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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.
Highlights
Breaking News
This page features brief excerpts of news stories published by the mainstream media and, less frequently, blogs, alternative media, and even obviously biased sources. The excerpts are taken directly from the websites cited in each source note. Quotation marks are not used. Because most of our readers read the NYT we usually do not include the paper's stories in HIGHLIGHTS.
Name of source: NYT
SOURCE: NYT (8-19-07)
People looked up, as they did that day in September, in awe and in horror. They clustered in groups, holding cellphones to their ears and cameras to their eyes as a plume of smoke hovered over Lower Manhattan once again.
Yet it was more than the sight that reminded some of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks nearly six years ago. It was the sounds and the smell: breaking glass clanking its way down a burning skyscraper, a helicopter’s whir somewhere above, an acrid, noxious scent filling the streets.
The fire that tore through several floors of the vacated Deutsche Bank building opposite ground zero yesterday afternoon struck 24 days from the sixth anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Center.
The past and the present seemed to briefly collide on the blocks surrounding ground zero, as residents and tourists, reminded of the panic of that September morning, worried anew on an August afternoon.
Yet it was more than the sight that reminded some of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks nearly six years ago. It was the sounds and the smell: breaking glass clanking its way down a burning skyscraper, a helicopter’s whir somewhere above, an acrid, noxious scent filling the streets.
The fire that tore through several floors of the vacated Deutsche Bank building opposite ground zero yesterday afternoon struck 24 days from the sixth anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Center.
The past and the present seemed to briefly collide on the blocks surrounding ground zero, as residents and tourists, reminded of the panic of that September morning, worried anew on an August afternoon.
Monday, August 20, 2007 - 11:41
Comments
SOURCE: NYT (8-19-07)
Michael K. Deaver, who arranged some of Ronald Reagan’s most memorable photographic backdrops for public consumption and privately gave the president blunt, sometimes contrarian advice, died yesterday at his home in Bethesda, Md. He was 69.
The cause was pancreatic cancer, his family said.
Mr. Deaver was widely known for creating photo ops that showed Reagan atop the Great Wall of China, at the cliffs of Normandy and filling sandbags to show concern after a Louisiana flood. And he played a central role in planning Reagan’s funeral in 2004; the last visual was burial as the sun set over the Pacific Ocean.
Less well known was that he was “one of the people who would speak up to Reagan,” said Lou Cannon, Reagan’s biographer.
The cause was pancreatic cancer, his family said.
Mr. Deaver was widely known for creating photo ops that showed Reagan atop the Great Wall of China, at the cliffs of Normandy and filling sandbags to show concern after a Louisiana flood. And he played a central role in planning Reagan’s funeral in 2004; the last visual was burial as the sun set over the Pacific Ocean.
Less well known was that he was “one of the people who would speak up to Reagan,” said Lou Cannon, Reagan’s biographer.
Monday, August 20, 2007 - 11:39
SOURCE: NYT (8-15-07)
IMPRUNETA, Italy — It has been said that wars are a way of teaching geography. And maps are caught up in the strife.
“The problems of cartography are the same that exist in diplomatic relations,” said Stefano Strata, a co-director of Nova Rico, a company that has been making custom globes for 50 years in this small town near Florence better known for its terra cotta.
For mapmakers like Nova Rico, geographic disputes are commonplace. For a Turkish customer, Cyprus is shown split in two, a division that Greek Cypriots do not recognize. On one globe, Chile is given parts of Antarctica that on another globe go to Argentina. And in much of the Arab world, Israel is nonexistent.
The world of globes is quite small, and Nova Rico is one of the biggest and best-known companies in the business. It is also the only globe maker remaining in Italy.
“The problems of cartography are the same that exist in diplomatic relations,” said Stefano Strata, a co-director of Nova Rico, a company that has been making custom globes for 50 years in this small town near Florence better known for its terra cotta.
For mapmakers like Nova Rico, geographic disputes are commonplace. For a Turkish customer, Cyprus is shown split in two, a division that Greek Cypriots do not recognize. On one globe, Chile is given parts of Antarctica that on another globe go to Argentina. And in much of the Arab world, Israel is nonexistent.
The world of globes is quite small, and Nova Rico is one of the biggest and best-known companies in the business. It is also the only globe maker remaining in Italy.
Thursday, August 16, 2007 - 21:31
SOURCE: NYT (8-16-07)
Precisely 80 years on, the Sacco-Vanzetti case still resonates like a mournful chord. Almost instantly elevated to the status of myth, the trial and execution of the anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti remains one of the blackest pages in the American national story, a cautionary tale of lethal passions fueled by political fear and ethnic prejudice....
“Sacco and Vanzetti,” Bruce Watson’s spirited history of the affair, does a great service in rescuing fact from the haze of legend and disentangling Sacco and Vanzetti from the symbols they all too quickly became. ...
No one knows what Sacco and Vanzetti were up to that night. Both told multiple lies to the police. Vanzetti later claimed that he had simply wanted to avoid naming friends and fellow anarchists. Mr. Watson, although highly sympathetic to both men and, like most historians, almost certain that they did not commit the payroll murders, points out that no one can explain what Sacco and Vanzetti were up to the night of their arrest and that, “no matter how much one wants to shout their innocence, questions remain.”
“Sacco and Vanzetti,” Bruce Watson’s spirited history of the affair, does a great service in rescuing fact from the haze of legend and disentangling Sacco and Vanzetti from the symbols they all too quickly became. ...
No one knows what Sacco and Vanzetti were up to that night. Both told multiple lies to the police. Vanzetti later claimed that he had simply wanted to avoid naming friends and fellow anarchists. Mr. Watson, although highly sympathetic to both men and, like most historians, almost certain that they did not commit the payroll murders, points out that no one can explain what Sacco and Vanzetti were up to the night of their arrest and that, “no matter how much one wants to shout their innocence, questions remain.”
Thursday, August 16, 2007 - 18:37
SOURCE: NYT (8-15-07)
After enduring a century and a half of change in Lower Manhattan, decrepit and anonymous, the birthplace of The New York Times is now being torn down, brick by brick.
By an odd turn of history, the demolition of The Times’s oldest home occurred just as the company settles into its seventh and newest headquarters, a 52-story tower across Eighth Avenue from the Port Authority Bus Terminal.
Yesterday, a worker armed with an appropriately 19th-century demolition tool — a sledgehammer — sat astride the south wall of 113 Nassau Street, between Ann and Beekman Streets, pounding chunks of the structure into dust.
By an odd turn of history, the demolition of The Times’s oldest home occurred just as the company settles into its seventh and newest headquarters, a 52-story tower across Eighth Avenue from the Port Authority Bus Terminal.
Yesterday, a worker armed with an appropriately 19th-century demolition tool — a sledgehammer — sat astride the south wall of 113 Nassau Street, between Ann and Beekman Streets, pounding chunks of the structure into dust.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007 - 14:30
SOURCE: NYT (8-14-07)
Joe O’Donnell, who took some of the first disturbing pictures after the nuclear bombing of Japan and also captured lastingly famous scenes as a longtime White House photographer, died last Thursday in Nashville, where he made his home. He was 85....
