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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: Houston Chronicle
SOURCE: Houston Chronicle (9-4-07)
Two months before his death at the Alamo, the legendary Davy Crockett wrote to his children that he dreamt of finding fame and fortune in Texas, "the garden spot of the world."
The letter, which the Texas Historical Commission purchased from a Houston collector for $550,000, is believed to be Crockett's last.
If so, there's no hint of foreboding in his tone, no sign of the mythological hero who was bravely prepared to defend the Alamo to his death, if necessary.
John L. Nau III, chairman of the historical commission, announced the purchase at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum Tuesday, noting that the letter's owner, Ray Simpson of Houston, will refund $60,000 of the sale price.
The letter, which the Texas Historical Commission purchased from a Houston collector for $550,000, is believed to be Crockett's last.
If so, there's no hint of foreboding in his tone, no sign of the mythological hero who was bravely prepared to defend the Alamo to his death, if necessary.
John L. Nau III, chairman of the historical commission, announced the purchase at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum Tuesday, noting that the letter's owner, Ray Simpson of Houston, will refund $60,000 of the sale price.
Thursday, September 6, 2007 - 15:14
Comments
Name of source: National Security Archive
SOURCE: National Security Archive (9-5-07)
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals this week held that the disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act of two Presidential Daily Briefs written for President Lyndon B. Johnson in the 1960s could “reveal protected intelligence sources and methods.” The Court rejected, however, the Central Intelligence Agency’s “attempt to create a per se status exemption for PDBs.”
In a lawsuit brought by Professor Larry Berman, a professor of Political Science at U.C. Davis and the author of Perfect Spy: The Extraordinary Double Life of Pham Xuan An, Time Magazine Reporter & Vietnamese Communist Agent (Smithsonian-Harper Collins 2007), the Court concluded that revelation of the two 40-year-old PDBs could hinder the CIA’s current efforts to recruit sources. Nonetheless, the Court noted that the CIA’s assertions in that regard would become less plausible with the passage of time. The Court further made clear that PDBs are not “categorically exempt from FOIA.”
In a lawsuit brought by Professor Larry Berman, a professor of Political Science at U.C. Davis and the author of Perfect Spy: The Extraordinary Double Life of Pham Xuan An, Time Magazine Reporter & Vietnamese Communist Agent (Smithsonian-Harper Collins 2007), the Court concluded that revelation of the two 40-year-old PDBs could hinder the CIA’s current efforts to recruit sources. Nonetheless, the Court noted that the CIA’s assertions in that regard would become less plausible with the passage of time. The Court further made clear that PDBs are not “categorically exempt from FOIA.”
The Court also rejected a novel argument put forth by the CIA that the well documented practice of briefing the President itself is an intelligence method that would permit all PDBs to be withheld in whole. Instead, the Court reaffirmed that the CIA has an obligation to “provide a specific justification that explains why the particular document requested” fits within the exemption.
“While we are disappointed that the Court did not order disclosure of the two PDBs, because we suspect their content is innocuous, at least the CIA must end its practice of categorically refusing to release all PDBs,” commented National Security Archive General Counsel Meredith Fuchs. “Our goal in this litigation was to force the agency to conduct a genuine review and assess the true sensitivity of each document. We hope the Agency will take the Court’s analysis to heart and do the right thing in the future.”
Professor Berman was represented jointly by the Archive and by Thomas R. Burke and Duffy Carolan of the law firm Davis Wright Tremaine LLP in San Francisco, CA.
Thursday, September 6, 2007 - 14:56
SOURCE: National Security Archive (9-5-07)
The National Security Archive today sued the White House seeking the recovery and preservation of more than 5 million White House e-mail messages that were apparently deleted from White House computers between March 2003 and October 2005. [The complaint and related documents are posted at www.nsarchive.org.]
The lawsuit filed this morning in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia names as defendants the Executive Office of the President and its components that are subject to the Federal Records Act, including the White House Office of Administration (OA), and the National Archives and Records Administration (which is responsible for long-term preservation of federal and presidential records), under the records laws and the Administrative Procedure Act.
The lawsuit filed this morning in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia names as defendants the Executive Office of the President and its components that are subject to the Federal Records Act, including the White House Office of Administration (OA), and the National Archives and Records Administration (which is responsible for long-term preservation of federal and presidential records), under the records laws and the Administrative Procedure Act.
White House officials ranging from spokesperson Dana Perino to counsel Keith Roberts have acknowledged in press and Congressional briefings that e-mail is missing from the White House archive, and that the EOP in 2002 abandoned the electronic records management system put in place by the Clinton White House. Whistleblowers cited in conjunction with a Freedom of Information lawsuit brought by the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) have alleged that more than 5 million e-mail messages are missing from the White House servers.
"The Bush White House broke the law and erased our history by deleting those e--ail messages," said National Security Archive director Tom Blanton. "The period of the missing email starts with the invasion of Iraq and runs through the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina."
Archive general counsel Meredith Fuchs said, "Without court oversight, there’s no guarantee the White House will ever recover the missing e-mails or install an effective archiving system."
"The law is clear that e-mails count as government records," said attorney Sheila Shadmand of the law firm Jones Day, which is representing the Archive. "The White House admits e-mails are missing but we have no assurance they are fixing the problem."
The National Security Archive, an independent non-governmental organization based at George Washington University, brought the original White House e-mail lawsuit (which included a wide range of scholarly, library and public interest co-plaintiffs) against Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and Bill Clinton. That lawsuit produced landmark rulings in the early 1990s that e-mail had to be treated as government records. Those rulings led to the preservation of more than 30 million White House e-mail messages from the 1980s and 1990s.
Wednesday, September 5, 2007 - 19:50
Name of source: NYT
SOURCE: NYT (9-5-07)
Two pictures on Aug. 14 with an obituary about the news photographer Joe O’Donnell carried erroneous credits, and the obituary also included one of the incorrect credits. The photograph of a saluting John F. Kennedy Jr. during the funeral for his father in 1963 was taken by Stan Stearns for United Press International, not by Mr. O’Donnell. The photographer who took the second picture, showing Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill during a wartime meeting in Tehran in 1943, is not known, although Mr. O’Donnell claimed credit for it and the Kennedy picture. Mr. O’Donnell is not known to have been in Tehran at the time.
