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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 (10-7-07)
THE Supreme Court has only once ruled on whether reporters may be forced to testify about their confidential sources, in a 1972 decision called Branzburg v. Hayes. Thanks to a cryptic concurring opinion from Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr., to this day no one is quite sure what the decision meant.
On the one hand, the majority in the 5-to-4 decision said journalists had no First Amendment protection against grand jury subpoenas. On the other, Justice Powell, who joined the majority, wrote a separate opinion calling on judges to strike the “proper balance between freedom of the press and the obligation of all citizens to give relevant testimony” — whatever that means....
“We should not establish a constitutional privilege,” Justice Powell said, referring to one based on the First Amendment. Such a privilege would create problems “difficult to foresee,” among them “who are ‘newsmen’ — how to define?”
But, he added, “there is a privilege analogous to an evidentiary one” — like those protecting communications with lawyers, doctors, priests and spouses — “which courts should recognize and apply” case by case “to protect confidential information.”
On the one hand, the majority in the 5-to-4 decision said journalists had no First Amendment protection against grand jury subpoenas. On the other, Justice Powell, who joined the majority, wrote a separate opinion calling on judges to strike the “proper balance between freedom of the press and the obligation of all citizens to give relevant testimony” — whatever that means....
“We should not establish a constitutional privilege,” Justice Powell said, referring to one based on the First Amendment. Such a privilege would create problems “difficult to foresee,” among them “who are ‘newsmen’ — how to define?”
But, he added, “there is a privilege analogous to an evidentiary one” — like those protecting communications with lawyers, doctors, priests and spouses — “which courts should recognize and apply” case by case “to protect confidential information.”
Sunday, October 7, 2007 - 16:02
Comments
SOURCE: NYT (10-7-07)
In 1966, White House aides found themselves precariously perched between apprehension of looming disaster in Vietnam and the need for candor with their boss, President Lyndon Baines Johnson.
Disaster seemed a safer choice.
Defense Secretary Robert McNamara was a logical candidate to speak the truth to his boss. Mr. McNamara told the historian and Kennedy confidant Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. and the economist John Kenneth Galbraith in January over dinner and drinks that he regarded a military solution as impossible, according to Mr. Schlesinger’s diaries, which have recently been published as “Journals: 1952-2000.” A sensible objective, Mr. McNamara told them, would be “withdrawal with honor.” Seven months later, the defense secretary was still publicly urging a widening of the war....
“The rule of thumb is never tell the president what he doesn’t want to hear,” said Richard Reeves, who has written histories of the Kennedy, Nixon and Reagan administrations. “As David Halberstam made clear, there was one similarity between Mao Zedong and Douglas MacArthur: Neither of their staffs ever told them a thing they didn’t want to hear.”
Perhaps, but some of the best American presidents encouraged robust debate, heated rivalries even, in hopes of threading a path to a tough decision. Lincoln was comfortable with discord.
Disaster seemed a safer choice.
Defense Secretary Robert McNamara was a logical candidate to speak the truth to his boss. Mr. McNamara told the historian and Kennedy confidant Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. and the economist John Kenneth Galbraith in January over dinner and drinks that he regarded a military solution as impossible, according to Mr. Schlesinger’s diaries, which have recently been published as “Journals: 1952-2000.” A sensible objective, Mr. McNamara told them, would be “withdrawal with honor.” Seven months later, the defense secretary was still publicly urging a widening of the war....
“The rule of thumb is never tell the president what he doesn’t want to hear,” said Richard Reeves, who has written histories of the Kennedy, Nixon and Reagan administrations. “As David Halberstam made clear, there was one similarity between Mao Zedong and Douglas MacArthur: Neither of their staffs ever told them a thing they didn’t want to hear.”
Perhaps, but some of the best American presidents encouraged robust debate, heated rivalries even, in hopes of threading a path to a tough decision. Lincoln was comfortable with discord.
Sunday, October 7, 2007 - 16:01
SOURCE: NYT (10-6-07)
His subjects were mostly children and teenagers at the time, terrified witnesses to mass slaughter. Some were forced to work at the bottom rung of the Nazi killing machine — as diggers of mass graves, cooks who fed Nazi soldiers and seamstresses who mended clothes stripped from the Jews before execution.
They live today in rural poverty, many without running water or heat, nearing the end of their lives. So Patrick Desbois has been quietly seeking them out, roaming the back roads and forgotten fields of Ukraine, hearing their stories and searching for the unmarked common graves. He knows that they are an unparalleled source to document the murder of the 1.5 million Jews of Ukraine, shot dead and buried throughout the country.
He is neither a historian nor an archaeologist, but a French Roman Catholic priest. And his most powerful tools are his matter-of-fact style — and his clerical collar.
The Nazis killed nearly 1.5 million Jews in Ukraine after their invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941. But with few exceptions, most notably the 1941 slaughter of nearly 34,000 Jews in the Babi Yar ravine in Kiev, much of that history has gone untold.
They live today in rural poverty, many without running water or heat, nearing the end of their lives. So Patrick Desbois has been quietly seeking them out, roaming the back roads and forgotten fields of Ukraine, hearing their stories and searching for the unmarked common graves. He knows that they are an unparalleled source to document the murder of the 1.5 million Jews of Ukraine, shot dead and buried throughout the country.
He is neither a historian nor an archaeologist, but a French Roman Catholic priest. And his most powerful tools are his matter-of-fact style — and his clerical collar.
The Nazis killed nearly 1.5 million Jews in Ukraine after their invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941. But with few exceptions, most notably the 1941 slaughter of nearly 34,000 Jews in the Babi Yar ravine in Kiev, much of that history has gone untold.
Sunday, October 7, 2007 - 13:10
SOURCE: NYT (10-5-07)
A Chilean judge on Thursday ordered the arrests of the widow and five children of Gen. Augusto Pinochet and 17 of his closest military and civilian collaborators on charges of misappropriating public funds.
Although charges relating to tax fraud had been brought against his wife and son and two other associates earlier, it was the first time that such a large group of his inner circle had faced such charges.
In a 60-page ruling, Judge Carlos Cerda said the 23 people benefited from at least $20 million withdrawn from discretionary funds allotted to the presidency, the office of the commander in chief, and the Casa Militar, a body created in 1981 that consisted of the dictator’s closest advisers. Judge Cerda stated that the funds were transferred to private accounts abroad, often under imprecise or false names.
Although charges relating to tax fraud had been brought against his wife and son and two other associates earlier, it was the first time that such a large group of his inner circle had faced such charges.
In a 60-page ruling, Judge Carlos Cerda said the 23 people benefited from at least $20 million withdrawn from discretionary funds allotted to the presidency, the office of the commander in chief, and the Casa Militar, a body created in 1981 that consisted of the dictator’s closest advisers. Judge Cerda stated that the funds were transferred to private accounts abroad, often under imprecise or false names.
Saturday, October 6, 2007 - 00:31
SOURCE: NYT (10-5-07)
Karl Benz, whose three-wheel gas-powered contraption was the forerunner of the modern automobile, just can’t get a break.
When Daimler-Benz and the Chrysler Corporation were negotiating their merger in May 1998, Daimler offered to drop the Benz hyphenate if Chrysler agreed to take a back seat in the name DaimlerChrysler.
Nine years later, with their corporate divorce papers safely filed, DaimlerChrysler lopped off the name of its American ex at a shareholders’ meeting in Berlin on Thursday. The only remaining issue was whether to bring back the Benz, and Benz boosters were again disappointed.
When Daimler-Benz and the Chrysler Corporation were negotiating their merger in May 1998, Daimler offered to drop the Benz hyphenate if Chrysler agreed to take a back seat in the name DaimlerChrysler.
