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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.
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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: AP
SOURCE: AP (2-26-07)
JERUSALEM -- Archaeologists and clergymen in the Holy Land derided claims in a new documentary produced by James Cameron that contradict major Christian tenets, but the Oscar-winning director said the evidence was based on sound statistics.
"The Lost Tomb of Jesus," which the Discovery Channel will run on March 4, argues that 10 ancient ossuaries —- small caskets used to store bones —- discovered in a suburb of Jerusalem in 1980 may have contained the bones of Jesus and his family, according to a press release issued by the Discovery Channel.
One of the caskets even bears the title,"Judah, son of Jesus," hinting that Jesus may have had a son...
Cameron told NBC'S"Today" show that statisticians found"in the range of a couple of million to one in favor of it being them."...
Amos Kloner, the first archaeologist to examine the site, said the idea fails to hold up by archaeological standards but makes for profitable television...
Stephen Pfann, a biblical scholar at the University of the Holy Land in Jerusalem who was interviewed in the documentary, said the film's hypothesis holds little weight...
Pfann is even unsure that the name"Jesus" on the caskets was read correctly. He thinks it's more likely the name"Hanun." Ancient Semitic script is notoriously difficult to decipher...
"It was an ordinary middle-class Jerusalem burial cave," Kloner said."The names on the caskets are the most common names found among Jews at the time."...
"I don't think the James Ossuary came from the same cave," said Dan Bahat, an archaeologist at Bar-Ilan University."If it were found there, the man who made the forgery would have taken something better. He would have taken Jesus."
"The Lost Tomb of Jesus," which the Discovery Channel will run on March 4, argues that 10 ancient ossuaries —- small caskets used to store bones —- discovered in a suburb of Jerusalem in 1980 may have contained the bones of Jesus and his family, according to a press release issued by the Discovery Channel.
One of the caskets even bears the title,"Judah, son of Jesus," hinting that Jesus may have had a son...
Cameron told NBC'S"Today" show that statisticians found"in the range of a couple of million to one in favor of it being them."...
Amos Kloner, the first archaeologist to examine the site, said the idea fails to hold up by archaeological standards but makes for profitable television...
Stephen Pfann, a biblical scholar at the University of the Holy Land in Jerusalem who was interviewed in the documentary, said the film's hypothesis holds little weight...
Pfann is even unsure that the name"Jesus" on the caskets was read correctly. He thinks it's more likely the name"Hanun." Ancient Semitic script is notoriously difficult to decipher...
"It was an ordinary middle-class Jerusalem burial cave," Kloner said."The names on the caskets are the most common names found among Jews at the time."...
"I don't think the James Ossuary came from the same cave," said Dan Bahat, an archaeologist at Bar-Ilan University."If it were found there, the man who made the forgery would have taken something better. He would have taken Jesus."
Related Links
Reuters report on 'The Lost Tomb of Jesus' (video) 'The Lost Tomb of Jesus' (Discovery Channel)
Monday, February 26, 2007 - 20:24
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SOURCE: AP (2-26-07)
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia -- The bones of victims from the Khmer Rouge's notorious "killing fields" should be preserved because they could serve as critical evidence in upcoming genocide trials, Cambodia's prime minister said Monday.
Human remains, particularly skulls, serve as the centerpieces of several memorials to the victims of the Khmer Rouge, who were responsible for the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians from starvation, overwork, medical neglect and execution when the communist group held power from 1975-79.
Human remains, particularly skulls, serve as the centerpieces of several memorials to the victims of the Khmer Rouge, who were responsible for the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians from starvation, overwork, medical neglect and execution when the communist group held power from 1975-79.
Monday, February 26, 2007 - 20:20
SOURCE: AP (2-26-07)
WARSAW, Poland -- A book released Monday has dredged up more painful allegations from Poland's Communist era, naming some 30 Roman Catholic priests, including several bishops, as registered informants with the secret police.
The author, the Rev. Tadeusz Isakowicz-Zaleski, was twice brutally beaten by the secret police and is one of the leaders of a drive to expose clergy who supplied information to authorities. The church, he says, must confess and repent to heal wounds.
"The church's avoiding of the problem could lead to irreversible harm," he wrote in an introduction. "Above all, it will cast a shadow on those clergy (and they were the vast majority) who never cooperated with the secret police."
Publication of the book -- titled "Priests In The Face Of The Security Services" -- coincides with a surge of interest in the issue following the surprise resignation in January of Warsaw Archbishop Stanislaw Wielgus.
The author, the Rev. Tadeusz Isakowicz-Zaleski, was twice brutally beaten by the secret police and is one of the leaders of a drive to expose clergy who supplied information to authorities. The church, he says, must confess and repent to heal wounds.
"The church's avoiding of the problem could lead to irreversible harm," he wrote in an introduction. "Above all, it will cast a shadow on those clergy (and they were the vast majority) who never cooperated with the secret police."
Publication of the book -- titled "Priests In The Face Of The Security Services" -- coincides with a surge of interest in the issue following the surprise resignation in January of Warsaw Archbishop Stanislaw Wielgus.
Monday, February 26, 2007 - 20:19
SOURCE: AP (2-26-07)
TAIPEI, Taiwan -- The late Gen. Chiang Kai-shek was responsible for the bloody suppression of a 1947 riot that led to the deaths of thousands of people, Taiwan's president said Monday.
Speaking to a seminar convened two days before the 60th anniversary of the "2-28 incident" —- so named because it followed riots that broke out on Feb. 28, 1947 —- President Chen Shui-bian put the full onus for the violent crackdown on Chiang.
"Although many people still harbor special feelings for former President Chiang Kai-shek, there is no doubt that Chiang was the foremost killer in the 2-28 incident," Chen said. "There is sufficient evidence that Chiang was not only aware of the massacre but spoke positively of it and supported it."
Chen's remarks, based in part on a 2006 book assembled from declassified Nationalist Party documents, appeared to have a distinct political edge.
Chen's comments came as Taiwan gears up for legislative and presidential elections, which pit his Democratic Progressive Party against the Nationalists, led by Chiang until his death in 1975.
Speaking to a seminar convened two days before the 60th anniversary of the "2-28 incident" —- so named because it followed riots that broke out on Feb. 28, 1947 —- President Chen Shui-bian put the full onus for the violent crackdown on Chiang.
"Although many people still harbor special feelings for former President Chiang Kai-shek, there is no doubt that Chiang was the foremost killer in the 2-28 incident," Chen said. "There is sufficient evidence that Chiang was not only aware of the massacre but spoke positively of it and supported it."
Chen's remarks, based in part on a 2006 book assembled from declassified Nationalist Party documents, appeared to have a distinct political edge.
Chen's comments came as Taiwan gears up for legislative and presidential elections, which pit his Democratic Progressive Party against the Nationalists, led by Chiang until his death in 1975.
Related Links
Taipei museum's exhibition shows valuable documents, records of 228 Incident
Monday, February 26, 2007 - 19:12
SOURCE: AP (2-25-07)
HARTFORD, Conn. -- Despite a recent $3.2 million renovation, one of the nation's oldest historic state houses is on the verge of closing its doors.
Unless the state comes to the rescue, visitors won't be able walk the halls of the 211-year-old Federal-style building where the Amistad slave ship trial began, where presidents from Andrew Jackson to George H.W. Bush have visited...
The Connecticut Historical Society, which took over operations at the Old State House about four years ago, has said it will begin boarding up the 1796 National Historic Landmark on June 30.
"We looked at the budget. To continue to operate the Old State House, it would be a financial drain and would potentially bring down the Connecticut Historical Society," said James C. Williams, chairman of the historical society's board of directors.
Unless the state comes to the rescue, visitors won't be able walk the halls of the 211-year-old Federal-style building where the Amistad slave ship trial began, where presidents from Andrew Jackson to George H.W. Bush have visited...
The Connecticut Historical Society, which took over operations at the Old State House about four years ago, has said it will begin boarding up the 1796 National Historic Landmark on June 30.
"We looked at the budget. To continue to operate the Old State House, it would be a financial drain and would potentially bring down the Connecticut Historical Society," said James C. Williams, chairman of the historical society's board of directors.
Monday, February 26, 2007 - 19:10
SOURCE: AP (2-26-07)
THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- The U.N.'s highest court cleared Serbia Monday of genocide against Muslims in Bosnia's bloody war. But it said the country's former government should have stopped the 1995 slaughter of more than 7,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica and ordered Serb leaders to hand over the alleged architect of the massacre.
The case marked the first time a state had been taken to court over allegations of genocide, outlawed in a U.N. convention in 1948 after the Nazi Holocaust, although individuals have been convicted in genocide cases linked to massacres in Bosnia and Rwanda.
In a 171-page ruling, the International Court of Justice said the massacre of thousands of Muslims by Bosnian Serb forces at the U.N.-protected Srebrenica enclave was an act of genocide.
But the 15-judge panel rejected Bosnia's claim that the Serbian state was responsible for the killing, saying it did not have effective control over the Bosnian Serb forces it had helped arm and finance.
Instead, the judges ruled that Serbia stood by and allowed the massacre to happen.
The case marked the first time a state had been taken to court over allegations of genocide, outlawed in a U.N. convention in 1948 after the Nazi Holocaust, although individuals have been convicted in genocide cases linked to massacres in Bosnia and Rwanda.
In a 171-page ruling, the International Court of Justice said the massacre of thousands of Muslims by Bosnian Serb forces at the U.N.-protected Srebrenica enclave was an act of genocide.
But the 15-judge panel rejected Bosnia's claim that the Serbian state was responsible for the killing, saying it did not have effective control over the Bosnian Serb forces it had helped arm and finance.