A Nashville gallery that handled Mr. O’Donnell’s work supplied the incorrect information. The Times is researching other claims by Mr. O’Donnell reported in the obituary.
A Nashville gallery that handled Mr. O’Donnell’s work supplied the incorrect information. The Times is researching other claims by Mr. O’Donnell reported in the obituary.
Wednesday, September 5, 2007 - 19:45
SOURCE: NYT (9-4-07)
In September 1968, Hillary Diane Rodham, role model and student government president, was addressing Wellesley College freshmen girls — back when they were still called “girls” — about methods of protest. It was a hot topic in that overheated year of what she termed “confrontation politics from Chicago to Czechoslovakia.”
“Dynamism is a function of change,” Ms. Rodham said in her speech. “On some campuses, change is effected through nonviolent or even violent means. Although we too have had our demonstrations, change here is usually a product of discussion in the decision-making process.”
Her handwritten remarks — on file in the Wellesley archives — abound with abbreviations, crossed-out sentences and scrawled reinsertions, as if composed in a hurry. Yet Ms. Rodham’s words are neatly contained between tight margins. She took care to stay within the lines, even when they were moving so far and fast in 1968. While student leaders at some campuses went to the barricades, Ms. Rodham was attending teach-ins, leading panel discussions and joining steering committees. She preferred her “confrontation politics” cooler.
“Dynamism is a function of change,” Ms. Rodham said in her speech. “On some campuses, change is effected through nonviolent or even violent means. Although we too have had our demonstrations, change here is usually a product of discussion in the decision-making process.”
Her handwritten remarks — on file in the Wellesley archives — abound with abbreviations, crossed-out sentences and scrawled reinsertions, as if composed in a hurry. Yet Ms. Rodham’s words are neatly contained between tight margins. She took care to stay within the lines, even when they were moving so far and fast in 1968. While student leaders at some campuses went to the barricades, Ms. Rodham was attending teach-ins, leading panel discussions and joining steering committees. She preferred her “confrontation politics” cooler.
Wednesday, September 5, 2007 - 12:38
SOURCE: NYT (9-4-07)
“Italy’s patrimony has been lost because we used to intervene after the fact and not before,” said Roberto Cecchi, general director of the Architectural Heritage and Landscape Department, which is responsible for the safekeeping of Italy’s monuments.
Under the new guidelines unveiled this summer, officials at the local and national levels are to evaluate the seismic risk to individual structures in their jurisdictions and take steps to reduce the vulnerability. These steps could include using steel chains to join the walls together, or employing carbon fiber strips in the walls and the vaulting as a sort of flexible bandage.
“The idea is to see a structure as a sort of box that is more resistant if the vertical and the horizontal elements work together,” said Laura Moro, an architect at the Culture Ministry. “In a seismic area sooner or later something will happen. The problem is that for years this issue was totally ignored.”
Under the new guidelines unveiled this summer, officials at the local and national levels are to evaluate the seismic risk to individual structures in their jurisdictions and take steps to reduce the vulnerability. These steps could include using steel chains to join the walls together, or employing carbon fiber strips in the walls and the vaulting as a sort of flexible bandage.
“The idea is to see a structure as a sort of box that is more resistant if the vertical and the horizontal elements work together,” said Laura Moro, an architect at the Culture Ministry. “In a seismic area sooner or later something will happen. The problem is that for years this issue was totally ignored.”
Wednesday, September 5, 2007 - 01:48
SOURCE: NYT (9-4-07)
A previously undisclosed exchange of letters shows that President Bush was told in advance by his top Iraq envoy in May 2003 of a plan to “dissolve Saddam’s military and intelligence structures,” a plan that the envoy, L. Paul Bremer, said referred to dismantling the Iraqi Army.
Mr. Bremer provided the letters to The New York Times on Monday after reading that Mr. Bush was quoted in a new book as saying that American policy had been “to keep the army intact” but that it “didn’t happen.”
The dismantling of the Iraqi Army in the aftermath of the American invasion is now widely regarded as a mistake that stoked rebellion among hundreds of thousands of former Iraqi soldiers and made it more difficult to reduce sectarian bloodshed and attacks by insurgents. In releasing the letters, Mr. Bremer said he wanted to refute the suggestion in Mr. Bush’s comment that Mr. Bremer had acted to disband the army without the knowledge and concurrence of the White House....
Mr. Bremer provided the letters to The New York Times on Monday after reading that Mr. Bush was quoted in a new book as saying that American policy had been “to keep the army intact” but that it “didn’t happen.”
The dismantling of the Iraqi Army in the aftermath of the American invasion is now widely regarded as a mistake that stoked rebellion among hundreds of thousands of former Iraqi soldiers and made it more difficult to reduce sectarian bloodshed and attacks by insurgents. In releasing the letters, Mr. Bremer said he wanted to refute the suggestion in Mr. Bush’s comment that Mr. Bremer had acted to disband the army without the knowledge and concurrence of the White House....
A White House official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the White House is not commenting on Mr. Draper’s book, said Mr. Bush indeed understood the order and was acknowledging in the interview with Mr. Draper that the original plan had proved unworkable.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007 - 01:39
SOURCE: NYT (9-2-07)
Again it comes, for the sixth time now — 2,191 days after that awful morning — falling for the first time on a Tuesday, the same day of the week.
Again there will be the public tributes, the tightly scripted memorial events, the reflex news coverage, the souvenir peddlers.
Is all of it necessary, at the same decibel level — still?
Each year, murmuring about Sept. 11 fatigue arises, a weariness of reliving a day that everyone wishes had never happened. It began before the first anniversary of the terrorist attack. By now, though, many people feel that the collective commemorations, publicly staged, are excessive and vacant, even annoying.
Again there will be the public tributes, the tightly scripted memorial events, the reflex news coverage, the souvenir peddlers.
Is all of it necessary, at the same decibel level — still?
