed earlier by the Babylonians.
Monday, December 3, 2007 - 15:59
SOURCE: AP (12-2-07)
A single manuscript page from a love story written by Napoleon Bonaparte sold at auction in France on Sunday for $35,400, an auction house said.
The item up for sale was the first page of the final draft of Napoleon's 1795 short novel "Clisson and Eugenie," said the Osenat auction house, based in Fontainebleau outside Paris.
The page had been part of a private French family collection. The identity of the buyer was not disclosed.
The novel, never published in Napoleon's lifetime, was loosely based on the author's brief romance with Desiree Clary, the sister of his brother's wife.
The item up for sale was the first page of the final draft of Napoleon's 1795 short novel "Clisson and Eugenie," said the Osenat auction house, based in Fontainebleau outside Paris.
The page had been part of a private French family collection. The identity of the buyer was not disclosed.
The novel, never published in Napoleon's lifetime, was loosely based on the author's brief romance with Desiree Clary, the sister of his brother's wife.
Sunday, December 2, 2007 - 18:18
Name of source: Lee White at the website of the National Coalition for History (NCH)
SOURCE: Lee White at the website of the National Coalition for History (NCH) (11-28-07)
This week, the Bush administration decided not to appeal a federal district court judge’s decision that invalidated a crucial section of Executive Order (EO) 13233, which broadened the rights of presidents and former-presidents to withhold federal records from the public for indefinite periods of time.
On October 1, Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly gave historians and researchers a partial, but significant victory in a lawsuit questioning the legality of the Executive Order. The judge struck down the section of the EO that allows a former president to indefinitely delay the release of their records.
On October 1, Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly gave historians and researchers a partial, but significant victory in a lawsuit questioning the legality of the Executive Order. The judge struck down the section of the EO that allows a former president to indefinitely delay the release of their records.
However, Judge Kollar-Kotelly did not rule on the constitutionality of the Executive Order itself, narrowly crafting her decision to address only the specific provision in the order dealing with former presidents. She declined to rule on the legality of the sections of the Executive Order allowing heirs and designees of former presidents, and former vice presidents, the authority to control the release of documents, calling them “unripe” since no records have yet been withheld pursuant to those provisions. However, the judge left open the right for the plaintiffs to challenge these provisions in the future if the release of records were denied as a result of them.
The lawsuit was brought by Public Citizen soon after the Executive Order was issued in 2001 on behalf of itself, the American Historical Association (AHA), the National Security Archive, the Organization of American Historians (OAH), the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, the American Political Science Association (APSA) and historian Stanley Kutler.
Legislation (H.R. 1255) to overturn Executive Order 13233 overwhelmingly passed the House by a vote of 333-93 in March. At the time the legislation was considered in the House, the Bush administration issued a threat to veto the bill, but it passed the House by a veto-proof margin. Similar legislation cleared the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee by voice vote this summer. However, when the Democratic leadership sought to bring the bill to the floor on September 29, Senator Jim Bunning (R-KY) objected to consideration of the bill and it remains tied up in the Senate.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007 - 18:25
SOURCE: Lee White at the website of the National Coalition for History (NCH) (11-28-07)
On November 28, the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum released approximately 122,800 pages of historical materials from the Nixon presidency at the National Archives in College Park, MD.
In the largest release of Nixon-related materials under mandatory review, the Nixon Presidential Library released over 10,000 pages of documents that were previously withheld from public access, and that were re-reviewed for release and/or declassified.
The documents are from the White House Special Files, Staff Member and Office Files; the National Security Council File series including the Henry A. Kissinger Office Files and the National Security Council Institutional Files.
The Nixon Presidential Library also opened around 4,800 pages of documents from the White House Central Files, Name Files. This system was used for routine materials filed alphabetically by the name of the correspondent. Included in the release are files on Mark Felt (Deep Throat), Robert Byrd, Bob Hope, Elvis Presley, Ronald Reagan, Richard Cheney, and Frank Sinatra.
Also included in the release are approximately 83,000 pages of White House Central Files, Staff Member and Office Files, and White House Press Office Files. The files contain materials created by the Press Office for distribution to the media including White House press releases and press conference transcripts.
Additionally, 25,000 pages of documents from Records of Temporary Committees, Commissions, and Boards, Records of the Cabinet Committee on Education were released. The Cabinet Committee on Education served as a Federal Government point of contact for states undergoing school desegregation.
In the largest release of Nixon-related materials under mandatory review, the Nixon Presidential Library released over 10,000 pages of documents that were previously withheld from public access, and that were re-reviewed for release and/or declassified.