Instead, the judges ruled that Serbia stood by and allowed the massacre to happen.
Monday, February 26, 2007 - 16:35
SOURCE: AP (2-26-07)
TOKYO -- A group of South Koreans filed a lawsuit Monday against a Tokyo war shrine criticized for glorifying Japan's militaristic past, demanding it remove relatives' names from the list of war dead honored there.
The suit, filed at the Tokyo District Court, is the first ever filed by South Koreans against Yasukuni Shrine, their Japanese supporter Naoyoshi Yamamoto said Monday.
The 11 plaintiffs, including a former soldier and 10 others whose fathers were impressed into the Japanese military during World War II, said their names have been enshrined against their will.
The Yasukuni Shrine honors Japan's 2.5 million war dead, including seven executed Class-A war criminals and an estimated 21,000 Koreans.
The suit, filed at the Tokyo District Court, is the first ever filed by South Koreans against Yasukuni Shrine, their Japanese supporter Naoyoshi Yamamoto said Monday.
The 11 plaintiffs, including a former soldier and 10 others whose fathers were impressed into the Japanese military during World War II, said their names have been enshrined against their will.
The Yasukuni Shrine honors Japan's 2.5 million war dead, including seven executed Class-A war criminals and an estimated 21,000 Koreans.
Monday, February 26, 2007 - 03:19
SOURCE: AP (2-24-07)
BOSTON —- Less than a month after highways and bridges were shut down during a bomb scare touched off by an advertising stunt, a new marketing scheme has led angry city officials to shut down a historic site.
A clue in a Dr Pepper promotion suggested a coin that might be worth as much as $1 million was buried in the 347-year-old Granary Burying Ground, the final resting place of John Hancock, Paul Revere, Samuel Adams and other historic figures.
After contestants showed up at the cemetery gates early Tuesday, the city closed it, concerned that it would be damaged by treasure hunters.
"It absolutely is disrespectful," Boston Parks Commissioner Toni Pollak told The Boston Globe. "It's an affront to the people who are buried there, our nation's ancestors."
British candy and soft-drink maker Cadbury Schweppes PLC, which makes Dr Pepper, canceled the Boston portion of the 23-city coin-hunt promotion Thursday, acknowledging it had hidden the coin in the downtown graveyard that is visited by thousands of tourists each year.
[Later report:]
Valuable discovery: The Dr Pepper promotion's most valuable coin, redeemable for $1 million, was found by a Houston woman near the Spirit of Confederacy statue in Sam Houston Park, Cadbury Schweppes said Friday.
A clue in a Dr Pepper promotion suggested a coin that might be worth as much as $1 million was buried in the 347-year-old Granary Burying Ground, the final resting place of John Hancock, Paul Revere, Samuel Adams and other historic figures.
After contestants showed up at the cemetery gates early Tuesday, the city closed it, concerned that it would be damaged by treasure hunters.
"It absolutely is disrespectful," Boston Parks Commissioner Toni Pollak told The Boston Globe. "It's an affront to the people who are buried there, our nation's ancestors."
British candy and soft-drink maker Cadbury Schweppes PLC, which makes Dr Pepper, canceled the Boston portion of the 23-city coin-hunt promotion Thursday, acknowledging it had hidden the coin in the downtown graveyard that is visited by thousands of tourists each year.
[Later report:]
Valuable discovery: The Dr Pepper promotion's most valuable coin, redeemable for $1 million, was found by a Houston woman near the Spirit of Confederacy statue in Sam Houston Park, Cadbury Schweppes said Friday.
Monday, February 26, 2007 - 02:18
SOURCE: AP (2-24-07)
RICHMOND, Va. -- Meeting on the grounds of the former Confederate Capitol, the Virginia General Assembly voted unanimously Saturday to express "profound regret" for the state's role in slavery.
Sponsors of the resolution say they know of no other state that has apologized for slavery, although Missouri lawmakers are considering such a measure. The resolution does not carry the weight of law but sends an important symbolic message, supporters said.
Sponsors of the resolution say they know of no other state that has apologized for slavery, although Missouri lawmakers are considering such a measure. The resolution does not carry the weight of law but sends an important symbolic message, supporters said.
Saturday, February 24, 2007 - 19:45
Name of source: Ars Technica
SOURCE: Ars Technica (2-2-07)
The dream refuses to die. After The Pirate Bay failed in its quest to buy Sealand, some supporters of the idea believed that the idea of a libertarian paradise was too precious to drop, and they entertained hopes of hoisting the"live free or die" flag over another island, possibly Ile de Caille, a small and uninhabited island off the South American coast.
Thus began the Free Nation Foundation, a group that hopes to form its own country governed by a"philosophy of freedom" where"people could actually live" (as opposed to all those other countries, where living has been outlawed by tyrants).
The failure of the Sealand deal, it turns out, was a good thing. The rusting naval platform"was too small and aesthetically displeasing to support such a goal," according to the group, and the weather in the middle of the English Channel is not the stuff of which vacation fantasies are made.
Related Links
'Smallest Country' for sale -- sea views included, land extra
Monday, February 26, 2007 - 20:16
Name of source: National Geographic News
SOURCE: National Geographic News (2-26-07)
Milk wasn't on the Stone Age menu, says a new study which suggests the vast majority of adult Europeans were lactose intolerant as recently as 7,000 years ago.
While cow's milk is a mainstay in the diet of modern-day Europeans, their ancestors weren't able to digest the nutritious dairy product after childhood, according to DNA analysis of human skeletons from the Neolithic period.
The study was led by Joachim Burger of the Institute of Archaeology at Mainz University in Germany.
The findings supports the idea that milk drinkers became widespread in Europe only after dairy farming had become established there—not the other way around.
Most mammals lose their ability to digest milk after being weaned, but some humans can continue to benefit from the calcium-rich, high-energy liquid.
While cow's milk is a mainstay in the diet of modern-day Europeans, their ancestors weren't able to digest the nutritious dairy product after childhood, according to DNA analysis of human skeletons from the Neolithic period.
The study was led by Joachim Burger of the Institute of Archaeology at Mainz University in Germany.
The findings supports the idea that milk drinkers became widespread in Europe only after dairy farming had become established there—not the other way around.
Most mammals lose their ability to digest milk after being weaned, but some humans can continue to benefit from the calcium-rich, high-energy liquid.
Monday, February 26, 2007 - 20:08
Name of source: New Orleans City Business
SOURCE: New Orleans City Business (2-26-07)
NEW ORLEANS -- A third contract has been awarded in the $300-million expansion of the National World War II Museum.
Bridge City-based Concrete Busters of Louisiana Inc. will soon begin the $481,827 demolition of the property bordered by Magazine Street, Andrew Higgins Boulevard and Camp and Calliope streets to make way for buildings that will quadruple the facility’s size in the next five years.
The facilities featuring battlefields and military services of World War II and a national center for war research are expected to attract about 700,000 visitors annually, compared with the 260,000 average pre-Katrina, said Clem Goldberger, senior director of marketing.
“Since Katrina, we have only been at about 50 percent of that,” she said.
Bridge City-based Concrete Busters of Louisiana Inc. will soon begin the $481,827 demolition of the property bordered by Magazine Street, Andrew Higgins Boulevard and Camp and Calliope streets to make way for buildings that will quadruple the facility’s size in the next five years.
The facilities featuring battlefields and military services of World War II and a national center for war research are expected to attract about 700,000 visitors annually, compared with the 260,000 average pre-Katrina, said Clem Goldberger, senior director of marketing.
“Since Katrina, we have only been at about 50 percent of that,” she said.
Monday, February 26, 2007 - 20:06
Name of source: Telegraph (Calcutta, India)
SOURCE: Telegraph (Calcutta, India) (2-27-07)
RANCHI, Jharkhand, India -- Archaeologists might add a new chapter to the history of India, as certain remains of the stone-age civilisation have been discovered in the Damodar valley basin [in the new Indian state of Jharkhand, south of Bihar state].
The state art and culture department has already begun excavations [at two sites near Hazaribagh]...Several remains of the stone-age civilisation have been found in these places...Several Buddhist statues of the 12th century have also been found here.
“The pre-historic cave paintings are located about 12 km from here. This proves that the region was an important centre of activities during the stone-age,” said deputy director H.P. Sinha.
The oldest pre-historic recoveries have been made in Hallur in Karnataka and could be traced back to 1100 BC.
Though the period of the recoveries made in Jharkhand are yet to be ascertained, experts are of the opinion that these, too, might belong to the same period.
They argue that excavations in places of historical importance ought to be given top priority.
The state art and culture department has already begun excavations [at two sites near Hazaribagh]...Several remains of the stone-age civilisation have been found in these places...Several Buddhist statues of the 12th century have also been found here.
“The pre-historic cave paintings are located about 12 km from here. This proves that the region was an important centre of activities during the stone-age,” said deputy director H.P. Sinha.
The oldest pre-historic recoveries have been made in Hallur in Karnataka and could be traced back to 1100 BC.
Though the period of the recoveries made in Jharkhand are yet to be ascertained, experts are of the opinion that these, too, might belong to the same period.
They argue that excavations in places of historical importance ought to be given top priority.
Monday, February 26, 2007 - 19:56
Name of source: PR.com
SOURCE: PR.com (2-26-07)
SAN FRANCISCO -- As many newspaper publishers struggle with how to provide access to their printed archives without the content being exploited, small-market publishers are lining up to have their archives digitized and made online-accessible by SmallTownPapers, Inc. <http://www.smalltownpapers.com/>;
The Seattle-based company is working with more than 300 publishers from across the US to create high-quality digital images of their newspaper pages which are searchable and distributed online through defined partnerships. To date, the company has scanned more than two million newspaper pages of its 20 million page archive [dating back to 1865] and its digital database is expanding daily.