Nine years later, with their corporate divorce papers safely filed, DaimlerChrysler lopped off the name of its American ex at a shareholders’ meeting in Berlin on Thursday. The only remaining issue was whether to bring back the Benz, and Benz boosters were again disappointed.
Friday, October 5, 2007 - 21:25
SOURCE: NYT (10-5-07)
SHABAK VALLEY, Afghanistan: In this isolated Taliban stronghold in eastern Afghanistan, American paratroopers are fielding what they consider a crucial new weapon in counterinsurgency operations here: a soft-spoken civilian anthropologist named Tracy.
Tracy, who asked that her surname not be used for security reasons, is a member of the first Human Terrain Team, an experimental Pentagon program that assigns anthropologists and other social scientists to American combat units in Afghanistan and Iraq. Her team's ability to understand subtle points of tribal relations — in one case spotting a land dispute that allowed the Taliban to bully parts of a major tribe — has won the praise of officers who say they are seeing concrete results.
Colonel Martin Schweitzer, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division unit working with the anthropologists here, said that the unit's combat operations had been reduced by 60 percent since the scientists arrived in February, and that the soldiers were now able to focus more on improving security, health care and education for the population.
Tracy, who asked that her surname not be used for security reasons, is a member of the first Human Terrain Team, an experimental Pentagon program that assigns anthropologists and other social scientists to American combat units in Afghanistan and Iraq. Her team's ability to understand subtle points of tribal relations — in one case spotting a land dispute that allowed the Taliban to bully parts of a major tribe — has won the praise of officers who say they are seeing concrete results.
Colonel Martin Schweitzer, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division unit working with the anthropologists here, said that the unit's combat operations had been reduced by 60 percent since the scientists arrived in February, and that the soldiers were now able to focus more on improving security, health care and education for the population.
Friday, October 5, 2007 - 18:55
SOURCE: NYT (10-3-07)
A federal appeals court yesterday extended a long-running dispute over unpaid life insurance claims brought by victims of the Holocaust and their families, potentially reopening a case that many thought had been resolved.
Lawyers for Assicurazioni Generali, an Italian insurance company at the center of the dispute, interpreted the court’s decision as limited. But the lawyer who brought the appeal said it cleared the way for renewed arguments about many issues regarding insurance claims and Holocaust victims.
Lawyers for Assicurazioni Generali, an Italian insurance company at the center of the dispute, interpreted the court’s decision as limited. But the lawyer who brought the appeal said it cleared the way for renewed arguments about many issues regarding insurance claims and Holocaust victims.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007 - 23:37
SOURCE: NYT (10-3-07)
NANTUCKET — Since 1850, the Sankaty Head Lighthouse has guided boaters and pilots home to the east shore of this island. This week, the lighthouse is being steered to a safe harbor of its own.
Much of the cliff where the working lighthouse sits has been eaten away by storms, threatening to send it plummeting into the Atlantic Ocean.
The only original lighthouse left on Nantucket — two others were destroyed and rebuilt — the Sankaty tower with the red band painted around it is viewed by many as a symbol of the island. In keeping with its listing on the National Register of Historic Places, its supporters say, it needed to be preserved, and moving it 405 feet northwest to another site was the only way.
Much of the cliff where the working lighthouse sits has been eaten away by storms, threatening to send it plummeting into the Atlantic Ocean.
The only original lighthouse left on Nantucket — two others were destroyed and rebuilt — the Sankaty tower with the red band painted around it is viewed by many as a symbol of the island. In keeping with its listing on the National Register of Historic Places, its supporters say, it needed to be preserved, and moving it 405 feet northwest to another site was the only way.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007 - 23:35
SOURCE: NYT (10-2-07)
Sixteen years after the remains of more than 400 enslaved and free Africans were unearthed in Lower Manhattan, a new monument will open to the public on Friday to honor a place once called the Negroes Burial Ground.
The memorial, the African Burial Ground National Monument, designates the burial site of the remains, which were discovered in 1991 by workers excavating the foundation for the Ted Weiss Federal Building at 290 Broadway.
Commissioned by the federal government in 2005 at a cost of $5 million, the monument stands on a fraction of the 6.6 acres of burial ground where, according to historians and archaeologists, 15,000 to 20,000 people of African descent were laid to rest in the 17th and 18th centuries. It is the oldest and largest such burial site in North America, according to the National Park Service. Last year, President Bush proclaimed the site a national monument.
The monument will open to the public with a ceremony at 1 p.m. Friday, followed at 8 p.m. with a candelight procession from Battery Park to the monument at Duane and Elk Streets.
The memorial, the African Burial Ground National Monument, designates the burial site of the remains, which were discovered in 1991 by workers excavating the foundation for the Ted Weiss Federal Building at 290 Broadway.
Commissioned by the federal government in 2005 at a cost of $5 million, the monument stands on a fraction of the 6.6 acres of burial ground where, according to historians and archaeologists, 15,000 to 20,000 people of African descent were laid to rest in the 17th and 18th centuries. It is the oldest and largest such burial site in North America, according to the National Park Service. Last year, President Bush proclaimed the site a national monument.
The monument will open to the public with a ceremony at 1 p.m. Friday, followed at 8 p.m. with a candelight procession from Battery Park to the monument at Duane and Elk Streets.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007 - 00:48
Name of source: Nathaniel Deutsch, professor of religion at Swarthmore College, in an op ed in the NYT
SOURCE: Nathaniel Deutsch, professor of religion at Swarthmore College, in an op ed in the NYT (10-6-07)
THE United States didn’t set out to eradicate the Mandeans, one of the oldest, smallest and least understood of the many minorities in Iraq. This extinction in the making has simply been another unfortunate and entirely unintended consequence of our invasion of Iraq — though that will be of little comfort to the Mandeans, whose 2,000-year-old culture is in grave danger of disappearing from the face of the earth.
The Mandeans are the only surviving Gnostics from antiquity, cousins of the people who produced the Nag Hammadi writings like the Gospel of Thomas, a work that sheds invaluable light on the many ways in which Jesus was perceived in the early Christian period. The Mandeans have their own language (Mandaic, a form of Aramaic close to the dialect of the Babylonian Talmud), an impressive body of literature, and a treasury of cultural and religious traditions amassed over two millennia of living in the southern marshes of present-day Iraq and Iran.
Practitioners of a religion at least as old as Christianity, the Mandeans have witnessed the rise of Islam; the Mongol invasion; the arrival of Europeans, who mistakenly identified them as “Christians of St. John,” because of their veneration of John the Baptist; and, most recently, the oppressive regime of Saddam Hussein, who drained the marshes after the first gulf war, an ecological catastrophe equivalent to destroying the Everglades. They have withstood everything — until now.
The Mandeans are the only surviving Gnostics from antiquity, cousins of the people who produced the Nag Hammadi writings like the Gospel of Thomas, a work that sheds invaluable light on the many ways in which Jesus was perceived in the early Christian period. The Mandeans have their own language (Mandaic, a form of Aramaic close to the dialect of the Babylonian Talmud), an impressive body of literature, and a treasury of cultural and religious traditions amassed over two millennia of living in the southern marshes of present-day Iraq and Iran.
Practitioners of a religion at least as old as Christianity, the Mandeans have witnessed the rise of Islam; the Mongol invasion; the arrival of Europeans, who mistakenly identified them as “Christians of St. John,” because of their veneration of John the Baptist; and, most recently, the oppressive regime of Saddam Hussein, who drained the marshes after the first gulf war, an ecological catastrophe equivalent to destroying the Everglades. They have withstood everything — until now.