The documents are from the White House Special Files, Staff Member and Office Files; the National Security Council File series including the Henry A. Kissinger Office Files and the National Security Council Institutional Files.
The Nixon Presidential Library also opened around 4,800 pages of documents from the White House Central Files, Name Files. This system was used for routine materials filed alphabetically by the name of the correspondent. Included in the release are files on Mark Felt (Deep Throat), Robert Byrd, Bob Hope, Elvis Presley, Ronald Reagan, Richard Cheney, and Frank Sinatra.
Also included in the release are approximately 83,000 pages of White House Central Files, Staff Member and Office Files, and White House Press Office Files. The files contain materials created by the Press Office for distribution to the media including White House press releases and press conference transcripts.
Additionally, 25,000 pages of documents from Records of Temporary Committees, Commissions, and Boards, Records of the Cabinet Committee on Education were released. The Cabinet Committee on Education served as a Federal Government point of contact for states undergoing school desegregation.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007 - 18:23
Name of source: http://www.independent.ie
SOURCE: http://www.independent.ie (12-4-07)
A vivid portrait of life in early 20th Century Ireland emerged yesterday as public access was granted for the first time to digitised records of the 1911 Census.
Using the National Archives website, those living here and the Irish Diaspora, estimated at 70 million people spread across the globe, can search for their ancestors by name.
The first phase of a project to digitise both the 1901 and 1911 census provides access to the records for Dublin 1911, fully indexed by name, allowing users to view the digitised images of the original manuscript household forms.
Using the National Archives website, those living here and the Irish Diaspora, estimated at 70 million people spread across the globe, can search for their ancestors by name.
The first phase of a project to digitise both the 1901 and 1911 census provides access to the records for Dublin 1911, fully indexed by name, allowing users to view the digitised images of the original manuscript household forms.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007 - 18:16
Name of source: LiveScience
SOURCE: LiveScience (12-3-07)
Chemical residues found in soil from Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula indicate that ancient Mayans traded food in marketplaces, a practice long considered unlikely by archaeologists.
From examining the sites of ancient Mayan cities, archaeologists have long recognized that the cities were home to more people than the local agricultural capacities could have supported, said Shepherd University archaeologist Bruce Dahlin, who led the new study of the Yucatan soil.
So for years, archaeologists looked for evidence of advanced farming practices that could have ramped up agricultural capacities beyond what archaeologists can observe, thus sustaining the populations. The idea that Mayans might have imported food and other goods wasn't taken seriously because most archaeologists thought that the Maya elite had a system whereby underlings were paid for loyalty by goods passed down the social ladder.
From examining the sites of ancient Mayan cities, archaeologists have long recognized that the cities were home to more people than the local agricultural capacities could have supported, said Shepherd University archaeologist Bruce Dahlin, who led the new study of the Yucatan soil.
So for years, archaeologists looked for evidence of advanced farming practices that could have ramped up agricultural capacities beyond what archaeologists can observe, thus sustaining the populations. The idea that Mayans might have imported food and other goods wasn't taken seriously because most archaeologists thought that the Maya elite had a system whereby underlings were paid for loyalty by goods passed down the social ladder.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007 - 18:13
Name of source: Reuters
SOURCE: Reuters (12-4-07)
An ancient Roman wood and ivory throne has been unearthed at a dig in Herculaneum, Italian archaeologists said on Tuesday, hailing it as the most significant piece of wooden furniture ever discovered there.
The throne was found during an excavation in the Villa of the Papyri, the private house formerly belonging to Julius Caesar's father-in-law, Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus, built on the slope of Mount Vesuvius.
The name of the villa derives from the impressive library containing thousands of scrolls of papyrus discovered buried under meters (yards) of volcanic ash after the Vesuvius erupted on 24 August 79.
The throne was found during an excavation in the Villa of the Papyri, the private house formerly belonging to Julius Caesar's father-in-law, Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus, built on the slope of Mount Vesuvius.
The name of the villa derives from the impressive library containing thousands of scrolls of papyrus discovered buried under meters (yards) of volcanic ash after the Vesuvius erupted on 24 August 79.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007 - 18:12
SOURCE: Reuters (12-3-07)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The only surviving copy of the 500-year-old map that first used the name America goes on permanent display this month at the Library of Congress, but even as it prepares for its debut, the 1507 Waldseemuller map remains a puzzle for researchers.