“While large newspapers have long had their archives electronically available, the small town newspapers were generally unable to do that because of the costs involved,” explained Paul Jeffko, president and founder of SmallTownPapers, Inc. “With this program, millions of newspaper pages are being viewed and searched online for the first time.”
[The papers range from the Merrimack (N.H.) Journal and the Harlan (Ia.) Tribune to the Clovis Livestock Market News (Clovis, N.M.) and the Spirit of Jefferson Farmer's Advocate (Charles Town, W.Va.)]
The Seattle-based company is working with more than 300 publishers from across the US to create high-quality digital images of their newspaper pages which are searchable and distributed online through defined partnerships. To date, the company has scanned more than two million newspaper pages of its 20 million page archive [dating back to 1865] and its digital database is expanding daily.
“While large newspapers have long had their archives electronically available, the small town newspapers were generally unable to do that because of the costs involved,” explained Paul Jeffko, president and founder of SmallTownPapers, Inc. “With this program, millions of newspaper pages are being viewed and searched online for the first time.”
[The papers range from the Merrimack (N.H.) Journal and the Harlan (Ia.) Tribune to the Clovis Livestock Market News (Clovis, N.M.) and the Spirit of Jefferson Farmer's Advocate (Charles Town, W.Va.)]
Monday, February 26, 2007 - 19:35
Name of source: CNN
SOURCE: CNN (2-26-07)
WASHINGTON -- Lt. Col. Bruce Crandall's heroics in Vietnam were immortalized in a movie and a critically acclaimed book.
More than 40 years after Crandall repeatedly risked his life to rescue American soldiers fighting one of the toughest battles of the Vietnam War, the U.S. military officially recognized his heroism Monday, when he was awarded the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest award for military valor.
"For the soldiers rescued, for the men who came home, for the children they had and the lives they made, America is in debt to Bruce Crandall," President Bush said during the awards ceremony."It's a debt our nation can never really fully repay."
More than 40 years after Crandall repeatedly risked his life to rescue American soldiers fighting one of the toughest battles of the Vietnam War, the U.S. military officially recognized his heroism Monday, when he was awarded the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest award for military valor.
"For the soldiers rescued, for the men who came home, for the children they had and the lives they made, America is in debt to Bruce Crandall," President Bush said during the awards ceremony."It's a debt our nation can never really fully repay."
Related Links
Crandall recounts 1965 battle in Ia Drang Valley (video)
Monday, February 26, 2007 - 18:56
SOURCE: CNN (2-25-07)
Brown University on Saturday promised to raise $10 million for local public schools and give free tuition to graduate students who pledge to work there in response to a report that found slave labor played a role in the university's beginnings.
The university will also explore creating an academic center on slavery and justice, strengthen its Africana Studies Department, begin planning for a slavery memorial and revise its official history to provide a more accurate account of the school's early years.
"One of the clearest messages in the Slavery and Justice Report is that institutions of higher education must take a greater interest in the health of their local communities, especially kindergarten through 12th-grade education," Brown President Ruth J. Simmons said in a statement.
The university will also explore creating an academic center on slavery and justice, strengthen its Africana Studies Department, begin planning for a slavery memorial and revise its official history to provide a more accurate account of the school's early years.
"One of the clearest messages in the Slavery and Justice Report is that institutions of higher education must take a greater interest in the health of their local communities, especially kindergarten through 12th-grade education," Brown President Ruth J. Simmons said in a statement.
Monday, February 26, 2007 - 00:53
SOURCE: CNN (2-24-07)
TUSCALOOSA, Alabama (AP) -- With a debate swirling nationwide over the n-word, a historically black college in Alabama has set aside four days to discuss the racial slur.
Participants at the conference, which began Thursday and ends Sunday, discussed topics ranging from the origins of the epithet to whether juggling a few letters makes it socially acceptable at the "N" Surrection Conference at Stillman College.
Organizers said the goal of the event is to challenge the use of the n-word "through the use of intelligent dialogue and a thorough examination of black history."
Debate over the use of the word has escalated in recent months, with comedian Michael Richards' racial rant prompting black leaders such as the Rev. Jesse Jackson and California Congresswoman Maxine Waters to urge the public and the entertainment industry to stop using it.
Clarence Sutton Sr., president of the Tuscaloosa chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, said he's taken deep offense to the slur since a 1960 incident when a knife-wielding white youth slapped him and said "Nigger, you wanna fight?"
"From that time on in my life, the word nigger was personal. I associated it with the hate and the very deep disdain that this gentleman had perpetrated on me at the time," he said.
These days, Sutton said, it's mostly other blacks he finds using the word.
"I'm fighting now because we have lost a generation of young people who don't know the history associated with that word," Sutton said.
Participants at the conference, which began Thursday and ends Sunday, discussed topics ranging from the origins of the epithet to whether juggling a few letters makes it socially acceptable at the "N" Surrection Conference at Stillman College.
Organizers said the goal of the event is to challenge the use of the n-word "through the use of intelligent dialogue and a thorough examination of black history."
Debate over the use of the word has escalated in recent months, with comedian Michael Richards' racial rant prompting black leaders such as the Rev. Jesse Jackson and California Congresswoman Maxine Waters to urge the public and the entertainment industry to stop using it.
Clarence Sutton Sr., president of the Tuscaloosa chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, said he's taken deep offense to the slur since a 1960 incident when a knife-wielding white youth slapped him and said "Nigger, you wanna fight?"
"From that time on in my life, the word nigger was personal. I associated it with the hate and the very deep disdain that this gentleman had perpetrated on me at the time," he said.
These days, Sutton said, it's mostly other blacks he finds using the word.
"I'm fighting now because we have lost a generation of young people who don't know the history associated with that word," Sutton said.
Sunday, February 25, 2007 - 18:15
SOURCE: CNN (2-23-07)
SWANNANOA, North Carolina (AP) -- There is no monument to Alma Shippy.
No plaque describes how, in 1952, the shy teenager packed a bag of clothes, caught a ride in a friend's pickup truck and walked into history on the campus of Warren Wilson Junior College.
It's an obscure vignette in civil rights history. Shippy not only was Warren Wilson's first black student, but one of the few to attend any segregated college or junior college by invitation -- and not by court order and armed escort.
A core of Shippy's family and friends -- some of whom paved his way and some whose path was paved by him -- want wider attention for what they see as a bright moment of brotherhood in one of the South's darkest eras.
"There were no dogs, no guns. He didn't have to be shot at. There was nobody that was beaten up, nobody died because he came here," says Rodney Lytle, a 1974 Warren Wilson graduate and now the school's multicultural adviser. "And that -- that story -- that is beautiful!"
And it didn't happen by chance....
No plaque describes how, in 1952, the shy teenager packed a bag of clothes, caught a ride in a friend's pickup truck and walked into history on the campus of Warren Wilson Junior College.
It's an obscure vignette in civil rights history. Shippy not only was Warren Wilson's first black student, but one of the few to attend any segregated college or junior college by invitation -- and not by court order and armed escort.
A core of Shippy's family and friends -- some of whom paved his way and some whose path was paved by him -- want wider attention for what they see as a bright moment of brotherhood in one of the South's darkest eras.
"There were no dogs, no guns. He didn't have to be shot at. There was nobody that was beaten up, nobody died because he came here," says Rodney Lytle, a 1974 Warren Wilson graduate and now the school's multicultural adviser. "And that -- that story -- that is beautiful!"
And it didn't happen by chance....
Sunday, February 25, 2007 - 18:14
Name of source: UPI
SOURCE: UPI (2-26-07)
Researchers at Harvard Medical School said the disorder known as repressed memory has a cultural rather than a scientific basis.
In an unusual study conducted by a team of psychiatrists and literary scholars, the Harvard group was unable to uncover any examples of the phenomenon in Western writings that are more than 200 years old, The Washington Post reported.
Study leader Harrison Pope of Harvard Medical School says dissociative amnesia or repressed memory first appears in 19th-century literature such as the poetry of Emily Dickinson.
The group theorizes that if the disorder were anything other than a culture-bound syndrome, there would be examples of it in earlier literature because art draws its inspiration from life.
They point out that Shakespeare and Homer created numerous characters suffering from psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia or depression but none exhibiting repressed memory, the Post reported.
Writing in the journal Psychological Medicine, the researchers are offering $1,000 to anyone who can produce an example to disprove their theory that repressed memory is a cultural creation.
In an unusual study conducted by a team of psychiatrists and literary scholars, the Harvard group was unable to uncover any examples of the phenomenon in Western writings that are more than 200 years old, The Washington Post reported.
Study leader Harrison Pope of Harvard Medical School says dissociative amnesia or repressed memory first appears in 19th-century literature such as the poetry of Emily Dickinson.
The group theorizes that if the disorder were anything other than a culture-bound syndrome, there would be examples of it in earlier literature because art draws its inspiration from life.
They point out that Shakespeare and Homer created numerous characters suffering from psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia or depression but none exhibiting repressed memory, the Post reported.
Writing in the journal Psychological Medicine, the researchers are offering $1,000 to anyone who can produce an example to disprove their theory that repressed memory is a cultural creation.
Related Links
Was Repressed Memory a 19th-Century Creation? (Washington Post) Is dissociative amnesia a culture-bound syndrome? Findings from a survey of historical literature (Pschological Medicine abstract)
Monday, February 26, 2007 - 18:49
SOURCE: UPI (2-26-07)
XINING, China -- Experts in China have restored a 700-year-old copy of the Koran, the sacred book of Islam.
The state-run news agency Xinhua reported that the two-volume, 867-page set is the oldest known in China and is written in Arabic.