Each year, murmuring about Sept. 11 fatigue arises, a weariness of reliving a day that everyone wishes had never happened. It began before the first anniversary of the terrorist attack. By now, though, many people feel that the collective commemorations, publicly staged, are excessive and vacant, even annoying.
Sunday, September 2, 2007 - 19:46
SOURCE: NYT (9-2-07)
When President Bush is asked what he plans to do when he leaves office, he often replies curtly: “I don’t have that much time to think beyond my presidency” or “I’m going to sprint to the finish.”
But in an interview with a book author in the Oval Office one day last December, he daydreamed about the next phase of his life, when his time will be his own.
First, Mr. Bush said, “I’ll give some speeches, just to replenish the ol’ coffers.” With assets that have been estimated as high as nearly $21 million, Mr. Bush added, “I don’t know what my dad gets — it’s more than 50-75” thousand dollars a speech, and “Clinton’s making a lot of money.”
Then he said, “We’ll have a nice place in Dallas,” where he will be running what he called “a fantastic Freedom Institute” promoting democracy around the world. But he added, “I can just envision getting in the car, getting bored, going down to the ranch.”
For now, though, Mr. Bush told the author, Robert Draper, in a later session, “I’m playing for October-November.” That is when he hopes the Iraq troop increase will finally show enough results to help him achieve the central goal of his remaining time in office: “To get us in a position where the presidential candidates will be comfortable about sustaining a presence,” and, he said later, “stay longer.”
But in an interview with a book author in the Oval Office one day last December, he daydreamed about the next phase of his life, when his time will be his own.
First, Mr. Bush said, “I’ll give some speeches, just to replenish the ol’ coffers.” With assets that have been estimated as high as nearly $21 million, Mr. Bush added, “I don’t know what my dad gets — it’s more than 50-75” thousand dollars a speech, and “Clinton’s making a lot of money.”
Then he said, “We’ll have a nice place in Dallas,” where he will be running what he called “a fantastic Freedom Institute” promoting democracy around the world. But he added, “I can just envision getting in the car, getting bored, going down to the ranch.”
For now, though, Mr. Bush told the author, Robert Draper, in a later session, “I’m playing for October-November.” That is when he hopes the Iraq troop increase will finally show enough results to help him achieve the central goal of his remaining time in office: “To get us in a position where the presidential candidates will be comfortable about sustaining a presence,” and, he said later, “stay longer.”
Sunday, September 2, 2007 - 19:45
SOURCE: NYT (9-1-07)
On May 25, Stanford University’s student newspaper, The Stanford Daily, devoted the bulk of its front page to the university’s former provost, who is on leave while she serves out her term as secretary of state. “Condi Eyes Return,” read the headline, “but in What Role?”
Within hours, the letters to the editor started coming in. “Condoleezza Rice serves an administration that has trashed the basic values of academia: reason, science, expertise, and honesty. Stanford should not welcome her back,” wrote Don Ornstein, identified by the newspaper as an emeritus professor of mathematics in a letter published May 31.
Online comments on the newspaper’s Web site were even harsher, a veritable stream of vitriol. One of the milder posts came from Jon Wu, who did not give an affiliation: “Please go away, Rice. We don’t want someone who is responsible for the slaughter of an entire nation teaching at our school.”
Within hours, the letters to the editor started coming in. “Condoleezza Rice serves an administration that has trashed the basic values of academia: reason, science, expertise, and honesty. Stanford should not welcome her back,” wrote Don Ornstein, identified by the newspaper as an emeritus professor of mathematics in a letter published May 31.
Online comments on the newspaper’s Web site were even harsher, a veritable stream of vitriol. One of the milder posts came from Jon Wu, who did not give an affiliation: “Please go away, Rice. We don’t want someone who is responsible for the slaughter of an entire nation teaching at our school.”
Saturday, September 1, 2007 - 19:29
SOURCE: NYT (9-1-07)
A modest archaeological museum in Aidone, Sicily, is heralding the return of two sixth-century B.C. marble sculptures that have haunting smiles and a somewhat mysterious past. The artifacts are believed to have been looted from Morgantina, an ancient Greek settlement whose ruins lie next to Aidone.
The acroliths — statues usually made with wooden trunks but stone heads and extremities — were once owned by the New York businessman Maurice Tempelsman. For the last five years they have been on exhibit at the University of Virginia Art Museum in Charlottesville.
The acroliths — statues usually made with wooden trunks but stone heads and extremities — were once owned by the New York businessman Maurice Tempelsman. For the last five years they have been on exhibit at the University of Virginia Art Museum in Charlottesville.
Saturday, September 1, 2007 - 19:17
Name of source: chinaview.cn
SOURCE: chinaview.cn (9-5-07)
Beijing will restrict the number of daily visits to cultural relics during the Olympic Games next year so as to ensure a sound visiting order and protect cultural relics, according to the Beijing Cultural Heritage Administration.
"All cultural relics of the capital are to undergo a thorough "facelift" in the coming few months before next August, and any renovation, except for emergency repair, will suspend during the Games," said Kong fanzhi, director of the administration.
Kong said the "facelift" includes the renovation of the exterior of ancient constructions and roofs which could be seen from adjacent streets so as to enable visitors, especially foreign tourists, to "see Beijing through cultural relics".
"All cultural relics of the capital are to undergo a thorough "facelift" in the coming few months before next August, and any renovation, except for emergency repair, will suspend during the Games," said Kong fanzhi, director of the administration.
Kong said the "facelift" includes the renovation of the exterior of ancient constructions and roofs which could be seen from adjacent streets so as to enable visitors, especially foreign tourists, to "see Beijing through cultural relics".
Wednesday, September 5, 2007 - 19:15
Name of source: http://www.expatica.com
SOURCE: http://www.expatica.com (8-31-07)
he family of Spain's late dictator Francisco Franco have refused to allow regional government inspectors to examine the state of his former summer castle, local authorities said Friday.
The historical Pazo de Meiras castle, built in 1893 in the northwestern Spanish region of Galicia, was given to the dictator -- who died in 1975 -- by his own regime in 1938.