Why did the mapmaker name the territory America and then change his mind later? How was he able to draw South America so accurately? Why did he put a huge ocean west of America years before European explorers discovered the Pacific?
"That's the kind of conundrum, the question, that is still out there," said John Hebert, chief of the geography and map division of the Library of Congress.
The 12 sheets that make up the map, purchased from German Prince Johannes Waldburg-Wolfegg for $10 million in 2003, were mounted on Monday in a huge 6-foot by 9.5-foot (1.85 meter by 2.95 meter) display case machined from a single block of aluminum.
The case will be flooded with inert argon gas to prevent deterioration when it goes on public display December 13.
Why did the mapmaker name the territory America and then change his mind later? How was he able to draw South America so accurately? Why did he put a huge ocean west of America years before European explorers discovered the Pacific?
"That's the kind of conundrum, the question, that is still out there," said John Hebert, chief of the geography and map division of the Library of Congress.
The 12 sheets that make up the map, purchased from German Prince Johannes Waldburg-Wolfegg for $10 million in 2003, were mounted on Monday in a huge 6-foot by 9.5-foot (1.85 meter by 2.95 meter) display case machined from a single block of aluminum.
The case will be flooded with inert argon gas to prevent deterioration when it goes on public display December 13.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007 - 13:55
Name of source: Inside Higher Ed
SOURCE: Inside Higher Ed (12-4-07)
Houghton Mifflin said Monday that the publishing company had agreed to sell its college textbook division to Cengage Learning (formerly Thomson Learning) for $750 million in cash. Houghton said the deal would allow it to focus on its elementary and secondary school market, following on its $4 billion purchase this summer of Harcourt Education.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007 - 16:21
Name of source: Australian
SOURCE: Australian (12-3-07)
INCOMING education minister Julia Gillard yesterday backed the traditional interpretation of the nation's history, saying she believed Australia was "settled", rather than "invaded".
In a sign that she will adopt an orthodox approach to overseeing Labor's education policies, including the creation of a national schools curriculum, Ms Gillard supported students being exposed to different interpretations of Australian history and reaching their own conclusions.
She also reiterated that Labor would focus very strongly on the basic skills of maths, reading and writing in the development of the curriculum.
Asked yesterday if Australia was settled or invaded, Ms Gillard said it depended on one's perspective.
"I would say Australia was settled," she told the Ten Network's Meet the Press program. "I can understand that many indigenous Australians would say that it was invaded and I think for senior students who study history in our secondary schools, one of the things they would consider is the conflict of views."
In a sign that she will adopt an orthodox approach to overseeing Labor's education policies, including the creation of a national schools curriculum, Ms Gillard supported students being exposed to different interpretations of Australian history and reaching their own conclusions.
She also reiterated that Labor would focus very strongly on the basic skills of maths, reading and writing in the development of the curriculum.
Asked yesterday if Australia was settled or invaded, Ms Gillard said it depended on one's perspective.
"I would say Australia was settled," she told the Ten Network's Meet the Press program. "I can understand that many indigenous Australians would say that it was invaded and I think for senior students who study history in our secondary schools, one of the things they would consider is the conflict of views."
Monday, December 3, 2007 - 22:19
Name of source: Scotsman
SOURCE: Scotsman (12-2-07)
THEY helped bring death, destruction and terror on an industrial scale to an entire continent. And as Europe rebuilt itself following the Second World War, they were imprisoned on a desolate Scottish moor.
Newly uncovered documents have revealed that a Caithness prisoner-of-war camp had an extraordinary secret role as a place where some of the most notorious figures in Hitler's Third Reich were locked up, interrogated and - where possible - subjected to "de-Nazification".
While the existence of Camp 165 at Watten, near Wick, is known, local historian Valerie Campbell has obtained recently declassified Government files which reveal the existence of an inner compound with the grim nickname "Little Belsen".
Inmates included Paul Werner Hoppe, the commandant of Stutthof concentration camp, Poland, Dr Paul Schroder, the man behind the Nazi's V2 flying bomb project, Hitler's personal aide and SS commander Max Wunsche, Nazi propagandist Gunter d'Alquen, and U-boat captain Otto Kretschmer, known as the Wolf of the Atlantic.
Newly uncovered documents have revealed that a Caithness prisoner-of-war camp had an extraordinary secret role as a place where some of the most notorious figures in Hitler's Third Reich were locked up, interrogated and - where possible - subjected to "de-Nazification".
While the existence of Camp 165 at Watten, near Wick, is known, local historian Valerie Campbell has obtained recently declassified Government files which reveal the existence of an inner compound with the grim nickname "Little Belsen".