The ancient copy of the Koran is believed to have been brought to China about 700 years ago when the Salar ethnic group moved east from Uzbekistan. Experts believe it was written some time between the eighth and 13th centuries.
Because the book is handwritten by Arabian Muslims, it is believed to be of great value as a research tool. All other ancient copies of the Koran that exist in China were written by Chinese Muslims, Xinhua reported.
The state-run news agency Xinhua reported that the two-volume, 867-page set is the oldest known in China and is written in Arabic.
The ancient copy of the Koran is believed to have been brought to China about 700 years ago when the Salar ethnic group moved east from Uzbekistan. Experts believe it was written some time between the eighth and 13th centuries.
Because the book is handwritten by Arabian Muslims, it is believed to be of great value as a research tool. All other ancient copies of the Koran that exist in China were written by Chinese Muslims, Xinhua reported.
Monday, February 26, 2007 - 03:21
SOURCE: UPI (2-25-07)
NEW YORK -- U.S. civil rights activist the Rev. Al Sharpton is amused after learning his relatives were once slaves owned by relatives of late Sen. Strom Thurmond,
The New York Daily News said Sharpton was in disbelief when he learned that his great-grandfather's family was once owned by a distant relative of the late South Carolina senator.
"I have always wondered what was the background of my family," Sharpton said. "But nothing -- nothing -- could prepare me for this."
The link was made by genealogists, who used historical documents to prove that Coleman Sharpton, along with a woman and two children thought to be his family, were owned by Julia Thurmond.
The late senator's great-great-grandfather was Julia Thurmond's grandfather.
The New York Daily News said Sharpton was in disbelief when he learned that his great-grandfather's family was once owned by a distant relative of the late South Carolina senator.
"I have always wondered what was the background of my family," Sharpton said. "But nothing -- nothing -- could prepare me for this."
The link was made by genealogists, who used historical documents to prove that Coleman Sharpton, along with a woman and two children thought to be his family, were owned by Julia Thurmond.
The late senator's great-great-grandfather was Julia Thurmond's grandfather.
Sunday, February 25, 2007 - 17:04
Name of source: The Register (UK)
SOURCE: The Register (UK) (2-23-07)
Detailed maps of the UK created by the KGB between 1950 and 1990 have gone on sale in digital format for the first time.
The maps show 16,000 square kilometres and 103 UK town and cities in more detail than Ordnance Survey maps. The Russians used satellite images and spies on the ground to create the maps, which include army camps and warehouses that don't appear on other maps.
The maps include other information likely to be useful for an invading army, such as the height of bridges and depths and contours of river beds. Strategically important buildings like telephone exchanges, government buildings, and power stations were all colour-coded and identified with a numbered key.
It wasn't just the UK that was treated to such detailed attention -- most of the rest of the world was put under similar scrutiny, albeit not to such an indepth scale. For many countries in Africa and Asia the maps remain the most reliable and accessible source of geographic information.
Little is known of the how the USSR acheived such a mammoth task. The military cartography department was created in 1919 and the first map of the UK dates from 1938. The project accelerated from the mid-50s as the Cold War intensified. All place names on the maps are transcribed into Cyrillic script phonetically.
The maps show 16,000 square kilometres and 103 UK town and cities in more detail than Ordnance Survey maps. The Russians used satellite images and spies on the ground to create the maps, which include army camps and warehouses that don't appear on other maps.
The maps include other information likely to be useful for an invading army, such as the height of bridges and depths and contours of river beds. Strategically important buildings like telephone exchanges, government buildings, and power stations were all colour-coded and identified with a numbered key.
It wasn't just the UK that was treated to such detailed attention -- most of the rest of the world was put under similar scrutiny, albeit not to such an indepth scale. For many countries in Africa and Asia the maps remain the most reliable and accessible source of geographic information.
Little is known of the how the USSR acheived such a mammoth task. The military cartography department was created in 1919 and the first map of the UK dates from 1938. The project accelerated from the mid-50s as the Cold War intensified. All place names on the maps are transcribed into Cyrillic script phonetically.
Related Links
Russian Military & KGB Maps (with link to sample map of London)
Monday, February 26, 2007 - 18:37
Name of source: by Dennis Dutton, New York Times
SOURCE: by Dennis Dutton, New York Times (2-26-07)
It seemed almost too good to be true, and in the end it was. A talented, conscientious pianist who had enjoyed an active if undistinguished career in Britain falls ill and retreats to a small town. Here in the last years of her life she launches a project to record virtually the entire standard repertoire for the piano. Her recordings, CDs made in her late sixties and seventies, are staggering, showing a masterful technique, a preternatural ability to adapt to different styles, and a depth of musical insight hardly seen elsewhere...
Related Links
About computer recognition of recorded performances (Stereophile) 'I did it for my wife' –- Joyce Hatto exclusive, William Barrington-Coupe confesses (Gramophone)
Monday, February 26, 2007 - 17:49
Name of source: Guardian
SOURCE: Guardian (2-26-07)
The question goes out, and the response is always the same.
"I'm proud of my language and culture. Are you?" Bok van Blerk demands of the emotionally charged crowd.
Up goes the cheer, and then comes the song - an Afrikaans folk number about a Boer war general that has become a sensation in South Africa as an anthem for young whites who say they are tired of being made to feel guilty about the apartheid past.
The song, De La Rey, has swept into rugby matches and pubs where Afrikaners belt out its plea for the old Boer general to come back and lead. Many stand with a hand over their heart as they sing the lyrics about a "nation that will rise up again" as if it were a national anthem.
But while the song is a best seller among South Africa's 2.5 million Afrikaners, it is also generating a heated debate about what its success means.
"I'm proud of my language and culture. Are you?" Bok van Blerk demands of the emotionally charged crowd.
Up goes the cheer, and then comes the song - an Afrikaans folk number about a Boer war general that has become a sensation in South Africa as an anthem for young whites who say they are tired of being made to feel guilty about the apartheid past.
The song, De La Rey, has swept into rugby matches and pubs where Afrikaners belt out its plea for the old Boer general to come back and lead. Many stand with a hand over their heart as they sing the lyrics about a "nation that will rise up again" as if it were a national anthem.
But while the song is a best seller among South Africa's 2.5 million Afrikaners, it is also generating a heated debate about what its success means.
Monday, February 26, 2007 - 16:19
Name of source: New York Daily News
SOURCE: New York Daily News (2-26-07)
MARIANNA, Fla. -- She is white and related to a U.S. senator who championed segregation.
She also shares the surname of a prominent black civil rights leader -- not because of any blood connection but because of her family's long-ago ties to the slave trade of the South.
Sharon Sharpton Hyatt, a 61-year-old widow who lives in a ranch house along a dirt road in this rural section of Jackson County, was unaware of the connections until the News contacted her...
A team of experts from Ancestry.com...determined that Hyatt shares her maiden name, Sharpton, with the Rev. Al Sharpton because her great-grandfather, Benjamin Franklin Sharpton, was the son of Julia Thurmond, whose family enslaved the reverend's great-grandfather, Coleman Sharpton, in the 1860s.
"Oh my God, that's horrible," Hyatt exclaimed... She and her sister said they would consider coming to New York to meet the Rev. Sharpton if he were interested.
Asked how the world should view the "Sharptons of Florida," the sisters gave a simple answer.
"Just ordinary people," [Barbara] Bailey said.
"Yup, just people," her sister agreed. "Just people who are not responsible for their ancestors and what they did."
She also shares the surname of a prominent black civil rights leader -- not because of any blood connection but because of her family's long-ago ties to the slave trade of the South.
Sharon Sharpton Hyatt, a 61-year-old widow who lives in a ranch house along a dirt road in this rural section of Jackson County, was unaware of the connections until the News contacted her...
A team of experts from Ancestry.com...determined that Hyatt shares her maiden name, Sharpton, with the Rev. Al Sharpton because her great-grandfather, Benjamin Franklin Sharpton, was the son of Julia Thurmond, whose family enslaved the reverend's great-grandfather, Coleman Sharpton, in the 1860s.
"Oh my God, that's horrible," Hyatt exclaimed... She and her sister said they would consider coming to New York to meet the Rev. Sharpton if he were interested.
Asked how the world should view the "Sharptons of Florida," the sisters gave a simple answer.
"Just ordinary people," [Barbara] Bailey said.
"Yup, just people," her sister agreed. "Just people who are not responsible for their ancestors and what they did."
Monday, February 26, 2007 - 06:16
Name of source: USA Today
SOURCE: USA Today (2-25-07)
"Sorry" may be too expensive a word.
Once the heart of the Confederacy, Virginia has become the first state to express remorse for its past support of slavery, an action other states are in line to follow. The General Assembly passed a resolution of "profound regret" for "the involuntary servitude of Africans and the exploitation of Native Americans."
Virginia, which passed its resolution without objection Saturday, went further than any state has gone. This year, though, states and cities across the country are considering resolutions, launching studies and taking other actions to recognize slavery in their history.
Most are stopping short of apologizing. The Virginia resolution's authors, both great-grandsons of slaves, sought "atonement" for slavery but say they were told the word could prompt claims for reparations —- monetary compensation —- to the descendants of slaves...
[The resolution sponsor, Henry Marsh III] says the possibility of reparations would have sunk the effort he led with Delegate Donald McEachin, also a Democrat...
No state has apologized for slavery, although a measure to do so is pending in Missouri. No U.S. president or Congress has apologized. In 1988, Congress apologized to Japanese-Americans who were held in camps during World War II and gave each surviving internee $20,000.
Once the heart of the Confederacy, Virginia has become the first state to express remorse for its past support of slavery, an action other states are in line to follow. The General Assembly passed a resolution of "profound regret" for "the involuntary servitude of Africans and the exploitation of Native Americans."