Saturday, October 6, 2007 - 15:03
Name of source: WaPo
SOURCE: WaPo (10-6-07)
For six decades, they held their silence.
The group of World War II veterans kept a military code and the decorum of their generation, telling virtually no one of their top-secret work interrogating Nazi prisoners of war at Fort Hunt.
When about two dozen veterans got together yesterday for the first time since the 1940s, many of the proud men lamented the chasm between the way they conducted interrogations during the war and the harsh measures used today in questioning terrorism suspects.
Back then, they and their commanders wrestled with the morality of bugging prisoners' cells with listening devices. They felt bad about censoring letters. They took prisoners out for steak dinners to soften them up. They played games with them.
"We got more information out of a German general with a game of chess or Ping-Pong than they do today, with their torture," said Henry Kolm, 90, an MIT physicist who had been assigned to play chess in Germany with Hitler's deputy, Rudolf Hess.
The group of World War II veterans kept a military code and the decorum of their generation, telling virtually no one of their top-secret work interrogating Nazi prisoners of war at Fort Hunt.
When about two dozen veterans got together yesterday for the first time since the 1940s, many of the proud men lamented the chasm between the way they conducted interrogations during the war and the harsh measures used today in questioning terrorism suspects.
Back then, they and their commanders wrestled with the morality of bugging prisoners' cells with listening devices. They felt bad about censoring letters. They took prisoners out for steak dinners to soften them up. They played games with them.
"We got more information out of a German general with a game of chess or Ping-Pong than they do today, with their torture," said Henry Kolm, 90, an MIT physicist who had been assigned to play chess in Germany with Hitler's deputy, Rudolf Hess.
Saturday, October 6, 2007 - 14:40
SOURCE: WaPo (10-3-07)
Abandoned near the Potomac River headwaters in western Maryland are several old coal-mining villages historians believe are at risk of being forgotten forever.
***
VINDEX, Md. You could say that this old town is just a memory now, but even that might be giving it too much credit.
Actual memories of the place, from back when it had a school, two churches and a row of flimsy houses built by the coal company, are scarce now. The people who saw it that way are almost all gone.
nd here, even in the center of Vindex, there are almost no traces of it left. The tallest standing structure is a short flight of concrete steps, which once led up to the company store. They now sit, odd and alone, in the middle of an Appalachian forest.
"This is it," said Dan Whetzel, a local historian, whacking through underbrush to reach them. "This is the heart of town."
Vindex is a Potomac River ghost town, one of about 11 coal-mining villages that sit abandoned near the river's headwaters in Western Maryland and West Virginia. They make for scenes that don't seem to belong within a few hours' drive of Washington: foundation holes, broken-backed bridges, mossy stairs that look like part of a jungle ruin.
***
VINDEX, Md. You could say that this old town is just a memory now, but even that might be giving it too much credit.
Actual memories of the place, from back when it had a school, two churches and a row of flimsy houses built by the coal company, are scarce now. The people who saw it that way are almost all gone.
nd here, even in the center of Vindex, there are almost no traces of it left. The tallest standing structure is a short flight of concrete steps, which once led up to the company store. They now sit, odd and alone, in the middle of an Appalachian forest.
"This is it," said Dan Whetzel, a local historian, whacking through underbrush to reach them. "This is the heart of town."
Vindex is a Potomac River ghost town, one of about 11 coal-mining villages that sit abandoned near the river's headwaters in Western Maryland and West Virginia. They make for scenes that don't seem to belong within a few hours' drive of Washington: foundation holes, broken-backed bridges, mossy stairs that look like part of a jungle ruin.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007 - 22:07
Name of source: NBC News
SOURCE: NBC News (10-5-07)
The country has a new landmark: an African burial ground discovered in New York. NBC’s Ron Allen reports.
Saturday, October 6, 2007 - 00:30
Name of source: AHA Blog
SOURCE: AHA Blog (10-3-07)
Apparently this CNN contributor’s grasp of past presidents is limited to ones on “coins, stamps, or monuments.” In his article, “Seven Presidents Nobody Remembers,” he presents a suspect list of “forgotten” presidents. Maybe we’ll let him slide with Chester Arthur and Millard Fillmore, but Herbert Hoover? Really?
Friday, October 5, 2007 - 21:46
Name of source: Newsweek -- cover story
SOURCE: Newsweek -- cover story (10-8-07)
Mitt Romney, it all started in a two-story, wood-framed house on a busy street in Pontiac, Mich. Painted beige, encircled by an asphalt lot that would hardly hold a dozen cars, the building manages to look both decrepit and picturesque, like a million other urban churches across the country. Today it houses the Unity Church of Practical Christianity, but until Romney was 10, it was the Mormon church he attended with his family—at least twice a day on Sunday, and one night a week for youth group.
Friday, October 5, 2007 - 20:55
Name of source: Atlantic Monthly
SOURCE: Atlantic Monthly (11-1-07)
With this issue, ... [the] magazine turns 150—declining, with respect, the “battered,” still aspiring to the magical. What, beyond the patient commitment of its owners, can account for this longevity? Consider The Atlantic’s passage: through a permanent revolution in technology, from the telephone, to the practical fountain pen, to the radio, to the note pad, to the television, to the Internet; through financial crises, beginning in 1857 with what The Atlantic called a national “flurry” over credit (or liquidity, to use the present flurry’s term); through national arguments over slavery, suffrage, evolution, immigration, prohibition, anticommunism, civil rights, feminism, gay rights, evolution and immigration (again); through the international contests of ideology that defined the last century and into the new contest that so far is shaping this one. How has The Atlantic endured? More to the point, why?
Friday, October 5, 2007 - 20:23
Name of source: AP
SOURCE: AP (10-3-07)
In an unlikely marriage of desire to secede from the United States, two advocacy groups from opposite political traditions — New England and the South — are sitting down to talk.
Tired of foreign wars and what they consider right-wing courts, the Middlebury Institute wants liberal states such as Vermont to be able to secede peacefully.
That sounds just fine to the League of the South, a conservative group that refuses to give up on Southern independence.
"We believe that an independent South, or Hawaii, Alaska, or Vermont, would be better able to serve the interest of everybody, regardless of race or ethnicity,'' said Michael Hill of Killen, Alabama, president of the League of the South.
Tired of foreign wars and what they consider right-wing courts, the Middlebury Institute wants liberal states such as Vermont to be able to secede peacefully.
That sounds just fine to the League of the South, a conservative group that refuses to give up on Southern independence.
"We believe that an independent South, or Hawaii, Alaska, or Vermont, would be better able to serve the interest of everybody, regardless of race or ethnicity,'' said Michael Hill of Killen, Alabama, president of the League of the South.
Friday, October 5, 2007 - 19:40
Name of source: Lawrence Journal World & News (KS)
SOURCE: Lawrence Journal World & News (KS) (10-5-07)
Keep the day. Dump the Columbus.
That’s long been the rallying cry at Haskell Indian Nations University each year as Columbus Day — which is Monday — approaches.
But now, Haskell students want city commissioners to also shine a spotlight on the subject. Members of Haskell’s American Indian Studies Club have asked city commissioners to proclaim Monday as Indigenous Peoples Day, instead of celebrating it as Columbus Day.
“It (the holiday) is in essence celebrating our genocide instead of celebrating our survival,” said Willow Bonga, a Haskell student and club member. “It was a time when it decimated our populations and brought the natives to the ground. It only was by our pure strength that we were able to rise up and still be in existence today.”
That’s long been the rallying cry at Haskell Indian Nations University each year as Columbus Day — which is Monday — approaches.