Inmates included Paul Werner Hoppe, the commandant of Stutthof concentration camp, Poland, Dr Paul Schroder, the man behind the Nazi's V2 flying bomb project, Hitler's personal aide and SS commander Max Wunsche, Nazi propagandist Gunter d'Alquen, and U-boat captain Otto Kretschmer, known as the Wolf of the Atlantic.
Monday, December 3, 2007 - 22:10
Name of source: Daily Mail
SOURCE: Daily Mail (12-1-07)
Behind the Queen's diamond wedding is the extraordinary untold story of how her marriage was almost scuppered by Philip's links to one of Hitler's closest henchmen....
[T]he marriage of Elizabeth and Philip, though a popular fairy tale in the glamour-starved years of post-war austerity and now regarded as a source of stability to Britain's monarchy, was by no means hailed with rejoicing in royal circles 60 years ago.
[T]he marriage of Elizabeth and Philip, though a popular fairy tale in the glamour-starved years of post-war austerity and now regarded as a source of stability to Britain's monarchy, was by no means hailed with rejoicing in royal circles 60 years ago.
In fact, evidence that is still held off-limits in secret archives suggests that it almost never happened at all.
The little group of ex-royals to whom I have referred were described in the media as"Prince Philip's distant German relations".
Relations, yes. Distant, no.
They were Philip's nieces and nephews, the children of his sisters, all three of whom were excluded from receiving invitations to the royal wedding in 1947, owing to the fact that their husbands were German officers, in some cases with strong Nazi connections.
Monday, December 3, 2007 - 21:52
Name of source: http://www.allheadlinenews.com
SOURCE: http://www.allheadlinenews.com (11-26-07)
Rock art in Egypt is being threatened by the increasing number of tourists trying to seek far and wide for the Egyptian frontiers. Much of the art that has been preserved for thousands of years is under risk from more and more people heading toward the sacred areas.
The most impressive of Egypt's rock art is the country's southwest corner, near the Sudanese and Libyan borders, where paintings of prehistoric man and beast are located.
The most impressive of Egypt's rock art is the country's southwest corner, near the Sudanese and Libyan borders, where paintings of prehistoric man and beast are located.
Monday, December 3, 2007 - 21:45
Name of source: Seattle Times
SOURCE: Seattle Times (11-26-07)
Crumbling asphalt roads and docks still mark where the town of Umatilla once stood, but even deeper are the remnants of the 2,500-year-old tribal village of matalam.
Almost nothing has been done with the 70-acre Umatilla town site, found within 800 acres owned by the Army Corps of Engineers.
The city was moved to its current site in the mid-1960s to make way for the Columbia River to rise behind the John Day Dam.
Now the city of Umatilla and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation have started talking about what can be done to preserve the area and its history.
Almost nothing has been done with the 70-acre Umatilla town site, found within 800 acres owned by the Army Corps of Engineers.
The city was moved to its current site in the mid-1960s to make way for the Columbia River to rise behind the John Day Dam.
Now the city of Umatilla and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation have started talking about what can be done to preserve the area and its history.
Monday, December 3, 2007 - 21:44
Name of source: Discovery News
SOURCE: Discovery News (11-28-07)
Infected rams and donkeys were the earliest bioweapons, according to a new study which dates the use of biological warfare back more than 3,300 years.
According to a review published in the Journal of Medical Hypotheses, two ancient populations, the Arzawans and the Hittites, engaged "in mutual use of contaminated animals" during the 1320-1318 B.C. Anatolian war.
"The animals were carriers of Francisella tularensis, the causative agent of tularemia," author Siro Trevisanato, a molecular biologist based in Oakville, Ontario, Canada told Discovery News.
Also known as "rabbit fever," tularemia is a devastating disease which even today can be fatal, if not treated with antibiotics. Its symptoms range from skin ulcers, swollen and painful lymph glands to pneumonia, fever, chills, progressive weakness and respiratory failure.
According to a review published in the Journal of Medical Hypotheses, two ancient populations, the Arzawans and the Hittites, engaged "in mutual use of contaminated animals" during the 1320-1318 B.C. Anatolian war.
"The animals were carriers of Francisella tularensis, the causative agent of tularemia," author Siro Trevisanato, a molecular biologist based in Oakville, Ontario, Canada told Discovery News.
Also known as "rabbit fever," tularemia is a devastating disease which even today can be fatal, if not treated with antibiotics. Its symptoms range from skin ulcers, swollen and painful lymph glands to pneumonia, fever, chills, progressive weakness and respiratory failure.