Virginia, which passed its resolution without objection Saturday, went further than any state has gone. This year, though, states and cities across the country are considering resolutions, launching studies and taking other actions to recognize slavery in their history.
Most are stopping short of apologizing. The Virginia resolution's authors, both great-grandsons of slaves, sought "atonement" for slavery but say they were told the word could prompt claims for reparations —- monetary compensation —- to the descendants of slaves...
[The resolution sponsor, Henry Marsh III] says the possibility of reparations would have sunk the effort he led with Delegate Donald McEachin, also a Democrat...
No state has apologized for slavery, although a measure to do so is pending in Missouri. No U.S. president or Congress has apologized. In 1988, Congress apologized to Japanese-Americans who were held in camps during World War II and gave each surviving internee $20,000.
Monday, February 26, 2007 - 06:11
Name of source: New York Times
SOURCE: New York Times (2-26-07)
SAYVILLE, N.Y. -— A congressman from Long Island wants the United States government to grant honorary citizenship to Anne Frank, at least in part to atone for having denied her family entry in the years before her arrest and deportation to a Nazi concentration camp.
The House of Representatives is likely to take up the question this year, yet the proposal is not quite as easy and unobjectionable as it sounds. Only six people in history have been granted the honor, and some of Anne Frank’s relatives are not supporting it.
How the issue came to emerge from this old seaside Long Island village is almost as intriguing as the question itself. In a compact grid of a dozen square blocks that seem cut from a Currier and Ives catalogue, there are 11 churches and zero synagogues...
The House of Representatives is likely to take up the question this year, yet the proposal is not quite as easy and unobjectionable as it sounds. Only six people in history have been granted the honor, and some of Anne Frank’s relatives are not supporting it.
How the issue came to emerge from this old seaside Long Island village is almost as intriguing as the question itself. In a compact grid of a dozen square blocks that seem cut from a Currier and Ives catalogue, there are 11 churches and zero synagogues...
Monday, February 26, 2007 - 04:08
Name of source: Washington Post
SOURCE: Washington Post (2-26-07)
Frederick Douglass rarely lacked for visitors at his estate in Anacostia [Washington, DC]. All sorts of people, including many of his 21 grandchildren, were often about, and the abolitionist writer saw to it that his home was equal to his hospitality.
For the past three years, preservationists have been working to keep it that way. And now the first major restoration project in more than three decades is complete, nearly 130 years after Douglass paid $6,700 for the hilltop mansion and the surrounding nine acres, which he would come to call Cedar Hill.
The National Park Service began showing off the finished product in mid-February with the reopening of the mansion for public tours that are booked into next month, the Park Service said.
For the past three years, preservationists have been working to keep it that way. And now the first major restoration project in more than three decades is complete, nearly 130 years after Douglass paid $6,700 for the hilltop mansion and the surrounding nine acres, which he would come to call Cedar Hill.
The National Park Service began showing off the finished product in mid-February with the reopening of the mansion for public tours that are booked into next month, the Park Service said.
Monday, February 26, 2007 - 04:05
SOURCE: Washington Post (2-25-07)
At the center of Baghdad's neglected North Gate War Cemetery, near the edge of the old city walls, stands an imposing grave. Sheltered from the weather by a grandiose red sandstone cupola, it is the final resting place of a man from whom George W. Bush could have learned a great deal about the perils of intervening in Iraq.
Lt. Gen. Sir Frederick Stanley Maude was head of the British army in Mesopotamia when he marched into Baghdad on a hot, dusty day in March 1917...
Lt. Gen. Sir Frederick Stanley Maude was head of the British army in Mesopotamia when he marched into Baghdad on a hot, dusty day in March 1917...
Sunday, February 25, 2007 - 04:06
Name of source: Boston Globe
SOURCE: Boston Globe (2-20-07)
There is no reason to be nostalgic about the Cold War nightmare of a thermonuclear Armageddon, superpower proxy wars across the Third World, the Soviet gulag, the censorship imposed throughout the communist bloc, or the opportunistic witch-hunting of the McCarthy period in America. Yet there is something quaint about the revelation that the CIA had Boris Pasternak's novel "Doctor Zhivago" surreptitiously published in Russian to boost his chances of winning the 1958 Nobel Prize in literature.
A forthcoming book about the "Doctor Zhivago" affair by Ivan Tolstoy —- yes, a member of that illustrious literary family —- recalls a bygone era when even CIA and KGB spies respected the power of literature. Tolstoy researched the covert operations of Soviet émigrés and CIA officers who arranged for the typesetting and publication of Pasternak's manuscript in the original Russian.
The novel had already been published in Italian by Giangiacomo Feltrinelli, himself a member of the Italian Communist Party. Albert Camus had nominated Pasternak for the 1958 Nobel. "Doctor Zhivago" would bolster the case for a Russian writer previously known for his poetry. But the Nobel committee required, quite sensibly, that to be eligible for consideration a writer's work had to be published in its original language...
Pasternak knew nothing of the CIA's machinations, Tolstoy said in a recent online interview for the Washington Post. "Doctor Zhivago" was literature, not propaganda. The Soviet foreign minister of the time was unwittingly bestowing the highest praise on Pasternak's work when he decried its "estrangement from Soviet life" and its "celebration of individualism."
A forthcoming book about the "Doctor Zhivago" affair by Ivan Tolstoy —- yes, a member of that illustrious literary family —- recalls a bygone era when even CIA and KGB spies respected the power of literature. Tolstoy researched the covert operations of Soviet émigrés and CIA officers who arranged for the typesetting and publication of Pasternak's manuscript in the original Russian.
The novel had already been published in Italian by Giangiacomo Feltrinelli, himself a member of the Italian Communist Party. Albert Camus had nominated Pasternak for the 1958 Nobel. "Doctor Zhivago" would bolster the case for a Russian writer previously known for his poetry. But the Nobel committee required, quite sensibly, that to be eligible for consideration a writer's work had to be published in its original language...
Pasternak knew nothing of the CIA's machinations, Tolstoy said in a recent online interview for the Washington Post. "Doctor Zhivago" was literature, not propaganda. The Soviet foreign minister of the time was unwittingly bestowing the highest praise on Pasternak's work when he decried its "estrangement from Soviet life" and its "celebration of individualism."
Related Links
CIA gets Dr. Zhivago's Nobel Prize? (Anatoly Korolev, RIA Novosti)
Monday, February 26, 2007 - 03:32
Name of source: Telegraph
SOURCE: Telegraph (2-26-07)
Experts are excited about a rare coin unearthed by an amateur treasure hunter which could change the accepted ancient history of Britain.
The silver denarius which dates back to the Roman Republic —- before Julius Caesar made Rome an empire —- was unearthed near Fowey in Cornwall.
Dating from 146 BC, it shows how ancient Britons were trading with the Romans well before the country was conquered in AD 43.
"It proves that there was a lot more going on between the continent and ourselves," said Anna Tyacke, Finds Liaison Officer at the Royal Cornwall Museum.
The silver denarius which dates back to the Roman Republic —- before Julius Caesar made Rome an empire —- was unearthed near Fowey in Cornwall.
Dating from 146 BC, it shows how ancient Britons were trading with the Romans well before the country was conquered in AD 43.
"It proves that there was a lot more going on between the continent and ourselves," said Anna Tyacke, Finds Liaison Officer at the Royal Cornwall Museum.
Monday, February 26, 2007 - 03:26
SOURCE: Telegraph (2-26-07)
Japan's kamikaze pilots are to be honoured in a new film praising their bravery, sacrifice and "beautiful lives" in the Second World War.
The release in May of I Go To Die For You confirms a growing nostalgia in Japan about its wartime generation, even among the majority who accept the cause was wrong.
The film tells the story of the young men based at Chiran air base in southwest Japan, where they trained for the suicide missions they hoped would spare their country from invasion.
The screenplay [is] by the 74-year-old outspoken politician [and governor of Tokyo], Shintaro Ishihara...
The release in May of I Go To Die For You confirms a growing nostalgia in Japan about its wartime generation, even among the majority who accept the cause was wrong.
The film tells the story of the young men based at Chiran air base in southwest Japan, where they trained for the suicide missions they hoped would spare their country from invasion.
The screenplay [is] by the 74-year-old outspoken politician [and governor of Tokyo], Shintaro Ishihara...
Monday, February 26, 2007 - 03:09
SOURCE: Telegraph (2-24-07)
A little-known Second World War heroine who joined the Belgian resistance at 15, and was later tortured by the Gestapo, was buried near her home in Dorset yesterday.
Code named Lulu, Lucie Bruce, a Belgian national who moved to Britain in 1946, spied on Nazi troops and ammunition dumps, after joining the resistance in 1940 following Belgium's capitulation to German occupation.
She forged papers so she would appear old enough to be recruited, and by the time she was 17, she was a seasoned resistance fighter, destroying bridges, ambushing troops and repatriating airmen...
Code named Lulu, Lucie Bruce, a Belgian national who moved to Britain in 1946, spied on Nazi troops and ammunition dumps, after joining the resistance in 1940 following Belgium's capitulation to German occupation.
She forged papers so she would appear old enough to be recruited, and by the time she was 17, she was a seasoned resistance fighter, destroying bridges, ambushing troops and repatriating airmen...
Saturday, February 24, 2007 - 18:28
Name of source: Times (of London)
SOURCE: Times (of London) (2-26-07)
HIRAKATA, Japan -- For 62 years Akira Makino spoke not a word of what he had done. But to those who knew him well it must have been obvious that he was a man with a tortured conscience. Why else would he have returned so often to the obscure, mosquito-blown town in the southern Philippines where he experienced such misery during the Second World War? He set up war memorials, gave clothes to poor children, and bought an entire set of uniforms for a local baseball team.