As a presidential photographer, Mr. O’Donnell caught images of Harry S. Truman and Gen. Douglas MacArthur shaking hands at their meeting on Wake Island during the Korean War; Vice President Richard M. Nixon in his “kitchen debate” with the Soviet leader, Nikita S. Khrushchev; and President John F. Kennedy deciding whether to go ahead with the Bay of Pigs invasion.
And the O’Donnell photograph of John F. Kennedy Jr. saluting his father’s coffin became the most reproduced version of that memorable scene....
Mr. O’Donnell’s work was caught up in controversy in 1995, before the National Air and Space Museum exhibited the Enola Gay, the B-29 that had bombed Hiroshima. His images were supposed to demonstrate the bombs’ horrific effects, but veterans objected that the photos and the words others had written to accompany them gave an unbalanced view that neglected both Japan’s aggression and the bombs’ role in ending the war and saving American lives....
As a presidential photographer, Mr. O’Donnell caught images of Harry S. Truman and Gen. Douglas MacArthur shaking hands at their meeting on Wake Island during the Korean War; Vice President Richard M. Nixon in his “kitchen debate” with the Soviet leader, Nikita S. Khrushchev; and President John F. Kennedy deciding whether to go ahead with the Bay of Pigs invasion.
And the O’Donnell photograph of John F. Kennedy Jr. saluting his father’s coffin became the most reproduced version of that memorable scene....
Mr. O’Donnell’s work was caught up in controversy in 1995, before the National Air and Space Museum exhibited the Enola Gay, the B-29 that had bombed Hiroshima. His images were supposed to demonstrate the bombs’ horrific effects, but veterans objected that the photos and the words others had written to accompany them gave an unbalanced view that neglected both Japan’s aggression and the bombs’ role in ending the war and saving American lives....
One of Mr. O’Donnell’s pleasures as White House photographer was the moments of intimacy that he got to share with presidents.
In the National Public Radio interview 12 years ago, he told of having summoned his courage to ask Truman, while walking on a Wake Island beach in 1950, if he had ever had second thoughts before the atomic-bombing of Japan.
“Hell, yes!” he recalled Truman responding. “And I’ve had a lot of misgivings afterwards.”
Mr. O’Donnell was too shy to ask for clarification.
“I don’t know what he meant,” he said.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007 - 22:54
Name of source: LAT
SOURCE: LAT (8-14-07)
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton cites her experience as a compelling reason voters should make her president, but nearly 2 million pages of documents covering her White House years are locked up in a building here, obscuring a large swath of her record as first lady.
Clinton's calendars, appointment logs and memos are stored at her husband's presidential library, in the custody of federal archivists who do not expect them to be released until after the 2008 presidential election.
A trove of records has been made public detailing the Clinton White House's attempts to remake the nation's healthcare system, following a request from Bill Clinton that those materials be released first. Hillary Clinton led the healthcare effort in 1993 and 1994.
Clinton's calendars, appointment logs and memos are stored at her husband's presidential library, in the custody of federal archivists who do not expect them to be released until after the 2008 presidential election.
A trove of records has been made public detailing the Clinton White House's attempts to remake the nation's healthcare system, following a request from Bill Clinton that those materials be released first. Hillary Clinton led the healthcare effort in 1993 and 1994.
Saturday, August 18, 2007 - 23:29
SOURCE: LAT (8-14-07)
The ancient Khmer city of Angkor in Cambodia was the largest preindustrial metropolis in the world, with a population near 1 million and an urban sprawl that stretched over an area similar to modern-day Los Angeles, researchers reported Monday.
The city's spread over an area of more than 115 square miles was made possible by a sophisticated technology for managing and harvesting water for use during the dry season -- including diverting a major river through the heart of the city.
But that reliance on water led to the city's collapse in the 1500s as overpopulation and deforestation filled the canals with sediment, overwhelming the city's ability to maintain the system, according to the report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The city's spread over an area of more than 115 square miles was made possible by a sophisticated technology for managing and harvesting water for use during the dry season -- including diverting a major river through the heart of the city.
But that reliance on water led to the city's collapse in the 1500s as overpopulation and deforestation filled the canals with sediment, overwhelming the city's ability to maintain the system, according to the report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007 - 17:18
Name of source: MEMRI
SOURCE: MEMRI (8-17-07)
U.S. filmmaker Oliver Stone has again proposed making a documentary about Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iranian producer and filmmaker Alireza Sajjadpur said August 16.
Sajjadpur, who is also secretary of Iran's Islamic Society of Artists, said that Stone's publicist had emailed the request to Ahmadinejad's office, and added that in the email, the publicist "referred to the bad image that the U.S. media has given to Islam and Islamic countries and said that the documentary could assist in countering such negative propaganda."
Ahmadinejad's art advisor, Javad Shamaqdari, has stated that the president has not yet responded to this request.
Stone's first request to make the documentary was announced by Sajjadpur on June 28, but Ahmadinejad's media advisor Mehdi Kalhor rejected it and called Stone a part of "the Great Satan" (i.e. the U.S.).
Sajjadpur, who is also secretary of Iran's Islamic Society of Artists, said that Stone's publicist had emailed the request to Ahmadinejad's office, and added that in the email, the publicist "referred to the bad image that the U.S. media has given to Islam and Islamic countries and said that the documentary could assist in countering such negative propaganda."
Ahmadinejad's art advisor, Javad Shamaqdari, has stated that the president has not yet responded to this request.
Stone's first request to make the documentary was announced by Sajjadpur on June 28, but Ahmadinejad's media advisor Mehdi Kalhor rejected it and called Stone a part of "the Great Satan" (i.e. the U.S.).
Friday, August 17, 2007 - 18:11
Name of source: BBC
SOURCE: BBC (8-14-07)
Celebrations are taking place across Pakistan to commemorate the 60th anniversary of independence from the UK and the creation of the country.
President Musharraf marked the anniversary by staunchly defending sovereignty and calling on the nation to unite against terrorism.
Pakistan is celebrating on Tuesday and India marks independence one day later.
The violent partition of 1947 saw 10 million people cross borders in one of history's largest mass migrations.
President Musharraf marked the anniversary by staunchly defending sovereignty and calling on the nation to unite against terrorism.
Pakistan is celebrating on Tuesday and India marks independence one day later.
The violent partition of 1947 saw 10 million people cross borders in one of history's largest mass migrations.
Friday, August 17, 2007 - 17:43
SOURCE: BBC (8-15-07)
An online tool that claims to reveal the identity of organisations that edit Wikipedia pages has revealed that the CIA was involved in editing entries.
Wikipedia Scanner allegedly shows that workers on the agency's computers made edits to the page of Iran's president.
It also purportedly shows that the Vatican has edited entries about Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams.
The tool, developed by US researchers, trawls a list of 5.3m edits and matches them to the net address of the editor.
Wikipedia Scanner allegedly shows that workers on the agency's computers made edits to the page of Iran's president.
It also purportedly shows that the Vatican has edited entries about Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams.
The tool, developed by US researchers, trawls a list of 5.3m edits and matches them to the net address of the editor.
Friday, August 17, 2007 - 17:40
Name of source: Guardian
SOURCE: Guardian (8-16-07)
Former member of Germany's militant Red Army Faction, Eva Haule, is freed after 21 years in jail.