It currently belongs to his daughter, Carmen Franco Polo, 80, but since 1991 it has been included on a list of Galicia's cultural heritage site, giving regional authorities the legal right to look after the property.
The government of Galicia now wants to classify the property as a "regional cultural asset", requiring the Franco family to grant minimum public access to the castle and its six hectares (15 acres) of land.
The historical Pazo de Meiras castle, built in 1893 in the northwestern Spanish region of Galicia, was given to the dictator -- who died in 1975 -- by his own regime in 1938.
It currently belongs to his daughter, Carmen Franco Polo, 80, but since 1991 it has been included on a list of Galicia's cultural heritage site, giving regional authorities the legal right to look after the property.
The government of Galicia now wants to classify the property as a "regional cultural asset", requiring the Franco family to grant minimum public access to the castle and its six hectares (15 acres) of land.
Wednesday, September 5, 2007 - 19:13
Name of source: http://www.chad.co.uk
SOURCE: http://www.chad.co.uk (9-5-07)
THE owner of historic King John's Palace in Kings Clipstone is hoping to raise the profile of the site to save the ruins, which are in urgent need of work to stabilise the crumbling walls.
Last month, the site was added to the English Heritage's Buildings at Risk Register, which highlights important sites that are in 'grave danger of irretrievable decay'.
Only fragments remain of the Grade II scheduled ancient monument and owner Mickey Bradley — with the backing of local group the Kings Clipstone Project –– is hoping that once the site is made safe, it can be opened up to visitors....
Said James Wright, of Nottinghamshire Community Archaeology: "King John's Palace is a tremendously important site. It's a medieval royal palace and you don't really get much more important than that.
"It was used as a meeting place for the kings of England to meet other royalty and as such it is of national and even international importance."
Last month, the site was added to the English Heritage's Buildings at Risk Register, which highlights important sites that are in 'grave danger of irretrievable decay'.
Only fragments remain of the Grade II scheduled ancient monument and owner Mickey Bradley — with the backing of local group the Kings Clipstone Project –– is hoping that once the site is made safe, it can be opened up to visitors....
Said James Wright, of Nottinghamshire Community Archaeology: "King John's Palace is a tremendously important site. It's a medieval royal palace and you don't really get much more important than that.
"It was used as a meeting place for the kings of England to meet other royalty and as such it is of national and even international importance."
Wednesday, September 5, 2007 - 19:11
Name of source: AP
SOURCE: AP (9-5-07)
Archaeologists digging in northern Israel have discovered evidence of a 3,000-year-old beekeeping industry, including remnants of ancient honeycombs, beeswax and what they believe are the oldest intact beehives ever found.
The findings in the ruins of the city of Rehov this summer include 30 intact hives dating to around 900 B.C., archaeologist Amihai Mazar of Jerusalem's Hebrew University told The Associated Press.
He said it offers unique evidence that an advanced honey industry existed in the Holy Land at the time of the Bible.
The findings in the ruins of the city of Rehov this summer include 30 intact hives dating to around 900 B.C., archaeologist Amihai Mazar of Jerusalem's Hebrew University told The Associated Press.
He said it offers unique evidence that an advanced honey industry existed in the Holy Land at the time of the Bible.
Wednesday, September 5, 2007 - 18:57
SOURCE: AP (8-1-07)
What began as a ninth-grade prank, a way to trick already-suspicious friends who had fallen for his earlier practical jokes, has earned Rich Skrenta notoriety as the first person ever to let loose a personal computer virus.
Although over the next 25 years, Skrenta started the online news business Topix, helped launch a collaborative Web directory now owned by Time Warner Inc.'s Netscape and wrote countless other computer programs, he is still remembered most for unleashing the "Elk Cloner" virus on the world.
"It was some dumb little practical joke," Skrenta, now 40, said in an interview. "I guess if you had to pick between being known for this and not being known for anything, I'd rather be known for this. But it's an odd placeholder for (all that) I've done."
Although over the next 25 years, Skrenta started the online news business Topix, helped launch a collaborative Web directory now owned by Time Warner Inc.'s Netscape and wrote countless other computer programs, he is still remembered most for unleashing the "Elk Cloner" virus on the world.
"It was some dumb little practical joke," Skrenta, now 40, said in an interview. "I guess if you had to pick between being known for this and not being known for anything, I'd rather be known for this. But it's an odd placeholder for (all that) I've done."
Saturday, September 1, 2007 - 12:14
Name of source: Telegraph (UK)
SOURCE: Telegraph (UK) (9-5-07)
For more than 60 years the 10,000 Germans who fled their country to join the British Army and fight against the Nazi regime have remained silent.
But yesterday those veterans who have survived spoke for the first time about taking up arms against their fellow countrymen.
At the first reunion since the Second World War of those who chose to battle Adolf Hitler, 200 German and Austrian veterans met at the Imperial War Museum.
While initially only allowed to do menial tasks in the Pioneer Corps the men were soon allowed into specialised units such as the SAS and Special Operations Executive.
But yesterday those veterans who have survived spoke for the first time about taking up arms against their fellow countrymen.
At the first reunion since the Second World War of those who chose to battle Adolf Hitler, 200 German and Austrian veterans met at the Imperial War Museum.
While initially only allowed to do menial tasks in the Pioneer Corps the men were soon allowed into specialised units such as the SAS and Special Operations Executive.
Wednesday, September 5, 2007 - 18:55
SOURCE: Telegraph (UK) (9-4-07)
George Orwell, the author who coined the phrase "Big Brother is watching you", was himself the subject of intense surveillance by the secret services, documents released on Tuesday disclose.
The creator of Nineteen Eighty-Four, which envisages a day when every person's movements are scrutinised by a totalitarian state, was closely monitored amid concerns that he was a prominent member of the communist movement....
Files released by the National Archives disclose that in 1942, Scotland Yard was paying close attention to Orwell, who was then working at the BBC.
The creator of Nineteen Eighty-Four, which envisages a day when every person's movements are scrutinised by a totalitarian state, was closely monitored amid concerns that he was a prominent member of the communist movement....