Last year, at the age of 83, he embarked on a gruelling pilgrimage to 88 Buddhist temples in Japan. After number 40 he collapsed from heat exhaustion, having permanently injured his knees. “My wife didn’t like me going back to the Philippines —- she called me ‘war crazy’,” said Mr Makino, a frail old man who lives alone in Hirakata, near Osaka. “But she let me go anyway. Right up until she died three years ago, I never told her. But over time I think she realised.”
Only in the twilight of his life has Mr Makino begun to talk about the secret he carried for more than 60 years...
Last year, at the age of 83, he embarked on a gruelling pilgrimage to 88 Buddhist temples in Japan. After number 40 he collapsed from heat exhaustion, having permanently injured his knees. “My wife didn’t like me going back to the Philippines —- she called me ‘war crazy’,” said Mr Makino, a frail old man who lives alone in Hirakata, near Osaka. “But she let me go anyway. Right up until she died three years ago, I never told her. But over time I think she realised.”
Only in the twilight of his life has Mr Makino begun to talk about the secret he carried for more than 60 years...
Monday, February 26, 2007 - 03:24
SOURCE: Times (of London) (2-24-07)
BRUSSELS -- Europe’s 50th birthday is fast approaching but nobody can agree what to write on the card.
A grand statement —- the Berlin declaration — is planned next month to commemorate the founding in 1957 of what is now the EU, but the 27 member states are increasingly divided about what to celebrate.
Luxembourg is pushing for a prominent mention of the euro as one of Europe’s greatest achievements. But this will not go down well in Britain and Denmark, where the single currency was rejected.
Poland and Italy want to emphasise Europe’s Christian values but are opposed by the French, who prefer to keep religion out of politics.
The Czechs and Poles want a strong statement on security but the French and Germans are worried that this will aggravate the Russians. Germany and Spain are keen to look ahead to a revived constitutional treaty, which is upsetting the Dutch and the British.
A grand statement —- the Berlin declaration — is planned next month to commemorate the founding in 1957 of what is now the EU, but the 27 member states are increasingly divided about what to celebrate.
Luxembourg is pushing for a prominent mention of the euro as one of Europe’s greatest achievements. But this will not go down well in Britain and Denmark, where the single currency was rejected.
Poland and Italy want to emphasise Europe’s Christian values but are opposed by the French, who prefer to keep religion out of politics.
The Czechs and Poles want a strong statement on security but the French and Germans are worried that this will aggravate the Russians. Germany and Spain are keen to look ahead to a revived constitutional treaty, which is upsetting the Dutch and the British.
Saturday, February 24, 2007 - 19:10
SOURCE: Times (of London) (2-24-07)
DEGANIA, Galilee, Israel -- When Eliezer Gal arrived at Israel’s first kibbutz he had already served in the Red Army as a platoon tank commander at the siege of Leningrad, escaped to West Berlin after being marked down by Stalin for the labour camps and been turned away by the British when he arrived in Palestine aboard the Jewish refugee ship Exodus.
Mr Gal took a lowly job in the cow shed for 18 years and married Michal, a daughter of the kibbutz’s founders, raising his family in the pastoral version of Zionist communism.
Now, aged 82, he is living one final adventure, which he and the other members of Degania call Shinui (The Change). The kibbutz has just voted to privatise itself and assume the trappings of capitalism.
His verdict? “It’s a lot more comfortable. We get a lot more independence, both economically and generally...
“I’m only surprised that it survived for so long. I came from the Great Mother of Communism and she only lasted 70 years. We made it to nearly a hundred.”
Mr Gal took a lowly job in the cow shed for 18 years and married Michal, a daughter of the kibbutz’s founders, raising his family in the pastoral version of Zionist communism.
Now, aged 82, he is living one final adventure, which he and the other members of Degania call Shinui (The Change). The kibbutz has just voted to privatise itself and assume the trappings of capitalism.
His verdict? “It’s a lot more comfortable. We get a lot more independence, both economically and generally...
“I’m only surprised that it survived for so long. I came from the Great Mother of Communism and she only lasted 70 years. We made it to nearly a hundred.”
Saturday, February 24, 2007 - 18:44
Name of source: International Herald Tribune
SOURCE: International Herald Tribune (2-26-07)
MANTUA, Italy -- The world of culture loves anniversaries, but rare is the occasion when an entire art form can celebrate a major birthday as opera did during the weekend, exactly four centuries after Monteverdi's pioneering work, "L'Orfeo," was created in this medieval Italian city.
Naturally enough, "L'Orfeo" was again presented in Mantua, albeit not in the Palace of Duke Vincenzo Gonzaga I, where it was first performed on Feb. 24, 1607, but in the 18th-century Teatro Bibiena. Further, compared with the hand-painted décor and daring "flying" machines used at the premiere, this was a more modest semistaged affair.
Still, for opera sentimentalists, it was a moment to reflect on the origins of a unique genre of music theater — one later described by Samuel Johnson as "exotick and irrational entertainment" — which soon spread from Mantua to Venice and, by the end of the 17th century, had conquered much of Europe.
Naturally enough, "L'Orfeo" was again presented in Mantua, albeit not in the Palace of Duke Vincenzo Gonzaga I, where it was first performed on Feb. 24, 1607, but in the 18th-century Teatro Bibiena. Further, compared with the hand-painted décor and daring "flying" machines used at the premiere, this was a more modest semistaged affair.
Still, for opera sentimentalists, it was a moment to reflect on the origins of a unique genre of music theater — one later described by Samuel Johnson as "exotick and irrational entertainment" — which soon spread from Mantua to Venice and, by the end of the 17th century, had conquered much of Europe.
Monday, February 26, 2007 - 03:14
Name of source: Independent
SOURCE: Independent (2-25-07)
With its exhaustive dissection of 19th-century Russian society, Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace is arguably the greatest, and certainly one of the longest, novels ever written.
Now, for those unable to face wading through its 1,500 pages, there is hope. What is being billed as Tolstoy's "original version" is to be published -- some 600 pages lighter, with the removal of Tolstoy's philosophical musings and the prospect of a happy ending. Not everyone, however, is pleased. Academics fear many will be tempted to settle for what they regard as an unfinished version.
The new book was the life's work of Russian scholar Evelina Zaidenshnur, who for 50 years pored over thousands of pages to assemble Tolstoy's first draft, matching different inks, changes in handwriting and types of paper to piece together the author's earliest version.
That work, originally intended for circulation among fellow scholars, is to be published by Fourth Estate in April in an English translation by Andrew Bromfield. War and Peace: The Original Version, weighs in at a relatively svelte 900 pages.
Now, for those unable to face wading through its 1,500 pages, there is hope. What is being billed as Tolstoy's "original version" is to be published -- some 600 pages lighter, with the removal of Tolstoy's philosophical musings and the prospect of a happy ending. Not everyone, however, is pleased. Academics fear many will be tempted to settle for what they regard as an unfinished version.
The new book was the life's work of Russian scholar Evelina Zaidenshnur, who for 50 years pored over thousands of pages to assemble Tolstoy's first draft, matching different inks, changes in handwriting and types of paper to piece together the author's earliest version.
That work, originally intended for circulation among fellow scholars, is to be published by Fourth Estate in April in an English translation by Andrew Bromfield. War and Peace: The Original Version, weighs in at a relatively svelte 900 pages.
Monday, February 26, 2007 - 03:02
SOURCE: Independent (2-26-07)
Iraq's minorities, some of the oldest communities in the world, are being driven from the country by a wave of violence against them because they are identified with the occupation and easy targets for kidnappers and death squads. A "huge exodus" is now taking place, according to a report by Minority Rights Group International.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees says 30 per cent of the 1.8 million Iraqis who have fled to Jordan, Syria and elsewhere come from the minorities.
The Christians, who have lived in Iraq for 2,000 years, survived the Muslim invasion in the 7th century and the Mongol onslaught in the 13th but are now being eradicated as their churches are bombed and members of their faith hunted down and killed along with other minority faiths.
The report, Assimilation, Exodus, Eradication: Iraq's minority communities since 2003, written by Preti Taneja, says that half of the minority communities in Iraq, once 10 per cent of the total population, have fled. They include Mandaeans, whose main prophet is John the Baptist and Yazidis whose religion is an offshoot of Zoroastrianism and may be 4,000 years old. Other minorities who were persecuted under Saddam Hussein are under attack again. The so-called Faili, or Shia Kurds, who were stripped of their belongings under the old regime and expelled to Iran are now being forced to run again - forced out of Shia areas such as Sadr City because they are Kurds and Sunni cities such as Baquba, because they are Shia.
The small Jewish community, whose members arrived in chains as slaves, has been all but destroyed by persecution and the pervasive suspicion that Jews have collaborated with the US-led invaders.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees says 30 per cent of the 1.8 million Iraqis who have fled to Jordan, Syria and elsewhere come from the minorities.
The Christians, who have lived in Iraq for 2,000 years, survived the Muslim invasion in the 7th century and the Mongol onslaught in the 13th but are now being eradicated as their churches are bombed and members of their faith hunted down and killed along with other minority faiths.
The report, Assimilation, Exodus, Eradication: Iraq's minority communities since 2003, written by Preti Taneja, says that half of the minority communities in Iraq, once 10 per cent of the total population, have fled. They include Mandaeans, whose main prophet is John the Baptist and Yazidis whose religion is an offshoot of Zoroastrianism and may be 4,000 years old. Other minorities who were persecuted under Saddam Hussein are under attack again. The so-called Faili, or Shia Kurds, who were stripped of their belongings under the old regime and expelled to Iran are now being forced to run again - forced out of Shia areas such as Sadr City because they are Kurds and Sunni cities such as Baquba, because they are Shia.