Friday, August 17, 2007 - 17:36
Name of source: History Today
SOURCE: History Today (8-15-07)
A treatment used by Stalin’s Red Army to treat bacterial infections could offer modern patients the solution to hospital super-bug, MRSA. Bacteriophages, viruses which feed on bacteria, have been used in Eastern European medicine for more than 60 years as an alternative to antibiotics. During the 1930s, as cures were sought for bacterial diseases, bacteriophages lost out to antibiotics in western European countries since they were harder to patent and thus offered less potential profit for drug companies than antibiotic treatments. Treating an illness with a bacteriophage is also a more difficult process in its initial stages since a specific correct strain of the virus must be matched to a given bacterial infection, whereas antibiotics can be applied to kill off a number of different strains of bacteria at once. However, the growth of ‘super-bugs’, resistant bacterial strains resulting from the overuse of antibiotics, means that the use of bacteriophages may finally come of age in western Europe.
Friday, August 17, 2007 - 17:14
Name of source: Library of Congress
SOURCE: Library of Congress (8-3-07)
The only known copy of the 1507 world map by Martin Waldseemüller, the first map to use the name "America," spent nearly 400 years in obscurity in the library of a castle in southern Germany. Rediscovered in 1901 and purchased by the Library of Congress in 2003, this crown jewel of cartography will be secured in a state-of-the-art encasement and placed on permanent display later this year.
Friday, August 17, 2007 - 17:02
Name of source: Time
SOURCE: Time (8-17-07)
The military band's quick and terse rendition of India's national anthem was
greeted with a few hushed sighs and gentle nods, in keeping with the somber mood
of the Independence Day festivities at the governor's mansion. There was little
of the chest-thumping pride or fireworks on display for the few hundred guests.
European consuls fiddling with ties in the muggy heat; old freedom fighters standing tall, their faces gaunt and expressionless. Sixty years after the waning British Empire hastily departed after jotting down some lines on a map turning one country into two, the Indian Subcontinent has cause to both mourn and celebrate the day of its bitterly-won freedom. Indeed, Indian independence day ceremonies are largely stoic affairs, steeped in the memory of a nation that was dismembered at the moment of its birth.
Friday, August 17, 2007 - 16:50
SOURCE: Time (8-13-07)
SDS is back, and it has a whole new set of rules. Students for a Democratic
Society was once a successful New Left organization in the 1960s until it turned
radical. During a 1968 strike at Columbia University, bands of SDSers took the
Dean of Students hostage, and another faction later developed into the
Weathermen, a militant underground group best remembered for their penchant for
bombs.
Now a new group using the SDS name has emerged, one with a penchant for participatory democracy but also with some fairly big logistical challenges. Inaugurated in January 2006, the new SDS has been gaining slow but steady speed ever since, with chapters springing up at colleges across the U.S., including Kent State University, Boston College and UCLA. According to the group's wiki site, there are 148 university chapters, along with 50 high school branches and a number of regional movements. But the numbers are misleading. While many chapters dot the country, individual schools may have only a handful of active members.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007 - 22:53
Name of source: HNN Staff
SOURCE: HNN Staff (8-17-07)
A 1994 interview with Dick Cheney featured on YouTube this week has drawn more than half a million hits. In the interview Cheney defends the first Bush administration's decision to allow Saddam Hussein to remain in power rather than remove him. Cheney says that going to Baghdad would have plunged the United States into a"quagmire" with parts of Iraq flying off.
The interview is circulating by email and was excerpted on Jon Stewart's The Daily Show.
Friday, August 17, 2007 - 13:58
Name of source: NBC
SOURCE: NBC (8-16-07)
Is a White House wedding in the works?
Jenna Bush, one of President Bush's twin daughters, is engaged to be married to her longtime boyfriend, Henry Hager, the White House announced Thursday.
Asked if the two were getting married in the Rose Garden, Sally McDonough, press secretary for first lady Laura Bush, replied: "They have not set any details, date or place."
[Click on SOURCE link to watch a video by Bob Faw that reviews past White House weddings.]
Jenna Bush, one of President Bush's twin daughters, is engaged to be married to her longtime boyfriend, Henry Hager, the White House announced Thursday.
Asked if the two were getting married in the Rose Garden, Sally McDonough, press secretary for first lady Laura Bush, replied: "They have not set any details, date or place."
[Click on SOURCE link to watch a video by Bob Faw that reviews past White House weddings.]
Thursday, August 16, 2007 - 23:43
Name of source: http://www.ynetnews.com
SOURCE: http://www.ynetnews.com (8-16-07)
Usually a scene of discord and strife – the Knesset soon plans to lend its halls to far more joyous fanfare.
Essentially the event that will kick-off the celebrations commemorating Israel's 60's birthday, the Knesset plans to reenact the historic United Nations partition vote that led to the creation of a Jewish state.
On November 29th, exactly six decades since the event, Israel's parliament will host the 1947 vote on the partition of western British Mandate Palestine into two states, Jewish and Arab. Most of the area under British governance had already been partitioned off as Transjordan decades earlier.
Essentially the event that will kick-off the celebrations commemorating Israel's 60's birthday, the Knesset plans to reenact the historic United Nations partition vote that led to the creation of a Jewish state.
On November 29th, exactly six decades since the event, Israel's parliament will host the 1947 vote on the partition of western British Mandate Palestine into two states, Jewish and Arab. Most of the area under British governance had already been partitioned off as Transjordan decades earlier.
Thursday, August 16, 2007 - 22:39
Name of source: http://www.business-standard.com
SOURCE: http://www.business-standard.com (8-17-07)
It is not the first time in history that housing sector default on account of aggressive expansion of credit to realty sector has pressed the panic button in world equity markets. In 1837 a real estate boom, fuelled by an aggressive expansion of credit, ended in disaster.
The current subprime mortgage default has wiped out over $5 trillion market capitalisation world over. All major benchmark indices have declined by over 10 per cent from the peak levels sometime in February 2007.
In 1837, by the time President Van Buren took office in March 1837, currency shortages plagued the nation. When some banks admitted their inability to honor drafts, the panic spread to Wall Street. By May 10, with runs a daily occurrence, all New York banks suspended operations.
By early fall of 1837, 90 per cent of eastern factories closed. Despite a temporary reprieve in 1838, the depression worsened over the next several years.
Banks, which had accepted overvalued land as collateral for loans used to buy yet more real estate, took it on the chin. United States Bank shares, which hadn’t traded below 100 for 20 years, collapsed from 122 in 1837 to 4 in November 1841.
The current subprime mortgage default has wiped out over $5 trillion market capitalisation world over. All major benchmark indices have declined by over 10 per cent from the peak levels sometime in February 2007.
In 1837, by the time President Van Buren took office in March 1837, currency shortages plagued the nation. When some banks admitted their inability to honor drafts, the panic spread to Wall Street. By May 10, with runs a daily occurrence, all New York banks suspended operations.
By early fall of 1837, 90 per cent of eastern factories closed. Despite a temporary reprieve in 1838, the depression worsened over the next several years.
Banks, which had accepted overvalued land as collateral for loans used to buy yet more real estate, took it on the chin. United States Bank shares, which hadn’t traded below 100 for 20 years, collapsed from 122 in 1837 to 4 in November 1841.
Thursday, August 16, 2007 - 22:37
Name of source: Reuters
SOURCE: Reuters (8-15-07)
India marks 60 years of independence on August 15, celebrating the end of British colonial rule in 1947.
Following is a chronology of major events during the last six decades.