But now, Haskell students want city commissioners to also shine a spotlight on the subject. Members of Haskell’s American Indian Studies Club have asked city commissioners to proclaim Monday as Indigenous Peoples Day, instead of celebrating it as Columbus Day.
“It (the holiday) is in essence celebrating our genocide instead of celebrating our survival,” said Willow Bonga, a Haskell student and club member. “It was a time when it decimated our populations and brought the natives to the ground. It only was by our pure strength that we were able to rise up and still be in existence today.”
Friday, October 5, 2007 - 19:00
Name of source: http://www.praguemonitor.com
SOURCE: http://www.praguemonitor.com (10-4-07)
Jan Kubis and Jozef Gabcik, the wartime Czechoslovak heroes who murdered Nazi Reichsprotector Reinhard Heydrich, are buried in anonymous pits at Prague's Dablice cemetery, a year-long research has confirmed, the daily Mlada fronta Dnes (MfD) writes Wednesday.
Paradoxically, the two paratroopers, along with their colleagues within the anti-Nazi resistance, who all finally committed suicide in a cache before the Gestapo could catch them alive, are buried in Dablice along with Karel Curda, a traitor who reported their cache to the Nazis, the daily writes.
High-ranking German and Czech pro-Nazi officials who were executed as war criminals after the war are also buried in Dablice, as well as victims of the Czechoslovak communist coup of 1948, the paper says.
Paradoxically, the two paratroopers, along with their colleagues within the anti-Nazi resistance, who all finally committed suicide in a cache before the Gestapo could catch them alive, are buried in Dablice along with Karel Curda, a traitor who reported their cache to the Nazis, the daily writes.
High-ranking German and Czech pro-Nazi officials who were executed as war criminals after the war are also buried in Dablice, as well as victims of the Czechoslovak communist coup of 1948, the paper says.
Friday, October 5, 2007 - 18:58
Name of source: Boston Globe
SOURCE: Boston Globe (10-4-07)
Is Plymouth really America's hometown? There are some in Jamestown, Va., who think their town is the true birthplace of America, in large part because it was founded first. "Get out from under the rock" was one motto of Jamestown's recent 400th anniversary celebration.
Plymouth backers acknowledge that Jamestown was indeed founded 13 years earlier, but say the colony begun by the Pilgrims in 1620 proved more important to the founding of the American nation.
To settle the argument, a mock trial - conceived as half educational and half fun - was held last weekend at Marshfield's Winslow House, with experts on both sides addressing the question.
The symposium ended in an official draw after members of the largely local "jury" decided not to vote on a verdict.
Plymouth backers acknowledge that Jamestown was indeed founded 13 years earlier, but say the colony begun by the Pilgrims in 1620 proved more important to the founding of the American nation.
To settle the argument, a mock trial - conceived as half educational and half fun - was held last weekend at Marshfield's Winslow House, with experts on both sides addressing the question.
The symposium ended in an official draw after members of the largely local "jury" decided not to vote on a verdict.
Friday, October 5, 2007 - 18:52
Name of source: BBC
SOURCE: BBC (10-4-07)
After seven hot summers of digging, an Italian archaeological team believe they have discovered one of the most important sites of the ancient world.
Fanum Voltumnae, a shrine, marketplace and Etruscan political centre, was situated in the upper part of the Tiber river valley....
Fanum was already famous in antiquity as a religious shrine and a meeting place where the 12 members of the Etruscan League, a confederation of central Italian cities, used to gather every spring to elect their leader.
Fanum Voltumnae, a shrine, marketplace and Etruscan political centre, was situated in the upper part of the Tiber river valley....
Fanum was already famous in antiquity as a religious shrine and a meeting place where the 12 members of the Etruscan League, a confederation of central Italian cities, used to gather every spring to elect their leader.
Friday, October 5, 2007 - 18:49
SOURCE: BBC (10-2-07)
Controversial plans for a new Bodleian Library in Oxford are now on hold because critics say the new scheme will spoil the city's world-famous skyline.
Fourteen councillors have successfully petitioned for the plans to be debated at a meeting next month.
The council's planning team originally voted in favour of the development, which will be in the Osney Mead area.
Fourteen councillors have successfully petitioned for the plans to be debated at a meeting next month.
The council's planning team originally voted in favour of the development, which will be in the Osney Mead area.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007 - 22:24
SOURCE: BBC (10-2-07)
Falklands veterans, relatives of the fallen and VIPs were at the unveiling of a Welsh national monument.
The ceremony in Cardiff's civic centre marked 25 years since 255 British servicemen died retaking the islands.
The monument was created from five tonnes of Mount Harriet granite rock, located by veteran Andy "Curly" Jones, from Libanus, near Brecon, Powys.
The ceremony in Cardiff's civic centre marked 25 years since 255 British servicemen died retaking the islands.
The monument was created from five tonnes of Mount Harriet granite rock, located by veteran Andy "Curly" Jones, from Libanus, near Brecon, Powys.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007 - 12:02
SOURCE: BBC (10-2-07)
Historic monuments agency Cadw has won its bid to preserve a huge coal tip near Wrexham for its heritage value. Councillors voted not to remove the tip at the former Bersham Colliery in Rhostyllen which closed 21 years ago.
The decision followed a plea by Cadw to keep the tip because of its importance to the "appreciation of the development of north east Wales."
Wrexham's planners recommended removing the 6m tonnes of shale, which could be sold on to the building industry.
The decision followed a plea by Cadw to keep the tip because of its importance to the "appreciation of the development of north east Wales."
Wrexham's planners recommended removing the 6m tonnes of shale, which could be sold on to the building industry.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007 - 12:01
SOURCE: BBC (10-2-07)
A twinning project between Aberdeen and a German town has united wartime memories in a book.
Older writers from Aberdeen and Regensburg combined to launch the book recording their experiences of World War II.
Representatives from both countries launched Connections - Verbindungen at the Gordon Highlanders Museum in Aberdeen on Tuesday.
The memoirs are written in both German and English.
The project began after English tutor Frank Cefali from Regensburg suggested to his class of senior citizens in May 2005 that they write about their wartime memories.
Older writers from Aberdeen and Regensburg combined to launch the book recording their experiences of World War II.
Representatives from both countries launched Connections - Verbindungen at the Gordon Highlanders Museum in Aberdeen on Tuesday.
The memoirs are written in both German and English.
The project began after English tutor Frank Cefali from Regensburg suggested to his class of senior citizens in May 2005 that they write about their wartime memories.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007 - 11:59
Name of source: channelwebnetwork
SOURCE: channelwebnetwork (10-3-07)
When Congress asked about 5 million executive branch e-mails that went missing, a White House lawyer pointed the finger at an outside IT contractor.
The only problem? No such IT contractor exists, according to sources close to the investigation of a possible violation of the Federal Records and Presidential Records acts.
White House Office of Administration (OA) Deputy General Counsel Keith Roberts told the House Oversight Committee on May 29 that "an unidentified company working for the Information Assurance (IA) Directorate of the Office of the Chief Information Officer was responsible for daily audits of the e-mail system and the e-mail archiving process," according to committee chair Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif. That briefing came about after it was confirmed by the White House in April that millions of e-mails had vanished from Executive Office of the President (EOP) archives from 2003-2005.
"Mr. Roberts was not able to explain why the daily audits conducted by this contractor failed to detect the problems in the archive system when they first began," wrote Waxman in an Aug. 30 letter to White House Counsel Fred Fielding. In that letter, Waxman requested that the White House provide the committee by Sept. 10 with an internal Executive Office of the President report on the e-mail system it said it prepared following the discovery of the missing e-mails, as well as the identity of the contractor responsible for daily audits and archiving. That deadline has come and gone with no response from the Bush administration on Waxman's request.