The small Jewish community, whose members arrived in chains as slaves, has been all but destroyed by persecution and the pervasive suspicion that Jews have collaborated with the US-led invaders.
Monday, February 26, 2007 - 02:53
SOURCE: Independent (2-24-07)
His name may not be as recognisable as John Christie, the Krays or Dr Crippen. But the prosecution of Horace Rayner was, for its time, as sensational as any of the cases to have graced the dock of Britain's most famous court.
Rayner's appearance at the Central Criminal Court in May 1907 resulted in him acquiring the dubious honour of being the first defendant to be convicted of murder at the Old Bailey.
Next week Rayner's trial, and the trials of many others, will be remembered at the iconic court, which celebrates 100 years of justice with a week of commemorations.
Rayner's appearance at the Central Criminal Court in May 1907 resulted in him acquiring the dubious honour of being the first defendant to be convicted of murder at the Old Bailey.
Next week Rayner's trial, and the trials of many others, will be remembered at the iconic court, which celebrates 100 years of justice with a week of commemorations.
Saturday, February 24, 2007 - 18:19
Name of source: Newhouse News Service
SOURCE: Newhouse News Service (2-25-07)
FLINT, Mich. — Accepting an offer to join the Daughters of the American Revolution could be a hard sell for a black woman.
That's why Gail Buckner Odom once declined an invitation to attend a DAR meeting.
As the descendant of a Revolutionary War patriot, though, Odom has changed her mind. Today, the retired Flint teacher is the sole black member of Genesee County's DAR chapter and believes she's among a select few dozen black members in the nation. National organizers say they don't track such numbers.
"Why shouldn't he (her ancestor) get the recognition he deserves?'' said Odom, who lives in a south Flint home decorated with African and African-American art.
That's why Gail Buckner Odom once declined an invitation to attend a DAR meeting.
As the descendant of a Revolutionary War patriot, though, Odom has changed her mind. Today, the retired Flint teacher is the sole black member of Genesee County's DAR chapter and believes she's among a select few dozen black members in the nation. National organizers say they don't track such numbers.
"Why shouldn't he (her ancestor) get the recognition he deserves?'' said Odom, who lives in a south Flint home decorated with African and African-American art.
Monday, February 26, 2007 - 00:54
SOURCE: Newhouse News Service (2-25-07)
Christina Wall has traveled back in time, to a place where there is no television, no Internet and no e-mail.
In this pre-1950 land, there are no frozen dinners, no nonstick skillets and no fast-food franchises. She can't use a dishwasher, clothes dryer or microwave; she has no access to ATMs, DVDs or CDs.
Wall, 32, an Eastern Michigan University graduate student, hasn't left her west-side Ann Arbor home for another plane in the space-time continuum. She's simply going a month - through March 2 - without using any technology created since 1950. It's part of her master's degree project on the impact of technology in modern life.
When she has a headache? Uncoated aspirin instead of ibuprofen. When she needs to contact a friend? Snail mail or an antique rotary phone. When it snows? Sledding instead of reality TV. Her project is a completely original conception, said professor Denise Pilato, who teaches in EMU's College of Technology.
"In some ways it's an experiment," she said. "And being that it's an experiment, there are a lot of surprises for her."
Perhaps most surprising is that there have been so many happy ones.
For example, Wall estimates she'll save up to $400 this month because it feels more "real" to spend cash than to use a debit card.
In this pre-1950 land, there are no frozen dinners, no nonstick skillets and no fast-food franchises. She can't use a dishwasher, clothes dryer or microwave; she has no access to ATMs, DVDs or CDs.
Wall, 32, an Eastern Michigan University graduate student, hasn't left her west-side Ann Arbor home for another plane in the space-time continuum. She's simply going a month - through March 2 - without using any technology created since 1950. It's part of her master's degree project on the impact of technology in modern life.
When she has a headache? Uncoated aspirin instead of ibuprofen. When she needs to contact a friend? Snail mail or an antique rotary phone. When it snows? Sledding instead of reality TV. Her project is a completely original conception, said professor Denise Pilato, who teaches in EMU's College of Technology.
"In some ways it's an experiment," she said. "And being that it's an experiment, there are a lot of surprises for her."
Perhaps most surprising is that there have been so many happy ones.
For example, Wall estimates she'll save up to $400 this month because it feels more "real" to spend cash than to use a debit card.
Sunday, February 25, 2007 - 18:25
Name of source: Jerusalem Post
SOURCE: Jerusalem Post (2-26-07)
The Discovery TV Channel has released new details of the"Lost Tomb of Jesus" documentary that is to be officially launched at a New York press conference on Monday, including the claim that Jesus was buried in a Jerusalem tomb alongside Mary Magdalene and, possibly, their son Judah.
The film also suggests that the so-called"James, Brother of Jesus" ossuary, which surfaced in 2002 in the collection of Israeli antiquities collector Oded Golan, may also have come from the tomb. The"James" ossuary made world headlines, but has been branded a forgery by the Israel Antiquities Authority though it still has many defenders.
According to the website of the Discovery Channel, for whom the"Lost Tomb of Jesus" documentary was produced, Israeli-born filmmaker Simcha Jacobovici and his colleagues have gathered scientific evidence,"including DNA analysis conducted at one of the world's foremost molecular genetics laboratories," as well as expert scholarship, to bolster their staggering claim that a 2,000-year-old cave in the Talpiot neighborhood once held the remains of Jesus of Nazareth, his mother Mary, Mary Magdalene and, possibly, their son Judah...
The film also suggests that the so-called"James, Brother of Jesus" ossuary, which surfaced in 2002 in the collection of Israeli antiquities collector Oded Golan, may also have come from the tomb. The"James" ossuary made world headlines, but has been branded a forgery by the Israel Antiquities Authority though it still has many defenders.
According to the website of the Discovery Channel, for whom the"Lost Tomb of Jesus" documentary was produced, Israeli-born filmmaker Simcha Jacobovici and his colleagues have gathered scientific evidence,"including DNA analysis conducted at one of the world's foremost molecular genetics laboratories," as well as expert scholarship, to bolster their staggering claim that a 2,000-year-old cave in the Talpiot neighborhood once held the remains of Jesus of Nazareth, his mother Mary, Mary Magdalene and, possibly, their son Judah...
Related Links
Jesus family tomb believed found (Discovery Channel)
Sunday, February 25, 2007 - 20:49
SOURCE: Jerusalem Post (2-25-07)
The Israeli-born, Canadian-based filmmaker Simcha Jacobovici is reigniting claims, first made over a decade ago, that a burial cave uncovered 27 years ago in Talpiot, Jerusalem, is the tomb of Jesus of Nazareth and his family.
At a press conference in New York on Monday, the two-time Emmy winner Jacobovici and his team -- including Hollywood director James Cameron -- will detail claims that of 10 ossuaries found in the cave when it was discovered in 1980, six bear inscriptions identifying them as those of Jesus, his mother Mary, a second Mary (possibly Mary Magdalene), and relatives Matthew, Josa and Judah (possibly Jesus's son).
Their documentary will be screened this week in the US [on the Discovery Channel], UK [on Channel 4], [in Canada on Vision,] on Channel 8 in Israel and around the world. The producers are said to have worked on the project with world-renowned archeologists, statisticians and DNA specialists.
But Bar-Ilan University Prof. Amos Kloner, the Jerusalem District archeologist who officially oversaw the work at the tomb in 1980 and has published detailed findings on its contents, on Saturday night dismissed the claims."It makes a great story for a TV film," he told The Jerusalem Post."But it's impossible. It's nonsense."
Kloner, who said he was interviewed for the new film but has not seen it, said the names found on the ossuaries were common, and the fact that such apparently resonant names had been found together was of no significance. He added that"Jesus son of Joseph" inscriptions had been found on several other ossuaries over the years.
"There is no likelihood that Jesus and his relatives had a family tomb," Kloner said."They were a Galilee family with no ties in Jerusalem. The Talpiot tomb belonged to a middle-class family from the 1st century CE."...
The Jacobovici documentary comes more than 10 years after similar speculation about the so-called Jesus family tomb made world headlines, prompting a London Sunday Times feature entitled"The Tomb that Dare Not Speak Its Name" and a BBC documentary.
The assertion that the ossuaries found in the Talpiot tomb were those of Jesus of Nazareth and family members was branded by The Sunday Times at the time as an archeological discovery"that challenges the very basis of Christianity."
At a press conference in New York on Monday, the two-time Emmy winner Jacobovici and his team -- including Hollywood director James Cameron -- will detail claims that of 10 ossuaries found in the cave when it was discovered in 1980, six bear inscriptions identifying them as those of Jesus, his mother Mary, a second Mary (possibly Mary Magdalene), and relatives Matthew, Josa and Judah (possibly Jesus's son).
Their documentary will be screened this week in the US [on the Discovery Channel], UK [on Channel 4], [in Canada on Vision,] on Channel 8 in Israel and around the world. The producers are said to have worked on the project with world-renowned archeologists, statisticians and DNA specialists.
But Bar-Ilan University Prof. Amos Kloner, the Jerusalem District archeologist who officially oversaw the work at the tomb in 1980 and has published detailed findings on its contents, on Saturday night dismissed the claims."It makes a great story for a TV film," he told The Jerusalem Post."But it's impossible. It's nonsense."
Kloner, who said he was interviewed for the new film but has not seen it, said the names found on the ossuaries were common, and the fact that such apparently resonant names had been found together was of no significance. He added that"Jesus son of Joseph" inscriptions had been found on several other ossuaries over the years.