Files released by the National Archives disclose that in 1942, Scotland Yard was paying close attention to Orwell, who was then working at the BBC.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007 - 15:19
SOURCE: Telegraph (UK) (9-4-07)
She is one of the nation’s most revered heroines, the determined Lady with the Lamp who saved the lives of wounded British soldiers in the Crimea and pioneered modern nursing. But not everybody in Victorian Britain loved Florence Nightingale.
She was, according to a prominent figure whose nose she badly put out of joint in the Crimea, a meddlesome and arrogant publicity-seeker who found it easier to make enemies than friends.
Unpublished letters written by Sir John Hall, the chief British army medical officer in the Crimea, that have just come to light paint a strikingly ungenerous picture of the woman still eulogised almost a century after her death.
“Miss Nightingale shows an ambitious struggling after power inimical to the true interests of the medical department,” Sir John complained to his superior in London.
She was, according to a prominent figure whose nose she badly put out of joint in the Crimea, a meddlesome and arrogant publicity-seeker who found it easier to make enemies than friends.
Unpublished letters written by Sir John Hall, the chief British army medical officer in the Crimea, that have just come to light paint a strikingly ungenerous picture of the woman still eulogised almost a century after her death.
“Miss Nightingale shows an ambitious struggling after power inimical to the true interests of the medical department,” Sir John complained to his superior in London.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007 - 15:17
Name of source: Washington Times
SOURCE: Washington Times (9-5-07)
An ancient inscription memorializing Jer- usalem's salvation from Assyrian invaders 2,700 years ago is to be returned to the Holy Land from Turkey for study and public display.
Israel has been trying for about 20 years to recover the artifact, which marks one of the most important turning points in Hebrew history.
Assyrian forces under King Sennacherib controlled most of the Middle East in the early eighth century B.C. and were about to march on Jerusalem, where a defiant King Hezekiah ruled.
Israel has been trying for about 20 years to recover the artifact, which marks one of the most important turning points in Hebrew history.
Assyrian forces under King Sennacherib controlled most of the Middle East in the early eighth century B.C. and were about to march on Jerusalem, where a defiant King Hezekiah ruled.
Wednesday, September 5, 2007 - 18:52
Name of source: NBC Nightly News (video) scroll down
SOURCE: NBC Nightly News (video) scroll down (9-4-07)
It is a searing image: a black schoolgirl facing an angry white mob. Where is she now? NBC's Don Teague reports
Wednesday, September 5, 2007 - 02:05
Name of source: http://english.hani.co.kr
SOURCE: http://english.hani.co.kr (9-3-07)
South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun on Monday urged Japan to have a correct recognition of the shared history in order to foster future-oriented bilateral relations.
During a meeting with visiting Japanese politicians, including former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae, Roh said lawmakers of both countries are required to make greater efforts to resolve bilateral conflict over history issues.
"South Korea-Japan relations are very crucial to the construction of a new cooperative order in Northeast Asia," Roh said at the meeting.
Seoul and Tokyo have long been at odds over numerous historical issues, with critics saying Japanese history textbooks in particular whitewash Japan's atrocities against its Asian neighbors before and during World War II.
During a meeting with visiting Japanese politicians, including former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae, Roh said lawmakers of both countries are required to make greater efforts to resolve bilateral conflict over history issues.
"South Korea-Japan relations are very crucial to the construction of a new cooperative order in Northeast Asia," Roh said at the meeting.
Seoul and Tokyo have long been at odds over numerous historical issues, with critics saying Japanese history textbooks in particular whitewash Japan's atrocities against its Asian neighbors before and during World War II.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007 - 19:45
Name of source: BBC
SOURCE: BBC (8-31-07)
Bristol City Council's record office are compiling a detailed archive of Bristol's black history, in an effort to preserve it for future generations.
The city's museums, galleries and libraries are working alongside a range of African-Caribbean organisations and individuals to try to prevent the rich history of black people in Bristol being lost forever.
This project is known as the Bristol Black Archives Partnership.
The city's museums, galleries and libraries are working alongside a range of African-Caribbean organisations and individuals to try to prevent the rich history of black people in Bristol being lost forever.
This project is known as the Bristol Black Archives Partnership.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007 - 19:31
SOURCE: BBC (8-30-07)
Archaeologists working in Syria have unearthed the remains of dozens of youths thought to have been killed in a fierce confrontation 6,000 years ago.
According to Science magazine, the celebrating victors may even have feasted on beef in the aftermath.
The findings come from northeastern Syria, near Tell Brak, one of the world's oldest known cities.
According to Science magazine, the celebrating victors may even have feasted on beef in the aftermath.
The findings come from northeastern Syria, near Tell Brak, one of the world's oldest known cities.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007 - 17:29
SOURCE: BBC (8-30-07)
A council's claim that taxpayers could be hit with a £110m bill to safeguard a 4000-year-old group of stones has been labelled "ludicrous and misleading".
Herefordshire Council said £110m was the figure it had been quoted for the cost of building a tunnel underneath the Rotherwas Ribbon.
The feature was unearthed by workmen building a relief road in Hereford.
Campaigner Bob Clay said the figure was "extraordinary" and claimed the council was trying to mislead the public.
Herefordshire Council said £110m was the figure it had been quoted for the cost of building a tunnel underneath the Rotherwas Ribbon.
The feature was unearthed by workmen building a relief road in Hereford.
Campaigner Bob Clay said the figure was "extraordinary" and claimed the council was trying to mislead the public.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007 - 17:26
SOURCE: BBC (9-2-07)
Intimate, revealing and previously unpublished, the Mitford letters present a vivid portrait of the six sisters and the age they lived in. Deborah, Dowager Duchess of Devonshire and the sole surviving Mitford, talks to John Preston about some of their more surprising revelations.
In June 1937, Deborah Mitford visited Munich where she took tea with Adolf Hitler. 'I went with my sister Unity and our mother to his flat,' she recalls. 'The atmosphere was rather awkward because neither my mother nor I could speak German. Unity and Hitler talked away while we sat there not being able to understand what they were saying.