August 15, 1947 - India wins independence from Britain after being divided into two separate nations, India and Pakistan. Jawaharlal Nehru is appointed the first prime minister....
Following is a chronology of major events during the last six decades.
August 15, 1947 - India wins independence from Britain after being divided into two separate nations, India and Pakistan. Jawaharlal Nehru is appointed the first prime minister....
Thursday, August 16, 2007 - 22:32
SOURCE: Reuters (8-16-07)
An 800-year-old, gold-plated
crucifix that went missing after being seized by the
Nazis has been found in a rubbish skip in Austria,
police said.
The crucifix, made of copper and enamel, was crafted
in Limoges, France, and was part of a Polish art
collection brought to Austria during Nazi rule, Josef
Holzberger, police spokesman in Salzburg, said on
Thursday.
crucifix that went missing after being seized by the
Nazis has been found in a rubbish skip in Austria,
police said.
The crucifix, made of copper and enamel, was crafted
in Limoges, France, and was part of a Polish art
collection brought to Austria during Nazi rule, Josef
Holzberger, police spokesman in Salzburg, said on
Thursday.
Thursday, August 16, 2007 - 13:48
SOURCE: Reuters (8-11-07)
Central Utah, where six miners were still trapped deep underground on Saturday, has long been rich not just in coal deposits, but also the fortune and despair that come with pulling it from the ground....
The list of accidents stretches back at least to May 1, 1900, when 200 men were killed by an explosion in the Winter Quarters Mine, one of the worst mining accidents in U.S. history.
In 1924, 172 men died in a series of explosions or of carbon monoxide poisoning at a mine in Castle Gate.
And in 1984, a fire in the Wilberg Mine killed 26 men and one woman.
The list of accidents stretches back at least to May 1, 1900, when 200 men were killed by an explosion in the Winter Quarters Mine, one of the worst mining accidents in U.S. history.
In 1924, 172 men died in a series of explosions or of carbon monoxide poisoning at a mine in Castle Gate.
And in 1984, a fire in the Wilberg Mine killed 26 men and one woman.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007 - 18:17
Name of source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution
SOURCE: Atlanta Journal-Constitution (8-16-07)
The weekend began on Friday afternoon, after the mills closed. Women, their hair still fuzzed with chenille lint, crowded the doorways. Do you have any pretty dresses?
Things gained momentum on Saturday, as farmers who'd looked at the rear ends of mules all week raised their eyes to the treasures inside. You got overalls?...
For Irwin Koplan, those 60-year-old memories remain as vivid as a bolt of dress fabric. His father, Leo Koplan, was one of those merchants who opened wide the doors to his store — and, in the process, helped keep a community of fellow believers thriving.
Koplan, who's 70 now, recently shared some of those memories with the William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum. The Atlanta museum is looking across the state for evidence of Jewish life from earlier centuries. Museum officials call it the State of Georgia Project.
Things gained momentum on Saturday, as farmers who'd looked at the rear ends of mules all week raised their eyes to the treasures inside. You got overalls?...
For Irwin Koplan, those 60-year-old memories remain as vivid as a bolt of dress fabric. His father, Leo Koplan, was one of those merchants who opened wide the doors to his store — and, in the process, helped keep a community of fellow believers thriving.
Koplan, who's 70 now, recently shared some of those memories with the William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum. The Atlanta museum is looking across the state for evidence of Jewish life from earlier centuries. Museum officials call it the State of Georgia Project.
Thursday, August 16, 2007 - 22:31
Name of source: AP
SOURCE: AP (8-15-07)
Certain images will be indelibly linked to the interstate bridge collapse: Mangled green steel beams, giant concrete slabs that seem to float on the Mississippi River, a school bus frozen on a downward slant. Even as the search for victims continues, historians are thinking about how to document the carnage.
Those who have chronicled other disasters say it's important to quickly secure artifacts, photographs and witness accounts that will convey the magnitude years from now. Key items would be lost forever by waiting too long, they say.
Minnesota Historical Society officials also want to be sensitive to the recovery and the investigation.
“We certainly don't want to be ghoulish or in any way disrespectful of the people who suffered in this tragedy,” said Jennifer Jones, head of the society's collections department. But, she added, “This is indisputably an important event in Minnesota history and in American history, in fact.”
Those who have chronicled other disasters say it's important to quickly secure artifacts, photographs and witness accounts that will convey the magnitude years from now. Key items would be lost forever by waiting too long, they say.
Minnesota Historical Society officials also want to be sensitive to the recovery and the investigation.
“We certainly don't want to be ghoulish or in any way disrespectful of the people who suffered in this tragedy,” said Jennifer Jones, head of the society's collections department. But, she added, “This is indisputably an important event in Minnesota history and in American history, in fact.”
Thursday, August 16, 2007 - 22:28
SOURCE: AP (8-15-07)
Most folks can correctly name George Washington as the nation's first president. After that, things get tricky.
The U.S. Mint is hoping its new dollar coin series will help refresh some hazy memories about the names of Adams, Jefferson and the rest.
That could be a tall order, however, given the results of a poll the Mint commissioned to find out just how much Americans know about their presidents.
According to the telephone poll conducted by the Gallup Organization last month, nearly all those questioned knew that Washington was the first president. However, only 30 percent could name Thomas Jefferson as the nation's third president, and memories of the other presidents and where they ranked was even more limited.
The U.S. Mint is hoping its new dollar coin series will help refresh some hazy memories about the names of Adams, Jefferson and the rest.
That could be a tall order, however, given the results of a poll the Mint commissioned to find out just how much Americans know about their presidents.
According to the telephone poll conducted by the Gallup Organization last month, nearly all those questioned knew that Washington was the first president. However, only 30 percent could name Thomas Jefferson as the nation's third president, and memories of the other presidents and where they ranked was even more limited.
Thursday, August 16, 2007 - 17:45
SOURCE: AP (8-15-07)
A replica of a Viking ship believed to have been built in 1042 sailed triumphantly into Dublin after retracing the 1,000-mile path of the fleets of Norsemen who invaded Ireland more than a millennium ago. Over six weeks, the 100-foot ship, which carried some decidedly un-Viking-like equipment — global positioning systems, radar, radio, satellite weather forecasts and life jackets — crossed the waters of northern Europe from Scandinavia, around Scotland and into the Irish Sea.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007 - 01:09
SOURCE: AP (8-14-07)
A man charged with dragging the Holocaust scholar Elie Wiesel from a hotel elevator in San Francisco apologized to him in court. The defendant, Eric Hunt, 22, has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted kidnapping, false imprisonment, battery, stalking, elder abuse and hate crimes after the February incident. “Mr. Wiesel, I’m sorry for scaring you and I’m sorry you experienced the Holocaust,” Mr. Hunt said. “My grandfather fought the Nazis, and I’m sorry about what happened.”
Tuesday, August 14, 2007 - 23:00
SOURCE: AP (8-12-07)
ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. - This city almost erected a billboard outside Jamestown, Va., to congratulate it on its 400th birthday - and remind everyone St. Augustine passed that milestone four decades ago.
It would have said, "Happy birthday to our younger brother," former Mayor George Gardner said.
Jamestown got a lot of attention this past spring celebrating the anniversary of its founding on May 14, 1607, making it the oldest English settlement in the nation. Queen Elizabeth paid a visit, and so did President Bush.