Monday, December 3, 2007 - 21:42
Name of source: Russia Today
SOURCE: Russia Today (11-28-07)
A large settlement dating back to the first century BC has been found in the Russian republic of North Ossetia. But since the archaeological site is in a valley next to a hydroplant under construction, there's a race to unlock its secrets, before it's flooded.
Most of the 60 people working at the site in the Zaramag Valley are amateurs with professionals guiding them.
Every day they antique jewellery, tools, weapons and crockery that once belonged to the ancient tribe of Alans, the ancestors of modern Ossetians.
Most of the 60 people working at the site in the Zaramag Valley are amateurs with professionals guiding them.
Every day they antique jewellery, tools, weapons and crockery that once belonged to the ancient tribe of Alans, the ancestors of modern Ossetians.
Monday, December 3, 2007 - 21:41
Name of source: http://mathaba.net
SOURCE: http://mathaba.net (11-30-07)
Chinese archaeologists said Thursday they have discovered the remains of an ancient city in eastern Zhejiang Province, which could better prove the long history of Chinese civilization.
The relic was found near Mojiao Mountain between Liangzhu and Pingyao townships in Yuhang District of the provincial capital Hangzhou, said Bao Xianlun, director of Zhejiang Provincial Cultural Heritage Bureau.
Based on the remains, experts estimate the ancient city covered an area of about three square kilometers. There are still pieces of walls as high as four meters at the site.
The location of the ancient city should have been carefully selected and it can be dated prior to the late period of the Liangzhu culture (about 4,150 to 5,250 years ago), according to Liu Bin, a research fellow with the bureau.
The relic was found near Mojiao Mountain between Liangzhu and Pingyao townships in Yuhang District of the provincial capital Hangzhou, said Bao Xianlun, director of Zhejiang Provincial Cultural Heritage Bureau.
Based on the remains, experts estimate the ancient city covered an area of about three square kilometers. There are still pieces of walls as high as four meters at the site.
The location of the ancient city should have been carefully selected and it can be dated prior to the late period of the Liangzhu culture (about 4,150 to 5,250 years ago), according to Liu Bin, a research fellow with the bureau.
Monday, December 3, 2007 - 21:38
Name of source: Columbus Dispatch
SOURCE: Columbus Dispatch (12-1-07)
On the site beside the Scioto River, the archaeologists had found fire pits dating to about 550 B.C., shards of pottery, even traces of an ancient building.
This week, Ryan Weller and his team found something more: a human skeleton, buried on the riverbank by his or her loved ones as long as 2,500 years ago.
What's more, the skeleton might have company.
The archaeologists methodically scraping away the centuries at the Columbus Southerly Wastewater Treatment Plant, 6977 S. High St., said yesterday that they have uncovered a prehistoric burial site.
This week, Ryan Weller and his team found something more: a human skeleton, buried on the riverbank by his or her loved ones as long as 2,500 years ago.
What's more, the skeleton might have company.
The archaeologists methodically scraping away the centuries at the Columbus Southerly Wastewater Treatment Plant, 6977 S. High St., said yesterday that they have uncovered a prehistoric burial site.
Monday, December 3, 2007 - 21:36
Name of source: Boston Globe
SOURCE: Boston Globe (12-1-07)
With Hanukkah beginning Tuesday night, Jews can look forward to the annual rituals of menorah-lighting, blessings, gift-giving - and gambling.
In some Jewish homes, not only do children risk a stash of chocolate or goodies spinning the dreidel, but their parents play kvitlech, similar to blackjack. According to Dwayne Carpenter, Boston College scholar and a man who enjoys an occasional hand of blackjack and poker, Hanukkah card-playing was a traditional cover for Torah study, which had been outlawed for Jews by a Syrian-Greek king in the second century BCE.
With the Massachusetts Legislature bracing for a debate over casino gambling, endorsed by Governor Deval Patrick, several religious leaders, including Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley, have spoken out against the proposal. Others are readying organized opposition to the proposal. It is interesting to note that the objectors include some from religions with a historical tolerance for certain games of chance.
"Both the Catholic and Jewish traditions traditionally set aside days for gambling," said Carpenter, who as chairman of BC's Romance Languages and Literature Department seems at first blush an unlikely authority on the subject. But he's also a practicing Jew who read religious legal texts about gambling during a stint in law school. Last month, he was among the specialists addressing a BC conference on gambling and theology.