The only problem? No such IT contractor exists, according to sources close to the investigation of a possible violation of the Federal Records and Presidential Records acts.
White House Office of Administration (OA) Deputy General Counsel Keith Roberts told the House Oversight Committee on May 29 that "an unidentified company working for the Information Assurance (IA) Directorate of the Office of the Chief Information Officer was responsible for daily audits of the e-mail system and the e-mail archiving process," according to committee chair Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif. That briefing came about after it was confirmed by the White House in April that millions of e-mails had vanished from Executive Office of the President (EOP) archives from 2003-2005.
"Mr. Roberts was not able to explain why the daily audits conducted by this contractor failed to detect the problems in the archive system when they first began," wrote Waxman in an Aug. 30 letter to White House Counsel Fred Fielding. In that letter, Waxman requested that the White House provide the committee by Sept. 10 with an internal Executive Office of the President report on the e-mail system it said it prepared following the discovery of the missing e-mails, as well as the identity of the contractor responsible for daily audits and archiving. That deadline has come and gone with no response from the Bush administration on Waxman's request.
Friday, October 5, 2007 - 18:29
Name of source: Media Matters (Liberal media watchdog group)
SOURCE: Media Matters (Liberal media watchdog group) (10-4-07)
On October 4, nationally syndicated radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh's website prominently displayed an image of former Soviet dictator Josef Stalin with a Media Matters for America logo over the left breast pocket of his uniform. The headline above the image read: "Stalinists Have Taken Over the Left," while the caption read, "They've gone beyond ideology to totalitarianism."
Friday, October 5, 2007 - 18:12
Name of source: Breitbart
SOURCE: Breitbart (10-4-07)
A local TV station in Arizona reports that some neo-Nazis in Arizona are using a personalized license plate featuring a combination of letters and numbers that promotes their agenda: SKN and 1488. SKN stands for skin. 1488 refers to Hitler.
Thursday, October 4, 2007 - 15:19
Name of source: oregonlive.com
SOURCE: oregonlive.com (10-4-07)
Lurid stories of kidnappers seizing drunken or drugged men and whisking them through a network of underground tunnels are a cornerstone of old Portland lore. The kidnappers, as legend has it, sold the hapless men to ship captains desperate for crewmen in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The so-called Shanghai tunnels have been immortalized by travel writers, television shows and even by the Portland Oregon Visitors Association, which dangles the story as a lure to out-of-towners.
The only problem is that the stories, as beloved as they have become, seem to be more fiction than fact.
Portland-area historians have found virtually nothing in their research to back up the notion that hustlers used a tunnel network for kidnapping men. A few question whether tunnels, beyond some simple connections among basements, ever existed.
The so-called Shanghai tunnels have been immortalized by travel writers, television shows and even by the Portland Oregon Visitors Association, which dangles the story as a lure to out-of-towners.
The only problem is that the stories, as beloved as they have become, seem to be more fiction than fact.
Portland-area historians have found virtually nothing in their research to back up the notion that hustlers used a tunnel network for kidnapping men. A few question whether tunnels, beyond some simple connections among basements, ever existed.
Thursday, October 4, 2007 - 15:12
Name of source: Washington Times
SOURCE: Washington Times (10-4-07)
It's going to take more than getting fired to stop former professor Ward Churchill from teaching at the University of Colorado.
The ex-professor was back on campus Tuesday at the invitation of students to teach an unsanctioned course, "ReVisioning American History: Colonization, Genocide and Formation of the U.S. Settler State."
Always a popular figure on campus, Mr. Churchill, 52, was met with applause by the 30 or so students and well-wishers who attended the first session.
"This course is an entirely voluntary exercise for all parties involved," Mr. Churchill said. "It carries no credit, fulfills no institutional requirements, involves payment of no tuition, entails no paycheck to its instructor."
Student organizers reserved a classroom at the Eaton Humanities Building for the unofficial course. According to the syllabus, Mr. Churchill will teach every Tuesday evening through the month of October, with class topics to focus on colonialism, genocide and racism.
The ex-professor was back on campus Tuesday at the invitation of students to teach an unsanctioned course, "ReVisioning American History: Colonization, Genocide and Formation of the U.S. Settler State."
Always a popular figure on campus, Mr. Churchill, 52, was met with applause by the 30 or so students and well-wishers who attended the first session.
"This course is an entirely voluntary exercise for all parties involved," Mr. Churchill said. "It carries no credit, fulfills no institutional requirements, involves payment of no tuition, entails no paycheck to its instructor."
Student organizers reserved a classroom at the Eaton Humanities Building for the unofficial course. According to the syllabus, Mr. Churchill will teach every Tuesday evening through the month of October, with class topics to focus on colonialism, genocide and racism.
Thursday, October 4, 2007 - 15:11
Name of source: New York Sun
SOURCE: New York Sun (10-4-07)
More than 50 requests for public access to records from President Clinton's White House have been cleared for release by archivists and are in a sort of presidential limbo, awaiting review by Mr. Clinton's aides or President Bush's deputies, according to new court filings and National Archives officials.
Some or all of the records could emerge in the coming months as Senator Clinton presses her bid for the presidency.
Historians, journalists, authors, and watchdog groups have complained that the review process for records stored at presidential libraries is taking too long. The critics also contend that an executive order Mr. Bush issued in 2001 exacerbated the problem.
Last week, an unexpected figure added his voice to the chorus of those griping about the delays: Mr. Clinton.
"I want to open my presidential records more rapidly than the law requires, and the current administration has slowed down the opening of my own records," the former president said at a press conference held to discuss his philanthropic efforts. "I am not afraid of disclosure and I hope that people will find, among other things … some of the mistakes we made and why."
Some or all of the records could emerge in the coming months as Senator Clinton presses her bid for the presidency.
Historians, journalists, authors, and watchdog groups have complained that the review process for records stored at presidential libraries is taking too long. The critics also contend that an executive order Mr. Bush issued in 2001 exacerbated the problem.
Last week, an unexpected figure added his voice to the chorus of those griping about the delays: Mr. Clinton.
"I want to open my presidential records more rapidly than the law requires, and the current administration has slowed down the opening of my own records," the former president said at a press conference held to discuss his philanthropic efforts. "I am not afraid of disclosure and I hope that people will find, among other things … some of the mistakes we made and why."
Thursday, October 4, 2007 - 09:23
Name of source: WSJ
SOURCE: WSJ (10-4-07)
The "Monuments Men" of World War II dashed around Europe saving humankind's historical and artistic heritage from destruction. They were American soldiers tasked with a mission that didn't benefit the U.S. in any direct way, yet they performed it unsparingly and with unprecedented honesty. This June, Congress officially honored their memory, and more recently PBS ran a documentary, "The Rape of Europa," telling their story. In the era of chaos in Iraq, it has been all too easy for the world to airbrush out of mind the longstanding record of American custodial service to other people's cultures. A salutary reminder of that tradition is being unveiled in a more modest way this week with a pack of playing cards featuring the monuments and antiquities of Iraq and Afghanistan, with exhortations to military personnel to safeguard them. The packs will be distributed to U.S. troops in the region throughout the autumn.
Thursday, October 4, 2007 - 09:18
Name of source: Earth Times
SOURCE: Earth Times (10-1-07)
The reclusive main owners of the BMW car company said Monday that allegations in a television documentary about their ancestors' wartime business dealings were hardly new. The one-hour programme, The Silence of the Quandts, was aired without advance notice by ARD public television just before midnight Sunday. ARD denied the unscheduled showing had been designed to avoid legal intervention.