'But one or two odd things happened at that tea. My mother and I were quite dirty because we'd come in an open car from Austria, so we went to wash in his bathroom. Hitler's towels, I remember, had "A.H." embroidered on them. I've always thought that was so strange, so unlike what you would expect of someone like that. I remember, too, that he rang a bell several times and no one came. That was a bit odd, too.'
Yet what seems oddest of all in retrospect is how little impression the occasion made on her. In a letter to her sister, Jessica, Deborah barely mentioned it, being far more interested in describing a café violinist whom she had fallen for. 'Well, I've never been very interested in politics, you see,' she says, laughing. 'And the truth is that I didn't give it much thought. If you sat in a room with Churchill you were aware of this tremendous charisma. Kennedy had it too. But Hitler didn't - not to me anyway.'
In June 1937, Deborah Mitford visited Munich where she took tea with Adolf Hitler. 'I went with my sister Unity and our mother to his flat,' she recalls. 'The atmosphere was rather awkward because neither my mother nor I could speak German. Unity and Hitler talked away while we sat there not being able to understand what they were saying.
'But one or two odd things happened at that tea. My mother and I were quite dirty because we'd come in an open car from Austria, so we went to wash in his bathroom. Hitler's towels, I remember, had "A.H." embroidered on them. I've always thought that was so strange, so unlike what you would expect of someone like that. I remember, too, that he rang a bell several times and no one came. That was a bit odd, too.'
Yet what seems oddest of all in retrospect is how little impression the occasion made on her. In a letter to her sister, Jessica, Deborah barely mentioned it, being far more interested in describing a café violinist whom she had fallen for. 'Well, I've never been very interested in politics, you see,' she says, laughing. 'And the truth is that I didn't give it much thought. If you sat in a room with Churchill you were aware of this tremendous charisma. Kennedy had it too. But Hitler didn't - not to me anyway.'
Deborah Mitford is the last of the Mitford sisters. All her five siblings have died, as has her husband, Andrew, the former Duke of Devonshire. But at 87, Deborah hums with vivacity, a slim, immaculately coiffed woman with bright blue eyes. You don't have to look hard to see why she was hailed as a famous beauty. Today she is wearing a blue shirt with a white collar. 'It's my district nurse look,' she says, an effect offset by a jewelled spider pinned to her left-hand collar which looks as if it might crawl up her throat at any moment.
She is sitting in a studio in the garden of the former vicarage she moved into when she left nearby Chatsworth 18 months ago. All around her, on steel shelves stretching from floor to ceiling, are files containing letters the Mitford sisters wrote to one another. A selection of these letters, edited by Diana Mitford's daughter-in-law Charlotte Mosley, is just about to be published. It's a book of more than 800 pages, but it represents just five per cent of the letters the sisters exchanged. They wrote to one another almost every day, and sometimes more than once, a correspondence that lasted from the 1920s until 2003, when Diana died.
Monday, September 3, 2007 - 21:47
SOURCE: BBC (9-3-07)
An archaeological dig has started in Dumfries and Galloway in an attempt to find out more about the Scot viewed as the founder of the United States Navy.
A US team is carrying out the investigation at the cottage where John Paul Jones was born in 1747.
They hope even traces of "trash" will shed more light on his early years.
A US team is carrying out the investigation at the cottage where John Paul Jones was born in 1747.
They hope even traces of "trash" will shed more light on his early years.
Monday, September 3, 2007 - 21:32
SOURCE: BBC (9-3-07)
Britain's historic buildings - some of the jewels in our architectural crown - are crumbling, not because of a lack of money, but because of a shortage of traditional skills.
Watch stonemasons at work and as you feel the tang of dust in your throat, hear the clash of metal and material and see objects painstakingly appear, it's hard not feel a certain frisson of magic.
Never mind shopkeepers, ours used to be a nation of trades people and craftsmen, but now it is easy to think those days are gone. When York Minster's spectacular Great East Window was recently found to be in a dilapidated state, there were no glass conservators in the country who could repair it.
Watch stonemasons at work and as you feel the tang of dust in your throat, hear the clash of metal and material and see objects painstakingly appear, it's hard not feel a certain frisson of magic.
Never mind shopkeepers, ours used to be a nation of trades people and craftsmen, but now it is easy to think those days are gone. When York Minster's spectacular Great East Window was recently found to be in a dilapidated state, there were no glass conservators in the country who could repair it.
Monday, September 3, 2007 - 21:28
Name of source: Chronicle of Higher Education (CHE) (Click here for embedded links.)
SOURCE: Chronicle of Higher Education (CHE) (Click here for embedded links.) (9-4-07)
A Russian court fined a University of Missouri at St. Louis graduate student about $585 on Friday for purchasing Soviet war medals as souvenirs, a far lighter punishment than the prison time that she had faced.
The student, Roxana Contreras, a Chilean studying physics at the American university, was detained for two months in the Russian city of Voronezh, south of Moscow, after buying the medals at a flea market (The Chronicle, August 21). Doing so is banned under a 1994 law that had never before been applied to a foreign tourist and that was all but unknown, until now, among students visiting Russia.
"I am so happy my story had a fairly happy ending," Ms. Contreras, 29, said in a telephone interview on Friday. "I feared a worse verdict."
The student, Roxana Contreras, a Chilean studying physics at the American university, was detained for two months in the Russian city of Voronezh, south of Moscow, after buying the medals at a flea market (The Chronicle, August 21). Doing so is banned under a 1994 law that had never before been applied to a foreign tourist and that was all but unknown, until now, among students visiting Russia.
"I am so happy my story had a fairly happy ending," Ms. Contreras, 29, said in a telephone interview on Friday. "I feared a worse verdict."
Tuesday, September 4, 2007 - 18:46
Name of source: UPI
SOURCE: UPI (9-4-07)
British-led scientists said early European
domesticated pigs -- previously believed descended from wild boars --
actually came from the Middle East.
The researchers, led by archaeologists at Durham University, said the early pigs were introduced from the Middle East by Stone Age farmers.