But St. Augustine is the nation's oldest city, and its 442nd birthday celebration is scheduled for Aug. 28-Sept. 1, including historical re-enactments, entertainment and, yes, a Thanksgiving feast. But this one will commemorate a feast held in September of 1565 by the Spaniards and native Timucuan Indians, when the menu likely included wild turkey, venison and salted pork stew.
It would have said, "Happy birthday to our younger brother," former Mayor George Gardner said.
Jamestown got a lot of attention this past spring celebrating the anniversary of its founding on May 14, 1607, making it the oldest English settlement in the nation. Queen Elizabeth paid a visit, and so did President Bush.
But St. Augustine is the nation's oldest city, and its 442nd birthday celebration is scheduled for Aug. 28-Sept. 1, including historical re-enactments, entertainment and, yes, a Thanksgiving feast. But this one will commemorate a feast held in September of 1565 by the Spaniards and native Timucuan Indians, when the menu likely included wild turkey, venison and salted pork stew.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007 - 18:21
SOURCE: AP (8-11-07)
Would you like your Civil War history seasoned with baseball trivia? Spritzed up with a winery tour? Do you long to dissect the Battle of Antietam with a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian?
Hire a guide.
As the 150th anniversary of the war between the states approaches, starting with John Brown's 1859 prewar raid at Harpers Ferry, W.Va., customized tours for people fascinated by the conflict are multiplying.
As little as $50 buys a two-hour, private guided tour of Antietam, site of the bloodiest day of the war, or Gettysburg National Military Park, the high-water mark of the Confederacy, in neighboring Pennsylvania.
Those thirsting for more knowledge can join multistate bus tours of up to six days led by scholars including James McPherson, whose 1988 book, "Battle Cry of Freedom" won a Pulitzer and helped rekindle interest in the conflict. The cost of the marathon trek, offered by Civil War Tours of Winchester, Conn.: $950, excluding hotel lodging.
Hire a guide.
As the 150th anniversary of the war between the states approaches, starting with John Brown's 1859 prewar raid at Harpers Ferry, W.Va., customized tours for people fascinated by the conflict are multiplying.
As little as $50 buys a two-hour, private guided tour of Antietam, site of the bloodiest day of the war, or Gettysburg National Military Park, the high-water mark of the Confederacy, in neighboring Pennsylvania.
Those thirsting for more knowledge can join multistate bus tours of up to six days led by scholars including James McPherson, whose 1988 book, "Battle Cry of Freedom" won a Pulitzer and helped rekindle interest in the conflict. The cost of the marathon trek, offered by Civil War Tours of Winchester, Conn.: $950, excluding hotel lodging.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007 - 18:12
Name of source: http://www.jpost.com
SOURCE: http://www.jpost.com (8-15-07)
The most poorly compensated half of the estimated 250,000 Holocaust survivors living in Israel who are entitled to monthly pensions, 52%, receive payments of NIS 1,200 to NIS 1,600.
Under the first compensation agreement between Israel and Germany, signed in 1953, Germany gave Israel $750 million in goods and services for the absorption of Holocaust survivors and to help the young state.
Germany conditioned the agreement on the renunciation of any future claims by Israeli survivors and their family members....
Under the first compensation agreement between Israel and Germany, signed in 1953, Germany gave Israel $750 million in goods and services for the absorption of Holocaust survivors and to help the young state.
Germany conditioned the agreement on the renunciation of any future claims by Israeli survivors and their family members....
Thursday, August 16, 2007 - 22:25
Name of source: Telegraph (UK)
SOURCE: Telegraph (UK) (8-16-07)
A tribe in Papua New Guinea has apologised for killing and eating four 19th century missionaries under the command of a doughty British clergyman.
The four Fijian missionaries were on a proselytising mission on the island of New Britain when they were massacred by Tolai tribesmen in 1878.
They were murdered on the orders of a local warrior chief, Taleli, and were then cooked and eaten.
The Fijians - a minister and three teachers - were under the leadership of the Reverend George Brown, an adventurous Wesleyan missionary who was born in Durham but spent most of his life spreading the word of God in the South Seas.
The four Fijian missionaries were on a proselytising mission on the island of New Britain when they were massacred by Tolai tribesmen in 1878.
They were murdered on the orders of a local warrior chief, Taleli, and were then cooked and eaten.
The Fijians - a minister and three teachers - were under the leadership of the Reverend George Brown, an adventurous Wesleyan missionary who was born in Durham but spent most of his life spreading the word of God in the South Seas.
Thursday, August 16, 2007 - 22:13
SOURCE: Telegraph (UK) (8-11-07)
Banzai Nippon! Achtung Spitfeuer! Gott In Himmel! Teufel! Schweinehund!
If these were the first foreign phrases you ever encountered, the chances are that you're a bloke aged between 30 and 50, and that you grew up reading War Picture Library, Battle, Victor and Commando comics.
Well, those days are over - in publishing at least, where books about the Second World War, fiction and non-fiction, look set to be one of the hottest phenomena of the next decade.
"We've done incredibly well out of it," says Jonathan Goodman of Carlton Books, whose bumper repackaged editions of classic Commando stories were one of the biggest hits in bookshops last Christmas, selling well into six figures. They are about to release two new volumes, Commando: ANZACS at War and Commando: All Guns Blazing.
If these were the first foreign phrases you ever encountered, the chances are that you're a bloke aged between 30 and 50, and that you grew up reading War Picture Library, Battle, Victor and Commando comics.
Well, those days are over - in publishing at least, where books about the Second World War, fiction and non-fiction, look set to be one of the hottest phenomena of the next decade.
"We've done incredibly well out of it," says Jonathan Goodman of Carlton Books, whose bumper repackaged editions of classic Commando stories were one of the biggest hits in bookshops last Christmas, selling well into six figures. They are about to release two new volumes, Commando: ANZACS at War and Commando: All Guns Blazing.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007 - 13:55
Name of source: Slate
SOURCE: Slate (8-15-07)
The average newspaper should expand by a factor of 50 the amount of space given to corrections if Scott R. Maier's research is any guide.
Maier, an associate professor at the University of Oregon's School of Journalism and Communication, describes in a forthcoming research paper his findings that fewer than 2 percent of factually flawed articles are corrected at dailies.
Maier's study relied on data gathered from 10 metropolitan newspapers: the Boulder Daily Camera, the Charlotte Observer, the Detroit Free Press, the Grand Forks Herald, the Lexington Herald-Leader, the Miami Herald (Broward Edition), the Philadelphia Inquirer, the San Jose Mercury News, the Tallahassee Democrat, and the Wichita Eagle.
Maier, an associate professor at the University of Oregon's School of Journalism and Communication, describes in a forthcoming research paper his findings that fewer than 2 percent of factually flawed articles are corrected at dailies.
Maier's study relied on data gathered from 10 metropolitan newspapers: the Boulder Daily Camera, the Charlotte Observer, the Detroit Free Press, the Grand Forks Herald, the Lexington Herald-Leader, the Miami Herald (Broward Edition), the Philadelphia Inquirer, the San Jose Mercury News, the Tallahassee Democrat, and the Wichita Eagle.