The documentary detailed how Guenther Quandt, who died in 1954, owned battery factories which were kept going by press-ganged or concentration-camp labour during the Second World War.
His son, Herbert Quandt, who died in 1982, obtained control of BMW in 1959. His heirs, who own nearly 47 per cent of BMW, are one of Germany's wealthiest families. They keep out of the celebrity limelight and manage BMW discreetly.
Both historians and survivors set out the war allegations. The only family member seen in the documentary was Sven Quandt, grandson of the founder, who said children are not guilty of their fathers' acts.
The documentary detailed how Guenther Quandt, who died in 1954, owned battery factories which were kept going by press-ganged or concentration-camp labour during the Second World War.
His son, Herbert Quandt, who died in 1982, obtained control of BMW in 1959. His heirs, who own nearly 47 per cent of BMW, are one of Germany's wealthiest families. They keep out of the celebrity limelight and manage BMW discreetly.
Both historians and survivors set out the war allegations. The only family member seen in the documentary was Sven Quandt, grandson of the founder, who said children are not guilty of their fathers' acts.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007 - 22:22
Name of source: http://www.zawya.com
SOURCE: http://www.zawya.com (10-2-07)
A property advert featuring a picture of German dictator Adolf Hitler has sparked outrage across the UAE.
Conqueror Real Estate used an image of the Führer alongside the strapline: "The World Is Yours".
And yesterday the firm's general manager admitted he authorised use of the image to attract attention to his firm.
But his choice has been criticised by experts and residents, who have branded the advert insulting and of bad taste.
Hitler's policy of creating a German empire triggered the Second World War and led to the deaths of millions of people. Dutch national Hink Huisman said: "It is absolutely insulting. It only shows the support of a certain community for Hitler's cause, without realising what they are supporting, or what they think they are supporting.
Conqueror Real Estate used an image of the Führer alongside the strapline: "The World Is Yours".
And yesterday the firm's general manager admitted he authorised use of the image to attract attention to his firm.
But his choice has been criticised by experts and residents, who have branded the advert insulting and of bad taste.
Hitler's policy of creating a German empire triggered the Second World War and led to the deaths of millions of people. Dutch national Hink Huisman said: "It is absolutely insulting. It only shows the support of a certain community for Hitler's cause, without realising what they are supporting, or what they think they are supporting.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007 - 22:20
Name of source: Telegraph (UK)
SOURCE: Telegraph (UK) (10-4-07)
The King of Spain was forced to defend the royal family this week after a wave of protests against the monarchy and calls for him to abdicate.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007 - 22:17
SOURCE: Telegraph (UK) (10-3-07)
A mountaineering expert will today claim that Sir Edmund Hillary was not the first man to scale Everest - and that it was in fact conquered three decades before by the British climber George Mallory.
Graham Hoyland has spent years researching a story he was told as a boy: Mallory, who took part in the first three British expeditions and who is widely accepted as having just failed to reach the summit, did in fact succeed and was on his way down when he died.
Mallory and his climbing partner, Andrew Irvine, both went missing somewhere high on the north-east ridge during the final stage of their attempt to make the first ascent of the world's highest mountain in June 1924.
The pair's last known sighting was only 800ft from the summit and Mallory's body lay undiscovered for 75 years. It has never been proved whether they were on their way up, or had completed the climb and were on their way down.
Graham Hoyland has spent years researching a story he was told as a boy: Mallory, who took part in the first three British expeditions and who is widely accepted as having just failed to reach the summit, did in fact succeed and was on his way down when he died.
Mallory and his climbing partner, Andrew Irvine, both went missing somewhere high on the north-east ridge during the final stage of their attempt to make the first ascent of the world's highest mountain in June 1924.
The pair's last known sighting was only 800ft from the summit and Mallory's body lay undiscovered for 75 years. It has never been proved whether they were on their way up, or had completed the climb and were on their way down.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007 - 22:12
Name of source: Fox News
SOURCE: Fox News (10-3-07)
A crossword puzzle assigned as a homework lesson for fifth-graders studying a book about the 19th-century South asked them to use a racial slur — the N-word — as an answer.
At least one parent complained and the teacher, who is white, apologized to the parents of her students, said Donald Johnson, principal of Sequatchie County Middle School.
Johnson said the teacher obtained the crossword from a Web site, edHelper.com, a membership Web site that offers reading lessons, puzzles and other materials for teachers to download for use in class.
No phone number or contact name was listed on the Web site. An e-mail seeking comment Tuesday was not immediately returned.
At least one parent complained and the teacher, who is white, apologized to the parents of her students, said Donald Johnson, principal of Sequatchie County Middle School.
Johnson said the teacher obtained the crossword from a Web site, edHelper.com, a membership Web site that offers reading lessons, puzzles and other materials for teachers to download for use in class.
No phone number or contact name was listed on the Web site. An e-mail seeking comment Tuesday was not immediately returned.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007 - 22:10
Name of source: Secrecy News, written by Steven Aftergood, is published by the Federation of American Scientists
SOURCE: Secrecy News, written by Steven Aftergood, is published by the Federation of American Scientists (10-3-07)
Democratic Presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama"will reverse
this [Bush Administration] policy of secrecy," his campaign stated this
week, and he addressed the subject in a high-profile address at DePaul
University on October 2.
"I'll lead a new era of openness," he said.
"I'll turn the page on a growing empire of classified information, and restore the balance we've lost between the necessarily secret and the necessity of openness in a democratic society by creating a new National Declassification Center."
The Obama campaign said the proposal was based upon a recommendation of the 1997 Moynihan Commission on Secrecy, and that the Center would"serve as a clearinghouse to set rules and regulations for declassification for federal agencies, and to make declassification secure but routine, efficient, and cost-effective.""We'll protect sources and methods, but we won't use sources and methods as pretexts to hide the truth. Our history doesn't belong to Washington, it belongs to America," Sen. Obama said.
This appears to be the most extensive discussion of secrecy and transparency issues in the presidential campaign to date. The subject was briefly addressed by Senator Clinton in her online campaign literature (Secrecy News, 07/23/07).
As far as could be determined, no Republican candidate has spoken out against current secrecy policy or advocated increased transparency. However, former Senator Fred Thompson issued a report on government secrecy that urged greater openness when he was chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee in 1998 (Sen. Rept. 105-258).
Wednesday, October 3, 2007 - 17:38
Name of source: Lee White at the website of the National Coalition for History (NCH)
SOURCE: Lee White at the website of the National Coalition for History (NCH) (10-3-07)
On October 2, Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman, (ID-CT) called for an end to the hold that has been blocking Senate consideration of “The Presidential Records Act Amendment of 2007.” (H.R. 1255)
H.R. 1255 would revoke Executive Order 13233 that was issued in 2001 by President George W. Bush broadening the ability of former presidents, their heirs and former vice presidents to withhold the release of records. When Democrats sought to bring the bill to the floor on September 24, Senator Bunning (R-KY) objected to its consideration.
H.R. 1255 would revoke Executive Order 13233 that was issued in 2001 by President George W. Bush broadening the ability of former presidents, their heirs and former vice presidents to withhold the release of records. When Democrats sought to bring the bill to the floor on September 24, Senator Bunning (R-KY) objected to its consideration.
Earlier this week, a federal district court judge partially invalidated Executive Order 13233. The court revoked the authority under the order for former presidents to indefinitely delay the release of their records.