In some Jewish homes, not only do children risk a stash of chocolate or goodies spinning the dreidel, but their parents play kvitlech, similar to blackjack. According to Dwayne Carpenter, Boston College scholar and a man who enjoys an occasional hand of blackjack and poker, Hanukkah card-playing was a traditional cover for Torah study, which had been outlawed for Jews by a Syrian-Greek king in the second century BCE.
With the Massachusetts Legislature bracing for a debate over casino gambling, endorsed by Governor Deval Patrick, several religious leaders, including Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley, have spoken out against the proposal. Others are readying organized opposition to the proposal. It is interesting to note that the objectors include some from religions with a historical tolerance for certain games of chance.
"Both the Catholic and Jewish traditions traditionally set aside days for gambling," said Carpenter, who as chairman of BC's Romance Languages and Literature Department seems at first blush an unlikely authority on the subject. But he's also a practicing Jew who read religious legal texts about gambling during a stint in law school. Last month, he was among the specialists addressing a BC conference on gambling and theology.
Sunday, December 2, 2007 - 19:05
Name of source: Dallas Morning News
SOURCE: Dallas Morning News (11-30-07)
Invaluable pieces of Texas' history have been lost, perhaps forever.
The Dallas Historical Society learned this week that 21 objects are missing from its permanent collection, including a Mexican president's brass dress spurs recovered after the Texas Revolution in 1836 and the Bible and family history of the Beemans, among the original settlers of Dallas.
The Dallas Historical Society learned this week that 21 objects are missing from its permanent collection, including a Mexican president's brass dress spurs recovered after the Texas Revolution in 1836 and the Bible and family history of the Beemans, among the original settlers of Dallas.
Sunday, December 2, 2007 - 19:00
Name of source: WSJ
SOURCE: WSJ (12-1-07)
Two decades ago, Mr. Gorbachev was reshaping the world. He opened up the Soviet system, helping to free the nations of Eastern Europe and end the Cold War.
Other titans of the age -- Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher -- left the world stage with honor. Mr. Gorbachev, 60 years old when he stepped down as Soviet president in 1991, plunged into a political purgatory.
In the West, though lionized for destroying communism, he was also seen as having capitulated to the Americans. At home, the Soviet Union collapsed as his reforms took on a life of their own. Russians scorned him. Russia's first president, Boris Yeltsin, marginalized and humiliated him. To raise money, Mr. Gorbachev did a Pizza Hut commercial.
So he responded warmly when Mr. Yeltsin's successor, President Vladimir Putin, extended him invitations to the Kremlin, a semi-official post and words of encouragement for Mr. Gorbachev's own political party. Mr. Gorbachev has returned the favor with a stream of endorsements of Mr. Putin.
Other titans of the age -- Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher -- left the world stage with honor. Mr. Gorbachev, 60 years old when he stepped down as Soviet president in 1991, plunged into a political purgatory.
In the West, though lionized for destroying communism, he was also seen as having capitulated to the Americans. At home, the Soviet Union collapsed as his reforms took on a life of their own. Russians scorned him. Russia's first president, Boris Yeltsin, marginalized and humiliated him. To raise money, Mr. Gorbachev did a Pizza Hut commercial.
So he responded warmly when Mr. Yeltsin's successor, President Vladimir Putin, extended him invitations to the Kremlin, a semi-official post and words of encouragement for Mr. Gorbachev's own political party. Mr. Gorbachev has returned the favor with a stream of endorsements of Mr. Putin.
Sunday, December 2, 2007 - 18:25
Name of source: NYT Magazine
SOURCE: NYT Magazine (12-2-07)
The elusive nature of the world’s most famous brand, not to say the curious road to its definition, will be illuminated next week as never before when the Library of Congress unveils an addition to its permanent collection nicknamed “America’s baptismal document.” The document in question, a four-and-a-half-foot-by-eight-foot map, will be receiving national-treasure treatment more appropriate to a Jerry Bruckheimer blockbuster. After all, in its 200-year history, the library has never waited longer, nor paid more, to acquire any single object: 100 years and $10 million were spent obtaining this last surviving print of a map of the world made in 1507 by an obscure German cartographer, Martin Waldseemüller — a map that happens to feature the first use of a certain seven letter word with an understandable appeal to our de facto national library: “America.” To house this treasure, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has built an encasement. At 2,000 pounds, its pressurized, argon-gas-filled environment is the largest case of its kind — big brother to the only other such cases NIST has made, those that protect the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
Sunday, December 2, 2007 - 18:12