Thursday, August 16, 2007 - 21:56
Name of source: Inside Higher Ed
SOURCE: Inside Higher Ed (8-16-07)
Yale University Press on Wednesday announced that a libel suit against it and one of its authors has been dropped, without any changes being made in the book or any payments to the plaintiffs. The book in question is about Hamas and comes just weeks after Cambridge University Press settled a libel case against it over a book about Islamic terrorism by promising to destroy remaining copies of the book.
The cases are notably different in that Cambridge was sued in Britain (where libel protections for authors and publishers are much weaker than those in the United States) and Yale was able to file motions in California courts, which have stronger libel protections for authors and publishers than much of the United States. But the fact that Yale took a strong legal stance on a book about Hamas is likely to cheer scholars of terrorism, some of whom have been deeply concerned that the Cambridge settlement would prompt other presses to back down if sued.
The book over which Yale was sued is Hamas: Politics, Charity, and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad, by Matthew Levitt, who is director of the Stein Program on Terrorism, Intelligence and Policy at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. While some observers have distinguished between Hamas’s terrorist activities and the group’s social service activities with Palestinians, Levitt’s argument is that they are in fact intertwined. Yale’s description of the book says: “Levitt demolishes the notion that Hamas’ military, political, and social wings are distinct from one another and catalogues the alarming extent to which the organization’s political and social welfare leaders support terror. He exposes Hamas as a unitary organization committed to a militant Islamist ideology, urges the international co
The cases are notably different in that Cambridge was sued in Britain (where libel protections for authors and publishers are much weaker than those in the United States) and Yale was able to file motions in California courts, which have stronger libel protections for authors and publishers than much of the United States. But the fact that Yale took a strong legal stance on a book about Hamas is likely to cheer scholars of terrorism, some of whom have been deeply concerned that the Cambridge settlement would prompt other presses to back down if sued.
The book over which Yale was sued is Hamas: Politics, Charity, and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad, by Matthew Levitt, who is director of the Stein Program on Terrorism, Intelligence and Policy at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. While some observers have distinguished between Hamas’s terrorist activities and the group’s social service activities with Palestinians, Levitt’s argument is that they are in fact intertwined. Yale’s description of the book says: “Levitt demolishes the notion that Hamas’ military, political, and social wings are distinct from one another and catalogues the alarming extent to which the organization’s political and social welfare leaders support terror. He exposes Hamas as a unitary organization committed to a militant Islamist ideology, urges the international co
Thursday, August 16, 2007 - 21:36
SOURCE: Inside Higher Ed (8-15-07)
A greater percentage of social scientists today feel that their academic freedom has been threatened than was the case during the McCarthy era.
That finding — from Neil Gross, an assistant professor of sociology at Harvard University — was among a series of pessimistic papers presented at a forum on academic freedom Tuesday at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association.
Gross surveyed social science professors last year about whether they had felt that their academic freedom was threatened, and found that about one-third did. In 1955, Paul Lazarsfeld, the late Columbia University professor, did a similar survey and found only one-fifth of professors feeling affected by attacks on their academic freedom.
That finding — from Neil Gross, an assistant professor of sociology at Harvard University — was among a series of pessimistic papers presented at a forum on academic freedom Tuesday at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association.
Gross surveyed social science professors last year about whether they had felt that their academic freedom was threatened, and found that about one-third did. In 1955, Paul Lazarsfeld, the late Columbia University professor, did a similar survey and found only one-fifth of professors feeling affected by attacks on their academic freedom.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007 - 14:14
Name of source: Student Press Law Center
SOURCE: Student Press Law Center (8-13-07)
A federal district court on Friday dismissed a lawsuit filed by three high school students who were punished for wearing Confederate symbols to school.
Farmington High School student Bryce Archambo wore a hat in September with a picture of the Confederate flag and the words "C.S.A., Rebel Pride, 1861." School officials made him take off the hat, but Archambo returned the next day wearing a T-shirt and belt buckle with a Confederate flag image and the words "Dixie Classic." He was sent home after refusing to remove or cover the images. His mother withdrew him from the school that day, and he filed suit against the school district in November.
Farmington High School student Bryce Archambo wore a hat in September with a picture of the Confederate flag and the words "C.S.A., Rebel Pride, 1861." School officials made him take off the hat, but Archambo returned the next day wearing a T-shirt and belt buckle with a Confederate flag image and the words "Dixie Classic." He was sent home after refusing to remove or cover the images. His mother withdrew him from the school that day, and he filed suit against the school district in November.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007 - 14:10
Name of source: http://www.eveningecho.ie
SOURCE: http://www.eveningecho.ie (8-13-07)
Germany’s highest court today banned a far-right rally marking this week’s anniversary of the death of Adolf Hitler’s deputy, Rudolf Hess.
The Karlsruhe-based court upheld the local authorities’ decision to ban the demonstration and rejected an emergency appeal by Juergen Rieger, a member of the right-wing NPD party who had requested permission for a rally in the southern town of Wunsiedel where Hess was buried 20 years ago.
Hess hanged himself at age 93 in Spandau Prison in then-West Berlin on August 17, 1987, after nearly 41 years as a prisoner.
The Karlsruhe-based court upheld the local authorities’ decision to ban the demonstration and rejected an emergency appeal by Juergen Rieger, a member of the right-wing NPD party who had requested permission for a rally in the southern town of Wunsiedel where Hess was buried 20 years ago.
Hess hanged himself at age 93 in Spandau Prison in then-West Berlin on August 17, 1987, after nearly 41 years as a prisoner.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007 - 14:04
Name of source: AFP
SOURCE: AFP (8-14-07)
HEINZ Barth, a Nazi war criminal convicted for atrocities including the massacre of 642 people in the French village of Ourador, has died, his pastor said overnight.
"He is dead. He was 86 years old,'' said Heinz-Dieter Schmiedkte, the pastor at Gransee, near Berlin, where Barth lived.
"The burial will be in September and I have already declared myself ready to preside over it, as everyone has the right to a burial.''
Barth, a former SS lieutenant, was jailed for life by a West German court in 1983 for his part in a number of atrocities during World War II.
They included the notorious massacre at the village of Oradour-sur-Glane, in the south of France.
"He is dead. He was 86 years old,'' said Heinz-Dieter Schmiedkte, the pastor at Gransee, near Berlin, where Barth lived.
"The burial will be in September and I have already declared myself ready to preside over it, as everyone has the right to a burial.''
Barth, a former SS lieutenant, was jailed for life by a West German court in 1983 for his part in a number of atrocities during World War II.
They included the notorious massacre at the village of Oradour-sur-Glane, in the south of France.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007 - 14:03
Name of source: Nathanael D. Robinson at HNN blog, Cliopatria
SOURCE: Nathanael D. Robinson at HNN blog, Cliopatria (8-14-07)
Can we call it a trend now: German cities removing post-war construction to restore pre-war architecture? First, there was the recreation ofDresden’sFrauenkirche. Next, the demolition of the East GermanPalaceoftheRepublic with the hope of restoring the Hohenzollernpalace. Then, the Berlin SPD proposed returning to rows of single familytownhouses to replace the large, blocky, Bauhaus-inspired apartment buildings. Even Cologners’ racist resistance to the construction of a “super-mosque” belonged to a larger debate about the lost character of the city....
Tuesday, August 14, 2007 - 23:02
Name of source: International Herald Tribune
SOURCE: International Herald Tribune (8-14-07)
Quietly, with barely a whisper of protest, which is rare in this country, a great upheaval is under way inside Indian high school classrooms.