“While I am pleased that the court struck down a troubling section of this Executive Order, the ruling underscores the need to replace the entire order with a process that provides greater public access to presidential records,” Lieberman said. “Only then can we ensure that the public’s right to an open government is maintained. “This bill was offered in the spirit of the First Amendment and the principle of freedom of information upon which our nation was founded. I call on my colleagues to refrain from procedural roadblocks and allow the public access to the important historical records of their elected leaders.”
The legislation overwhelmingly passed the House of Representatives in March and cleared the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in June. Senator Lieberman has already compromised with Republican opponents to the bill. A Lieberman amendment, which was negotiated after the June mark-up, extends the review period to a maximum of 90 days for former and incumbent presidents after the Archivist of the United States has given notification that records are ready for release. The White House has threatened to veto the bill should it pass the Congress.
The National Coalition for History asks that historians, archivists and researchers call Senator Bunning’s office and demand that he lift his hold on this bill. Senator Bunning’s direct phone number is (202)224-4343.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007 - 09:50
Name of source: History Today
SOURCE: History Today (9-27-07)
A new national heritage police authority in Cambodia is enlisting the help of international security agencies to stop looting at its ancient sites. The Angkor Wat temples were protected by Unesco after years of fighting ended in the 1990s but remote sites have suffered extensive looting. US special agents and Cambodia’s agencies have been meeting to share expertise.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007 - 01:42
SOURCE: History Today (9-28-07)
Papers declassified at the [UK] National Archives reveal British and American authorities opposed the harsh Soviet prison regime forced on Nazi deputy Rudolf Hess. Files show Britain argued against attempts to turn Berlin’s Spandau prison, jointly run by the four victorious Allied powers, into a gulag. Cold War tension further escalated in 1974 when Hess, who committed suicide 13 years later, was thought to have cancer. British governor Robert de Burlet stated: "Whatever horrors the Germans had perpetrated in their concentration camps I do not want it to be said that we were following their example."
Wednesday, October 3, 2007 - 01:40
Name of source: Reuters
SOURCE: Reuters (10-1-07)
A federal judge on Monday tossed out part of a 2001 order by President George W. Bush that lets former presidents keep some of their presidential papers secret indefinitely.
U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ruled that the U.S. Archivist's reliance on the executive order to delay release of the papers of former presidents is "arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion and not in accordance with law."
Criticized by historians, the November 2001 order allowed the White House or a former president to block release of a former president's papers and put the onus on researchers to show a "specific need" for many types of records.
U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ruled that the U.S. Archivist's reliance on the executive order to delay release of the papers of former presidents is "arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion and not in accordance with law."
Criticized by historians, the November 2001 order allowed the White House or a former president to block release of a former president's papers and put the onus on researchers to show a "specific need" for many types of records.
Related Links
National Coalition for History: Federal Judge Invalidates Order Allowing Former Presidents to Withhold Records
Wednesday, October 3, 2007 - 01:28
Name of source: Anita Hill in an op ed in the NYT
SOURCE: Anita Hill in an op ed in the NYT (10-2-07)
ON Oct. 11, 1991, I testified about my experience as an employee of Clarence Thomas’s at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
I stand by my testimony.
Justice Thomas has every right to present himself as he wishes in his new memoir, “My Grandfather’s Son.” He may even be entitled to feel abused by the confirmation process that led to his appointment to the Supreme Court.
But I will not stand by silently and allow him, in his anger, to reinvent me.
In the portion of his book that addresses my role in the Senate hearings into his nomination, Justice Thomas offers a litany of unsubstantiated representations and outright smears that Republican senators made about me when I testified before the Judiciary Committee — that I was a “combative left-winger” who was “touchy” and prone to overreacting to “slights.” A number of independent authors have shown those attacks to be baseless. What’s more, their reports draw on the experiences of others who were familiar with Mr. Thomas’s behavior, and who came forward after the hearings. It’s no longer my word against his.
Justice Thomas’s characterization of me is also hobbled by blatant inconsistencies. He claims, for instance, that I was a mediocre employee who had a job in the federal government only because he had “given it” to me. He ignores the reality: I was fully qualified to work in the government, having graduated from Yale Law School (his alma mater, which he calls one of the finest in the country), and passed the District of Columbia Bar exam, one of the toughest in the nation....
I stand by my testimony.
Justice Thomas has every right to present himself as he wishes in his new memoir, “My Grandfather’s Son.” He may even be entitled to feel abused by the confirmation process that led to his appointment to the Supreme Court.
But I will not stand by silently and allow him, in his anger, to reinvent me.
In the portion of his book that addresses my role in the Senate hearings into his nomination, Justice Thomas offers a litany of unsubstantiated representations and outright smears that Republican senators made about me when I testified before the Judiciary Committee — that I was a “combative left-winger” who was “touchy” and prone to overreacting to “slights.” A number of independent authors have shown those attacks to be baseless. What’s more, their reports draw on the experiences of others who were familiar with Mr. Thomas’s behavior, and who came forward after the hearings. It’s no longer my word against his.
Justice Thomas’s characterization of me is also hobbled by blatant inconsistencies. He claims, for instance, that I was a mediocre employee who had a job in the federal government only because he had “given it” to me. He ignores the reality: I was fully qualified to work in the government, having graduated from Yale Law School (his alma mater, which he calls one of the finest in the country), and passed the District of Columbia Bar exam, one of the toughest in the nation....
Related Links
Media Matters: CBS' 60 Minutes offered no rebuttal to Clarence Thomas' claims about Anita Hill
Wednesday, October 3, 2007 - 01:01
Name of source: Editor & Publisher
SOURCE: Editor & Publisher (10-1-07)
CHICAGO The second annual Gay History Project, a package of features centered on October's Gay History Month, will run in more than 30 gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) newspapers, the project's founder and coordinator, Philadelphia Gay News Publisher Mark Segal said Monday.
Print circulation of the papers that have agreed to carry the articles tops 700,000 -- it "the largest GLBT media promotion in the history of the gay press," according to Segal.
In its inaugural year last October, 16 GLBT papers participated in the project.
Among the feature articles included in this year's project is a piece by U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin entitled "Leaning Toward Justice," in which she compares the gay-rights struggle with that of the civil-rights movement of the 1960s.
"Local gay newspapers are the most complete, comprehensive record of LGBT history; no individual, organization or traditional medium has the knowledge and experience that make up our almost 40 years of coverage," said Segal, who is also a founder and former president of the National Gay Newspaper Guild, and current member of the board of directors of the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association.
Print circulation of the papers that have agreed to carry the articles tops 700,000 -- it "the largest GLBT media promotion in the history of the gay press," according to Segal.
In its inaugural year last October, 16 GLBT papers participated in the project.
Among the feature articles included in this year's project is a piece by U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin entitled "Leaning Toward Justice," in which she compares the gay-rights struggle with that of the civil-rights movement of the 1960s.
"Local gay newspapers are the most complete, comprehensive record of LGBT history; no individual, organization or traditional medium has the knowledge and experience that make up our almost 40 years of coverage," said Segal, who is also a founder and former president of the National Gay Newspaper Guild, and current member of the board of directors of the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007 - 12:08
Name of source: International Herald Tribune
SOURCE: International Herald Tribune (10-2-07)
Sixty-two years after dying of typhus in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, Anne Frank continues to haunt countless readers of her diary, with its youthful exuberance, dry humor and shattering hints of the violence that would sweep away her world. But fewer people know of the soaring chestnut tree that gave comfort to Anne while she and her family hid for more than two years during the German occupation....
In recent years, fresh ills have befallen the tree: fungi have turned almost half its trunk to white rot, and a moth infestation has attacked its crown. The German news magazine Der Spiegel reported last year that botanists had spent months running tests and observing the tree, but their efforts did not improve its condition significantly. So local officials said it had to be felled.