The scientists analyzed mitochondrial DNA from ancient and modern pig remains. The findings also suggest the migration of an expanding Middle Eastern population -- which included domesticated plants, animals and distinctive pottery styles -- actually"kickstarted" the local domestication of the European wild boar.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007 - 15:29
Name of source: http://www.lancashireeveningtelegraph.co.uk
SOURCE: http://www.lancashireeveningtelegraph.co.uk (8-27-07)
A RARE diary, giving an unique insight into life in World War One's trenches, has been transcribed by a history student for public use.
An unknown soldier is responsible for the log, which gives an unflinching account of life on the Western Front from 1917 and 1918 and is held at Blackburn's Central Library.
The 40-page diary was kept by a soldier from the Royal Field Artillery's 330 Brigade A Battery - for which four Blackburn soldiers gave their lives on the field of battle.
An unknown soldier is responsible for the log, which gives an unflinching account of life on the Western Front from 1917 and 1918 and is held at Blackburn's Central Library.
The 40-page diary was kept by a soldier from the Royal Field Artillery's 330 Brigade A Battery - for which four Blackburn soldiers gave their lives on the field of battle.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007 - 15:13
Name of source: Daily Mail (UK)
SOURCE: Daily Mail (UK) (8-31-07)
The killing of 1.5m Armenians by the Ottoman Turks during World War I remains one of the bloodiest and most contentious events of the 20th century, and has been called the first modern genocide.
In all, 25 concentration camps were set up in a systematic slaughter aimed at eradicating the Armenian people - classed as "vermin" by the Turks.
Winston Churchill described the massacres as an "administrative holocaust" and noted: "This crime was planned and executed for political reasons. The opportunity presented itself for clearing Turkish soil of a Christian race."
Chillingly, Adolf Hitler used the episode to justify the Nazi murder of six million Jews, saying in 1939: "Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?"
Yet, carried out under the cover of war, the Armenian genocide remains shrouded in mystery - not least because modern-day Turkey refuses to acknowledge the existence of its killing fields.
Now, new photographs of the horror have come to light. They come from the archives of the German Deutsche Bank, which was working in the region financing a railway network when the killing began.
In all, 25 concentration camps were set up in a systematic slaughter aimed at eradicating the Armenian people - classed as "vermin" by the Turks.
Winston Churchill described the massacres as an "administrative holocaust" and noted: "This crime was planned and executed for political reasons. The opportunity presented itself for clearing Turkish soil of a Christian race."
Chillingly, Adolf Hitler used the episode to justify the Nazi murder of six million Jews, saying in 1939: "Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?"
Yet, carried out under the cover of war, the Armenian genocide remains shrouded in mystery - not least because modern-day Turkey refuses to acknowledge the existence of its killing fields.
Now, new photographs of the horror have come to light. They come from the archives of the German Deutsche Bank, which was working in the region financing a railway network when the killing began.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007 - 13:14
Name of source: http://www.news.com.au
SOURCE: http://www.news.com.au (9-4-07)
A Beefeater at the Tower of London made history yesterday - she became the first woman in the post.
Moira Cameron, from Argyll in Scotland, beat five men to secure the coveted position as a Yeoman Warder, the first female in the role in the guards' 522-year history.
She donned the traditional blue and scarlet livery for her duties, which began with opening the Beauchamp Tower and the Chapel Royal of St Peter and Vincula.
Moira Cameron, from Argyll in Scotland, beat five men to secure the coveted position as a Yeoman Warder, the first female in the role in the guards' 522-year history.
She donned the traditional blue and scarlet livery for her duties, which began with opening the Beauchamp Tower and the Chapel Royal of St Peter and Vincula.
Monday, September 3, 2007 - 22:59
Name of source: WaPo
SOURCE: WaPo (9-3-07)
It was just two days after President Bush's reelection in 2004, and Condoleezza Rice was planning her move back home to California and to the tranquility of life at Stanford University.
But Bush had other plans. In a private meeting at Camp David on the morning of Friday, Nov. 6, the president made his pitch: Colin Powell was out as secretary of state -- though Bush hadn't told him yet -- and the president wanted Rice to take the job.
But Bush had other plans. In a private meeting at Camp David on the morning of Friday, Nov. 6, the president made his pitch: Colin Powell was out as secretary of state -- though Bush hadn't told him yet -- and the president wanted Rice to take the job.
Monday, September 3, 2007 - 22:55
SOURCE: WaPo (9-3-07)
Karl Rove told George W. Bush before the 2000 election that it was a bad idea to name Richard B. Cheney as his running mate, and Rove later raised objections to the nomination of Harriet E. Miers to the Supreme Court, according to a new book on the Bush presidency.
In "Dead Certain: The Presidency of George Bush," journalist Robert Draper writes that Rove told Bush he should not tap Cheney for the Republican ticket: "Selecting Daddy's top foreign-policy guru ran counter to message. It was worse than a safe pick -- it was needy." But Bush did not care -- he was comfortable with Cheney and "saw no harm in giving his VP unprecedented run of the place."
When Rove, President Bush's top political adviser, expressed concerns about the Miers selection, he was "shouted down" and subsequently muted his objections, Draper writes, while other advisers did not realize the outcry the nomination would cause within the president's conservative political base.
In "Dead Certain: The Presidency of George Bush," journalist Robert Draper writes that Rove told Bush he should not tap Cheney for the Republican ticket: "Selecting Daddy's top foreign-policy guru ran counter to message. It was worse than a safe pick -- it was needy." But Bush did not care -- he was comfortable with Cheney and "saw no harm in giving his VP unprecedented run of the place."
When Rove, President Bush's top political adviser, expressed concerns about the Miers selection, he was "shouted down" and subsequently muted his objections, Draper writes, while other advisers did not realize the outcry the nomination would cause within the president's conservative political base.
It was John G. Roberts Jr., now the chief justice of the United States, who suggested Miers to Bush as a possible Supreme Court justice, according to the book....
Roberts rejected Draper's report when asked about it last night.
"The account is not true," said Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg, after consulting with Roberts."The chief justice did not suggest Harriet Miers to the president."
Monday, September 3, 2007 - 22:45
Name of source: NBC video (scroll)
SOURCE: NBC video (scroll) (9-3-07)
In Stonewall, Miss., a former 'whites-only' swimming pool officially reopens after three decades of being buried. As NBC's Ron Mott reports, its painful past has found a new life.