For perhaps the first time since India gained its independence 60 years ago Wednesday, politics is part of the teaching of political science, part of a broader revision of school curriculum with potentially long-lasting implications for how Indian children grasp the workings of their own democracy.
Shikha Chhabra, 16, offered an example from her new Grade 12 Contemporary World Politics textbook.
She had always been taught that the Nonaligned Movement, in which India played a leading role during the Cold War years, carving out at least a rhetorical policy of independence from both the Soviet Union and the United States, was "a wonderful thing." The new textbook, she noticed, treats it differently. "Now they raise the question - does the Nonaligned Movement really apply in the world today? Was it just fence-sitting?"
For perhaps the first time since India gained its independence 60 years ago Wednesday, politics is part of the teaching of political science, part of a broader revision of school curriculum with potentially long-lasting implications for how Indian children grasp the workings of their own democracy.
Shikha Chhabra, 16, offered an example from her new Grade 12 Contemporary World Politics textbook.
She had always been taught that the Nonaligned Movement, in which India played a leading role during the Cold War years, carving out at least a rhetorical policy of independence from both the Soviet Union and the United States, was "a wonderful thing." The new textbook, she noticed, treats it differently. "Now they raise the question - does the Nonaligned Movement really apply in the world today? Was it just fence-sitting?"
Tuesday, August 14, 2007 - 18:43
Name of source: http://www.hindustantimes.com
SOURCE: http://www.hindustantimes.com (8-14-07)
A project to preserve the broadest historical record of the independence struggle in India, Pakistan and other South Asian nations has been launched by America's Yale University.
The South Asian Independence Movement (SAIM) project launched on Tuesday to mark the 60th anniversary of the two South Asian neighbours' independence is seeking physical or digital artefacts and memorabilia associated with events or people involved in the freedom movement.
The New Haven, Connecticut, South Asian Studies Council (SASC) of the Whitney and Betty MacMillan Centre for International and Area Studies at Yale is also looking for personal recollections and narratives describing experiences from the period to enrich the published and archival record.
The South Asian Independence Movement (SAIM) project launched on Tuesday to mark the 60th anniversary of the two South Asian neighbours' independence is seeking physical or digital artefacts and memorabilia associated with events or people involved in the freedom movement.
The New Haven, Connecticut, South Asian Studies Council (SASC) of the Whitney and Betty MacMillan Centre for International and Area Studies at Yale is also looking for personal recollections and narratives describing experiences from the period to enrich the published and archival record.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007 - 18:42
Name of source: http://www.scoop.co.nz
SOURCE: http://www.scoop.co.nz (8-13-07)
The history of New Zealand's intelligence agencies and those it has spied on have been laid bare in a book by Auckland-based journalist, author, and historian Graeme Hunt.
Spies And Revolutionaries – A History of New Zealand Subversion details how several prominent New Zealanders, all of whom are dead, spied for the former Soviet Union during the Cold War. Accusations and suspicions are laid bare before files and information that has never before been made public. This book will clearly recharge debate as to whether Dr Bill Sutch, diplomat Paddy Costello, and public servant Ian Milner were spies acting against New Zealand's national interest.
Spies And Revolutionaries – A History of New Zealand Subversion details how several prominent New Zealanders, all of whom are dead, spied for the former Soviet Union during the Cold War. Accusations and suspicions are laid bare before files and information that has never before been made public. This book will clearly recharge debate as to whether Dr Bill Sutch, diplomat Paddy Costello, and public servant Ian Milner were spies acting against New Zealand's national interest.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007 - 18:28
Name of source: Arizona Republic
SOURCE: Arizona Republic (8-12-07)
The golf-ball-size chunk is among the oldest rocks you will ever see.
At 4.5 billion years old, it's part of a larger rock that spent years swirling in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
An impact with another asteroid tossed the chunk into an orbit that crossed the Earth's path. It eventually fell through the atmosphere and broke up above a Chicago suburb. One lump hit a firehouse near midnight March 26, 2003. Other pieces plowed into homes, with one landing near a sleeping 14-year-old boy.
At 4.5 billion years old, it's part of a larger rock that spent years swirling in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
An impact with another asteroid tossed the chunk into an orbit that crossed the Earth's path. It eventually fell through the atmosphere and broke up above a Chicago suburb. One lump hit a firehouse near midnight March 26, 2003. Other pieces plowed into homes, with one landing near a sleeping 14-year-old boy.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007 - 18:23
Name of source: Times (UK)
SOURCE: Times (UK) (8-12-07)
THE last dedicated A-levels in Latin and Greek are to be scrapped from next year, sparking opposition from the country’s leading classicists.
As thousands of A-level candidates wait to get their results this week, it has emerged that the OCR exam board is planning to combine the two subjects along with ancient history and classical civilisation into a single classics A-level, to be taught from 2008. Other boards that set A-levels in England have already combined the subjects or stopped offering them.
Although the classics A-level would still allow pupils to specialise in Greek, Latin or the other two subjects, opponents believe the proposed syllabus waters down the knowledge required.
As thousands of A-level candidates wait to get their results this week, it has emerged that the OCR exam board is planning to combine the two subjects along with ancient history and classical civilisation into a single classics A-level, to be taught from 2008. Other boards that set A-levels in England have already combined the subjects or stopped offering them.
Although the classics A-level would still allow pupils to specialise in Greek, Latin or the other two subjects, opponents believe the proposed syllabus waters down the knowledge required.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007 - 18:19
Name of source: Chronicle of Higher Education (CHE)
SOURCE: Chronicle of Higher Education (CHE) (8-14-07)
It appears that David M. Walker has been reading his Cullen Murphy. In a startlingly downbeat report from the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office, Mr. Walker, the office's comptroller general, drew explicit parallels to the fall of the Roman Empire in excoriating the U.S. government for what he considers to be unsustainable policies.
“I’m trying to sound an alarm and issue a wake-up call,” Walker said in an interview with the Financial Times. “As comptroller general I’ve got an ability to look longer-range and take on issues that others may be hesitant, and in many cases may not be in a position, to take on. One of the concerns is obviously we are a great country but we face major sustainability challenges that we are not taking seriously enough.”
Over at his eponymous blog, Dan Drezner can't help but roll his eyes at the cliché: "Analysts have been comparing the United States to a decaying, declining Roman Empire for close to 40 years now. It has become so clichéd that, according to a little-known D.C. ordinance, anyone who makes the analogy inside the Beltway is forced to listen to either Robert Kuttner or George Will pontificate for an entire hour on its historical appropriateness. Shudder."
“I’m trying to sound an alarm and issue a wake-up call,” Walker said in an interview with the Financial Times. “As comptroller general I’ve got an ability to look longer-range and take on issues that others may be hesitant, and in many cases may not be in a position, to take on. One of the concerns is obviously we are a great country but we face major sustainability challenges that we are not taking seriously enough.”
Over at his eponymous blog, Dan Drezner can't help but roll his eyes at the cliché: "Analysts have been comparing the United States to a decaying, declining Roman Empire for close to 40 years now. It has become so clichéd that, according to a little-known D.C. ordinance, anyone who makes the analogy inside the Beltway is forced to listen to either Robert Kuttner or George Will pontificate for an entire hour on its historical appropriateness. Shudder."