But now, endless administrative procedures appear to have given the tree, which has stood for a century and a half, a fresh lease on life.
In recent years, fresh ills have befallen the tree: fungi have turned almost half its trunk to white rot, and a moth infestation has attacked its crown. The German news magazine Der Spiegel reported last year that botanists had spent months running tests and observing the tree, but their efforts did not improve its condition significantly. So local officials said it had to be felled.
But now, endless administrative procedures appear to have given the tree, which has stood for a century and a half, a fresh lease on life.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007 - 11:56
Name of source: NJ Star Ledger
SOURCE: NJ Star Ledger (9-23-07)
Gov. James E. McGreevey's downfall came at the hands of a former staffer named Golan Cipel. But in the state Archives, which keeps the papers of governors and their aides dating to the 1700s, there is no record of Cipel's work.
Early in his tenure, McGreevey was stung by the revelation that a key staffer on his transition team was an ex-convict. But there is no record of anything that occurred at McGreevey's transition office.
There are no gubernatorial calendars, no day-planners or no briefing memos dealing with the crisis of the moment or the key issues for each week. Nor is there anything detailing the work of his transition team, either of his two chiefs of staff or their deputies, or a written record documenting the agendas or discussions of Cabinet meetings held while he was governor from 2002 to 2004.
Early in his tenure, McGreevey was stung by the revelation that a key staffer on his transition team was an ex-convict. But there is no record of anything that occurred at McGreevey's transition office.
There are no gubernatorial calendars, no day-planners or no briefing memos dealing with the crisis of the moment or the key issues for each week. Nor is there anything detailing the work of his transition team, either of his two chiefs of staff or their deputies, or a written record documenting the agendas or discussions of Cabinet meetings held while he was governor from 2002 to 2004.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007 - 11:16
Name of source: Chicago Tribune
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune (10-2-07)
[The anger of the sailors aboard the USS Liberty, the ship attacked by Israel during the 6 Day War (Israel has always said it was a mistake)] has been stoked by the declassification of government documents and the recollections of former military personnel, including some quoted in this article for the first time, which strengthen doubts about the U.S. National Security Agency's position that it never intercepted the communications of the attacking Israeli pilots -- communications, according to those who remember seeing them, that showed the Israelis knew they were attacking an American naval vessel.
The documents also suggest that the U.S. government, anxious to spare Israel's reputation and preserve its alliance with the U.S., closed the case with what even some of its participants now say was a hasty and seriously flawed investigation.
In declassifying the most recent and largest batch of materials last June 8, the 40th anniversary of the attack, the NSA, this country's chief U.S. electronic-intelligence-gatherer and code-breaker, acknowledged that the attack had "become the center of considerable controversy and debate." It was not the agency's intention, it said, "to prove or disprove any one set of conclusions, many of which can be drawn from a thorough review of this material," available athttp://www.nsa.gov/liberty .
The documents also suggest that the U.S. government, anxious to spare Israel's reputation and preserve its alliance with the U.S., closed the case with what even some of its participants now say was a hasty and seriously flawed investigation.
In declassifying the most recent and largest batch of materials last June 8, the 40th anniversary of the attack, the NSA, this country's chief U.S. electronic-intelligence-gatherer and code-breaker, acknowledged that the attack had "become the center of considerable controversy and debate." It was not the agency's intention, it said, "to prove or disprove any one set of conclusions, many of which can be drawn from a thorough review of this material," available athttp://www.nsa.gov/liberty .
Tuesday, October 2, 2007 - 11:09
Name of source: Baltimore Sun
SOURCE: Baltimore Sun (9-30-07)
In a county that has museums for boats, rural art and duck decoys, John T. Lee Sr. says there is a noticeable omission in Harford's repertoire.
For more than 10 years, Lee has advocated for establishing a museum dedicated to African-American history in Harford County.
"We haven't had anything that our people can really associate with and feel good about, where people can look and say 'That's my uncle, my grandfather,' and make them feel proud and really learn the history," said Lee, a 64-year-old Havre de Grace resident.
To bring awareness to African-American history in the county, Lee is holding an exhibit of historical items today at the Holiday Inn in Aberdeen from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Lee, who works part time as a security officer at the hotel, will show 40 to 50 historic photographs of the county's African-Americans and their churches and schools. Many of the photographs were used in his self-published biography of Percy V. Williams, a prominent Harford County black educator.
For more than 10 years, Lee has advocated for establishing a museum dedicated to African-American history in Harford County.
"We haven't had anything that our people can really associate with and feel good about, where people can look and say 'That's my uncle, my grandfather,' and make them feel proud and really learn the history," said Lee, a 64-year-old Havre de Grace resident.
To bring awareness to African-American history in the county, Lee is holding an exhibit of historical items today at the Holiday Inn in Aberdeen from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Lee, who works part time as a security officer at the hotel, will show 40 to 50 historic photographs of the county's African-Americans and their churches and schools. Many of the photographs were used in his self-published biography of Percy V. Williams, a prominent Harford County black educator.
Monday, October 1, 2007 - 21:48
Name of source: Times (UK)
SOURCE: Times (UK) (10-2-07)
Grim evidence of how the Incas “fattened up” children before sacrificing them to their gods has emerged from a new analysis of hair from two 500-year-old mummies preserved near the summit of a volcano.
The remains of the 15-year-old girl known as the “Llullaillaco Maiden” and the seven-year-old “Llullaillaco Boy” revealed that their diets changed markedly in the 12 months up to their deaths, shedding new light on the rituals of the ancient Andean civilisation.
The research, by a British-led team, suggests that the children were fed a ceremonial diet before being marched to a shrine 82ft (25 metres) from the top of the 22,110ft (6,739 metres) volcano Llullaillaco, where they were suffocated or left to die from exposure.
The remains of the 15-year-old girl known as the “Llullaillaco Maiden” and the seven-year-old “Llullaillaco Boy” revealed that their diets changed markedly in the 12 months up to their deaths, shedding new light on the rituals of the ancient Andean civilisation.
The research, by a British-led team, suggests that the children were fed a ceremonial diet before being marched to a shrine 82ft (25 metres) from the top of the 22,110ft (6,739 metres) volcano Llullaillaco, where they were suffocated or left to die from exposure.
Monday, October 1, 2007 - 21:28
Name of source: AFP
SOURCE: AFP (9-27-07)
Lucky fat ladies, porcelain pigs, ceramic musicians and giant Buddhas are crammed into Hong Kong's antique boutiques, but some experts, backed by Chinese law, say many of them shouldn't be here at all.
By a curious twist of history and geopolitics, Hong Kong has become the legitimate outlet for ill-gotten treasures of Chinese history, a legal market for illegally obtained objets d'art that can and do command huge sums.
On Hollywood Road, Hong Kong's famed strip of art and antique outlets, the shopfronts provide a veritable tour of Chinese and Asian history, selling everything from Tibetan temple carpets and centuries-old Chinese wedding cabinets to giant Cambodian and Burmese Buddhas that arrive in wooden crates.
By a curious twist of history and geopolitics, Hong Kong has become the legitimate outlet for ill-gotten treasures of Chinese history, a legal market for illegally obtained objets d'art that can and do command huge sums.
On Hollywood Road, Hong Kong's famed strip of art and antique outlets, the shopfronts provide a veritable tour of Chinese and Asian history, selling everything from Tibetan temple carpets and centuries-old Chinese wedding cabinets to giant Cambodian and Burmese Buddhas that arrive in wooden crates.
Monday, October 1, 2007 - 21:28