Monday, September 3, 2007 - 22:36
Name of source: Earth Times
SOURCE: Earth Times (8-23-07)
New Zealand's Hell pizza chain, which is known for its wacky advertising campaigns, has scrapped billboards showing Hitler saluting with a slice of pizza after complaints from the Jewish community, a newspaper reported on Friday. The Nazi leader was shown giving a Heil Hitler salute with pizza in his hand and the quote: "It is possible to make people believe that heaven is hell."
Kirk MacGibbon, of the Cinderella advertising agency that devised the billboard, told The Press newspaper, "We hoped we could get away with people seeing Hitler with a piece of pizza would be funny."
Kirk MacGibbon, of the Cinderella advertising agency that devised the billboard, told The Press newspaper, "We hoped we could get away with people seeing Hitler with a piece of pizza would be funny."
Monday, September 3, 2007 - 21:58
SOURCE: Earth Times (8-31-07)
German television has uncovered a Nazi shrine in a bunker in Adolf Hitler's Obersalzberg mountain lair near Berchtesgaden in the state of Bavaria. Prosecutors said Friday they were laying charges against the owner of the World War II bunker for allowing Nazi slogans and swastikas to be scrawled on its walls.
According to a television report by national public broadcaster ARD, the bunker is advertised in the hotel located above and visitors pay an entry charge.
According to a television report by national public broadcaster ARD, the bunker is advertised in the hotel located above and visitors pay an entry charge.
Monday, September 3, 2007 - 21:56
Name of source: The Hindu
SOURCE: The Hindu (9-1-07)
British military scientists sent hundreds of Indian soldiers into gas chambers and exposed them to mustard gas, documents uncovered by this reporter have revealed.
The Indian troops were serving under the command of the British military at a time when India was under colonial rule.
The British military did not check up on the Indian soldiers after the experiments to see if they developed any illnesses. It is now recognised that mustard gas can cause cancer and other diseases....
The trials have been thrown into the spotlight by newly discovered documents at the National Archives in London which have shown for the first time the full scale of the experiments.
The Indian troops were serving under the command of the British military at a time when India was under colonial rule.
The British military did not check up on the Indian soldiers after the experiments to see if they developed any illnesses. It is now recognised that mustard gas can cause cancer and other diseases....
The trials have been thrown into the spotlight by newly discovered documents at the National Archives in London which have shown for the first time the full scale of the experiments.
Monday, September 3, 2007 - 21:52
Name of source: Vancouver Sun (BC)
SOURCE: Vancouver Sun (BC) (9-3-07)
France is a pretty country full of pretty little villages, but Oradour sur Glane is not pretty.
On June 10, 1944, possibly as a reprisal for the death of a German officer, Nazi troops encircled the village, then, quickly working toward the centre, rounded up every person they found and killed them. Next they burned the village. They also burned the bodies.
Not long after, France was liberated and the new French leader, General Charles De Gaulle, visited the site. He declared Oradour sur Glane should be left as it was.
At the entrance to the ruined French village of Oradour sur Glane, a sign implores visitors to be silent in memory of the 642 villagers killed by Germans during the Second World War.
On June 10, 1944, possibly as a reprisal for the death of a German officer, Nazi troops encircled the village, then, quickly working toward the centre, rounded up every person they found and killed them. Next they burned the village. They also burned the bodies.
Not long after, France was liberated and the new French leader, General Charles De Gaulle, visited the site. He declared Oradour sur Glane should be left as it was.
At the entrance to the ruined French village of Oradour sur Glane, a sign implores visitors to be silent in memory of the 642 villagers killed by Germans during the Second World War.
Monday, September 3, 2007 - 21:48
Name of source: Peter Steinfels in the NYT
SOURCE: Peter Steinfels in the NYT (9-1-07)
One hundred years ago next Saturday Pope Pius X issued a papal encyclical, “Pascendi Dominici Gregis,” that would have a huge impact on the Roman Catholic Church and consequently on its role in the blood-drenched history of the first half of the 20th century.
Today, not many Roman Catholics, let alone others, could identify or describe “Pascendi.” Yet compared with the widely known encyclicals addressing social and moral problems, it has probably had a deeper impact on their religious lives.
“Pascendi” was a sweeping and vehement condemnation of a loose movement of Catholic biblical scholars, philosophers and theologians who were labeled “modernists.”
Today, not many Roman Catholics, let alone others, could identify or describe “Pascendi.” Yet compared with the widely known encyclicals addressing social and moral problems, it has probably had a deeper impact on their religious lives.
“Pascendi” was a sweeping and vehement condemnation of a loose movement of Catholic biblical scholars, philosophers and theologians who were labeled “modernists.”
Monday, September 3, 2007 - 12:02
Name of source: 1010 Wins
SOURCE: 1010 Wins (8-30-07)
Anne King was 19 and earning $12 a week in a Kresge's dime store when she was recruited in 1942 to learn how to make airplane parts from blueprints. At Republic Aviation on Long Island, she worked both as a mechanic and riveter on P-47 Thunderbolt fighters and other aircraft.
King and five other women who performed wartime factory work (almost always for less money than men working at the same tasks) will gather at what is now Republic Airport in Farmingdale on Friday and take rides in a B-17 Flying Fortress and a B-24 Liberator"as a tribute to their war efforts,'' said Hope Kaplan, a spokeswoman for the American Airpower Museum on the grounds of the airport.
King, who lives in Patchogue and turns 85 on Saturday, said she was"not the least bit nervous'' about her first flight in a vintage bomber.
King and five other women who performed wartime factory work (almost always for less money than men working at the same tasks) will gather at what is now Republic Airport in Farmingdale on Friday and take rides in a B-17 Flying Fortress and a B-24 Liberator"as a tribute to their war efforts,'' said Hope Kaplan, a spokeswoman for the American Airpower Museum on the grounds of the airport.
King, who lives in Patchogue and turns 85 on Saturday, said she was"not the least bit nervous'' about her first flight in a vintage bomber.
Saturday, September 1, 2007 - 10:12