Tuesday, August 14, 2007 - 17:48
Name of source: National Security Archive
SOURCE: National Security Archive (8-14-07)
A collection of newly-declassified documents published today detail U.S. concern over Pakistan's relationship with the Taliban during the seven-year period leading up to 9-11. This new release comes just days after Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, acknowledged that, "There is no doubt Afghan militants are supported from Pakistan soil." While Musharraf admitted the Taliban were being sheltered in the lawless frontier border regions, the declassified U.S. documents released today clearly illustrate that the Taliban was directly funded, armed and advised by Islamabad itself.
Obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the National Security Archive at George Washington University, the documents reflect U.S. apprehension about Islamabad's longstanding provision of direct aid and military support to the Taliban, including the use of Pakistani troops to train and fight alongside the Taliban inside Afghanistan. The records released today represent the most complete and comprehensive collection of declassified documentation to date on Pakistan's aid programs to the Taliban, illustrating Islamabad's firm commitment to a Taliban victory in Afghanistan.
These new documents also support and inform the findings of a recently-released CIA intelligence estimate characterizing Pakistan's tribal areas as a safe haven for al-Qaeda terrorists, and provide new details about the close relationship between Islamabad and the Taliban in the years prior to the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. Declassified State Department cables and U.S. intelligence reports describe the use of Taliban terrorist training areas in Afghanistan by Pakistani-supported militants in Kashmir, as well as Pakistan's covert effort to supply Pashtun troops from its tribal regions to the Taliban cause in Afghanistan--effectively forging and reinforcing Pashtun bonds across the border and consolidating the Taliban's severe form of Islam throughout Pakistan's frontier region.
Also published today are documents linking Harakat ul-Ansar, a militant Kashmiri group funded directly by the government of Pakistan, to terrorist training camps shared by Osama bin Laden in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.
Islamabad denies that it ever provided military support to the Taliban, but the newly-released documents report that in the weeks following the Taliban takeover of Kabul in 1996, Pakistan's intelligence agency was "supplying the Taliban forces with munitions, fuel, and food." Pakistan's Interservice Intelligence Directorate was "using a private sector transportation company to funnel supplies into Afghanistan and to the Taliban forces." Other documents also conclude that there has been an extensive and consistent history of "both military and financial assistance to the Taliban."
Highlights include:
* August 1996: Pakistan Intelligence (ISID) "provides at least $30,000 - and possibly as much as $60,000 - per month" to the militant Kashmiri group Harakat ul-Ansar (HUA). Despite this aid, the group is reaching out to sponsors of international terrorism including Osama bin Laden for additional support, and may in the near future become a threat to Islamabad itself as well as U.S. interests. HUA contacts have hinted they "might undertake terrorist actions against civilian airliners." [Doc 10]
* October 1996: A National Security Agency document classified Top Secret SI, Umbra comments on recent Taliban military successes noting that even Pakistan "must harbour some concern" regarding the Taliban's impressive capture of Kabul, as such victory may diminish Pakistan's influence over the movement and produce a Taliban regime in Kabul with strong links to Pakistan's own Pashtuns. [Doc 14]
* October 1996: Although food supplies from Pakistan to the Taliban are conducted openly through Pakistan's intelligence agency, the ISID, "the munitions convoys depart Pakistan late in the evening hours and are concealed to reveal their true contents." [Doc 15]
* November 1996: Pakistan's Pashtun-based "Frontier Corps elements are utilized in command and control; training; and when necessary - combat" alongside the Taliban in Afghanistan. [Doc 17]
* March 1998: Al-Qaeda and Pakistan government-funded Harakat ul-Ansar (HUA) have been sharing terrorist training camps in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan for years [Link Doc 16], and HUA has increasingly been moving ideologically closer to al-Qaeda. The U.S. Embassy in Islamabad is growing increasingly concerned as Fazlur Rahman Khalil, a leader in Pakistan's Harakat ul-Ansar has signed Osama bin Laden's most recent fatwa promoting terrorist activities against U.S. interests. [Doc 26]
* September 1998 [Doc 31] and March 1999 [Doc 33]: The U.S. Department of State voices concern that Pakistan is not doing all it can to pressure the Taliban to surrender Osama bin Laden. "Pakistan has not been responsive to our requests that it use its full influence on the Taliban surrender of Bin Ladin." [Doc 33]
* September 2000: A cable cited in The 9/11 Commission Report notes that Pakistan's aid to the Taliban has reached "unprecedented" levels, including recent reports that Islamabad has possibly allowed the Taliban to use territory in Pakistan for military operations. Furthermore the U.S. has "seen reports that Pakistan is providing the Taliban with materiel, fuel, funding, technical assistance and military advisors." [Doc 34]
Tuesday, August 14, 2007 - 17:46
Name of source: Yale Daily News
SOURCE: Yale Daily News (8-10-07)
In what might be its most significant concession to Peru since 1912, Yale will allow the country to see a full inventory of the artifacts it has kept in New Haven since Hiram Bingham III brought them back from Machu Picchu nearly a century ago.
The breakthrough in negotiations, confirmed Friday by Yale officials and announced Thursday during an unrelated press conference in Lima, is not only important in that it could lead to the return of certain artifacts Peru officials have been requesting since the mid-1910s but also because it indicates that relations between Yale and Peru have improved under the recently installed government of President Alan García.
The breakthrough in negotiations, confirmed Friday by Yale officials and announced Thursday during an unrelated press conference in Lima, is not only important in that it could lead to the return of certain artifacts Peru officials have been requesting since the mid-1910s but also because it indicates that relations between Yale and Peru have improved under the recently installed government of President Alan García.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007 - 17:26
Name of source: Catholic Review
SOURCE: Catholic Review (8-13-07)
A bust of the first Catholic Chief Justice of the United States may get booted from its prominent perch in front of Frederick’s City Hall if a group of civil rights activists gets its way.
Pointing to Chief Justice Roger Taney’s role in writing the controversial Dred Scott v. Sanford decision that declared blacks to be non-citizens and that made slavery legal in all territories, members of the Frederick chapter of the NAACP are calling on city leaders to take down the bust.
The movement has drawn a mixed response from the Catholic community, with some leaders arguing that it is wrong to remove a piece of art honoring a historic figure while others said the move could promote a sense of healing.
Pointing to Chief Justice Roger Taney’s role in writing the controversial Dred Scott v. Sanford decision that declared blacks to be non-citizens and that made slavery legal in all territories, members of the Frederick chapter of the NAACP are calling on city leaders to take down the bust.
The movement has drawn a mixed response from the Catholic community, with some leaders arguing that it is wrong to remove a piece of art honoring a historic figure while others said the move could promote a sense of healing.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007 - 17:16
Name of source: http://abc.net.au
SOURCE: http://abc.net.au (8-11-07)
There is concern international privateers and relic hunters will seek to profit from what is believed to be the wreck of the warship HMAS Sydney.
A group of amateur researchers claim to have found the wreck off the coast of Western Australia, near Carnarvon.
The Sydney was sunk off the WA coast during World War II, killing the entire crew of 645.
A group of amateur researchers claim to have found the wreck off the coast of Western Australia, near Carnarvon.
The Sydney was sunk off the WA coast during World War II, killing the entire crew of 645.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007 - 15:33