"There is no likelihood that Jesus and his relatives had a family tomb," Kloner said."They were a Galilee family with no ties in Jerusalem. The Talpiot tomb belonged to a middle-class family from the 1st century CE."...
The Jacobovici documentary comes more than 10 years after similar speculation about the so-called Jesus family tomb made world headlines, prompting a London Sunday Times feature entitled"The Tomb that Dare Not Speak Its Name" and a BBC documentary.
The assertion that the ossuaries found in the Talpiot tomb were those of Jesus of Nazareth and family members was branded by The Sunday Times at the time as an archeological discovery"that challenges the very basis of Christianity."
Related Links
Conservative Christian group responds to film claiming proof against Jesus' resurrection Profits from prophets
Sunday, February 25, 2007 - 17:03
Name of source: WaPo
SOURCE: WaPo (2-25-07)
In April 1959, just months after a charismatic 32-year-old revolutionary named Fidel Castro seized the reins of power in Cuba, a slim volume of his correspondence, titled "Cartas del Presidio," or "Letters from Prison," was published in Havana. The book contained 21 letters addressed to Castro's inner circle of supporters, including his wife, Mirta Diaz-Balart; his half-sister, Lidia; a future mistress; the father of a fallen comrade; and nine missives to his devoted friend and political devotee, Luis Conte Aguero, who published the book.
The letters, however, have not appeared in English until now, and after 1960, when a disillusioned Conte Aguero fled Cuba, no further copies were printed in Havana. Nevertheless, this collection of Castro's writings -- virtually the only unofficial writing he ever did -- has become something of a Rosetta Stone for historians, biographers and journalists seeking to understand the man who would become Cuba's ruler for life. Some may argue that a careful reading of the letters foretells what would transpire in Cuba over the next 50 years. Others could say that the Castro of these letters is not the Castro he would become.
Both are true to varying degrees.
The letters, however, have not appeared in English until now, and after 1960, when a disillusioned Conte Aguero fled Cuba, no further copies were printed in Havana. Nevertheless, this collection of Castro's writings -- virtually the only unofficial writing he ever did -- has become something of a Rosetta Stone for historians, biographers and journalists seeking to understand the man who would become Cuba's ruler for life. Some may argue that a careful reading of the letters foretells what would transpire in Cuba over the next 50 years. Others could say that the Castro of these letters is not the Castro he would become.
Both are true to varying degrees.
Sunday, February 25, 2007 - 18:29
Name of source: Observer
SOURCE: Observer (2-25-07)
It has survived the collapse of the sophisticated civilisation that built it, centuries of consumption by the suffocating jungle and the nihilism of the Khmer Rouge, who beheaded its stone Buddhas and used its walls for target practice. Now, Cambodia's awe-inspiring Angkor Wat complex is facing the biggest threat in a millennium - the fastest-growing tourist onslaught of any World Heritage site, which conservationists warn is already damaging its treasures irreparably.
In 1993, after Angkor was added to Unesco's World Heritage List, just 7,650 intrepid visitors ventured to the site. Last year Sokimex, the oil company controversially granted the entrance concession on behalf of the government's Apsara Angkor management, sold almost 900,000 tickets worth $25m (£12.8m), with British travellers making up the fourth biggest contingent behind South Koreans, Japanese and North Americans. Three million visitors are expected in 2010.
...Kerya Chau Sun, director of tourism at Angkor, said: 'We are finalising regulations for controlling visitors. We will train guards to watch the temples and educate visitors to help us protect the monuments.'
However, John Stubbs, who has spent 15 years working at Angkor with the New York-based World Monuments Fund, said: 'Tourism is already out of control, and unless the Cambodian government takes some pretty radical action to rein it in now much of Angkor's magic and heritage could be lost forever.'
In 1993, after Angkor was added to Unesco's World Heritage List, just 7,650 intrepid visitors ventured to the site. Last year Sokimex, the oil company controversially granted the entrance concession on behalf of the government's Apsara Angkor management, sold almost 900,000 tickets worth $25m (£12.8m), with British travellers making up the fourth biggest contingent behind South Koreans, Japanese and North Americans. Three million visitors are expected in 2010.
...Kerya Chau Sun, director of tourism at Angkor, said: 'We are finalising regulations for controlling visitors. We will train guards to watch the temples and educate visitors to help us protect the monuments.'
However, John Stubbs, who has spent 15 years working at Angkor with the New York-based World Monuments Fund, said: 'Tourism is already out of control, and unless the Cambodian government takes some pretty radical action to rein it in now much of Angkor's magic and heritage could be lost forever.'
Sunday, February 25, 2007 - 03:19
Name of source: Reuters
SOURCE: Reuters (2-24-07)
WASHINGTON -- Chimpanzees and humans split from a common ancestor just 4 million years ago -- a much shorter time than current estimates of 5 million to 7 million years ago, according to a study published on Friday.
The researchers compared the DNA of chimpanzees, humans and our next-closest ancestor, the gorilla, as well as orangutans.
They used a well-known type of calculation that had not been previously applied to genetics to come up with their own"molecular clock" estimate of when humans became uniquely human."Assuming orangutan divergence 18 million years ago, speciation time of human and chimpanzee is consistently around 4 million years ago," they wrote in their study, published in the Public Library of Science journal PLoS Genetics.
Related Links
Genomic Relationships and Speciation Times of Human, Chimpanzee, and Gorilla Inferred from a Coalescent Hidden Markov Model
Saturday, February 24, 2007 - 19:49
SOURCE: Reuters (2-23-07)
BOSTON -- A trove of Kennedy family paraphernalia, including a letter in which former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy appears to counsel her sister-in-law about marital troubles, will be auctioned off in Connecticut this weekend.
The letters, along with a life preserver from President John F. Kennedy's sailboat and other items, were found in a storage unit on the Cape Cod summer resort area of Massachusetts, where the Kennedys still maintain a family home.
"Be a bit mysterious," reads one of the letters in which Jacqueline Kennedy appears to advise Joan Kennedy on how to handle her marriage to U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat.
The letters, along with a life preserver from President John F. Kennedy's sailboat and other items, were found in a storage unit on the Cape Cod summer resort area of Massachusetts, where the Kennedys still maintain a family home.
"Be a bit mysterious," reads one of the letters in which Jacqueline Kennedy appears to advise Joan Kennedy on how to handle her marriage to U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat.
Saturday, February 24, 2007 - 18:41
Name of source: PR Newswire
SOURCE: PR Newswire (2-23-07)
PROVO, Utah -— In celebration of Black History Month, Ancestry.com, the world's largest online resource for family history, announced the launch of the largest collection of African-American family history records available and searchable online.
The collection, which represents the 19th and early 20th centuries, features more than 55 million black family history records that collectively dispel the common misconception that very few historical records were kept for African Americans and that tracing African-American ancestry is virtually impossible.
“The power and depth of this collection speaks directly to the misperceptions of black family research, offering hope that transcends time and inspires every generation,”said Tim Sullivan, president and CEO of The Generations Network, parent company of Ancestry.com.
The collection, which represents the 19th and early 20th centuries, features more than 55 million black family history records that collectively dispel the common misconception that very few historical records were kept for African Americans and that tracing African-American ancestry is virtually impossible.
“The power and depth of this collection speaks directly to the misperceptions of black family research, offering hope that transcends time and inspires every generation,”said Tim Sullivan, president and CEO of The Generations Network, parent company of Ancestry.com.
Friday, February 23, 2007 - 22:59
Name of source: Donga.com (Dong-A Ilbo) (South Korea)
SOURCE: Donga.com (Dong-A Ilbo) (South Korea) (2-24-07)
The founding of Korea’s ancient kingdom of Gojoseon will be officially written as part of national history in high school history textbooks. In addition, the Bronze Age on the Korean peninsula will be described to date back 1,000 years earlier than was previously thought.
The Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development announced yesterday its plan to deliver the revised history books to schools nationwide for the class of 2007.
Academic and political circles have demanded that the founding of Korea’s first kingdom, currently depicted as a myth, should be rewritten as official history to counter the claim by neighboring countries, especially China’s latest historical re-mapping.
Page 32 of the present high school textbook mentions ancient documents such as “Samguk Yusa” and “Dongguk Tonggam” that describe the foundation by Dankun. According to the new plan, however, the ministry has altered the wording in high school texts to state that Dankun actually found the kingdom. Junior high school textbooks have already carried such an explanation.
China, denying the very existence of the Korean kingdom, teaches false information to its people. Japan also describes that Korean history started from Goguryeo in its chronicles. The books being used in secondary schools explain that the Bronze Age started in the 10th century B.C. on the Korean peninsula and 15th to the 13th century B.C. in Manchuria, but the new book dates it earlier by 500 to 1,000 years.
The Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development announced yesterday its plan to deliver the revised history books to schools nationwide for the class of 2007.
Academic and political circles have demanded that the founding of Korea’s first kingdom, currently depicted as a myth, should be rewritten as official history to counter the claim by neighboring countries, especially China’s latest historical re-mapping.
Page 32 of the present high school textbook mentions ancient documents such as “Samguk Yusa” and “Dongguk Tonggam” that describe the foundation by Dankun. According to the new plan, however, the ministry has altered the wording in high school texts to state that Dankun actually found the kingdom. Junior high school textbooks have already carried such an explanation.
China, denying the very existence of the Korean kingdom, teaches false information to its people. Japan also describes that Korean history started from Goguryeo in its chronicles. The books being used in secondary schools explain that the Bronze Age started in the 10th century B.C. on the Korean peninsula and 15th to the 13th century B.C. in Manchuria, but the new book dates it earlier by 500 to 1,000 years.
Related Links
New Textbook Stirs Debate Over Kojoson (Korea Times)
Friday, February 23, 2007 - 22:37
