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This page features brief excerpts of news stories published by the mainstream media and, less frequently, blogs, alternative media, and even obviously biased sources. The excerpts are taken directly from the websites cited in each source note. Quotation marks are not used.
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Breaking News
This page features brief excerpts of news stories published by the mainstream media and, less frequently, blogs, alternative media, and even obviously biased sources. The excerpts are taken directly from the websites cited in each source note. Quotation marks are not used. Because most of our readers read the NYT we usually do not include the paper's stories in HIGHLIGHTS.
Name of source: LAT
SOURCE: LAT (11-26-07)
Experts on Chinese American history say Chinatowns across the nation -- including in many California cities -- have always been rumored to have tunnels, but no proof exists that they were anything more than connected basements. They say the hype surrounding the legends revives misconceptions that fanned xenophobia in earlier times.
Oral histories and newspaper accounts from the early 20th century include clues that Los Angeles' original Chinatown (where Union Station now stands) was connected by a web of tunnels leading to brothels, speak-easies and other illicit businesses. But when the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority dug up the area in 1990 for subway construction, it found artifacts but no tunnels.
Some historians say the tunnel tales originated from a misunderstanding of Chinese culture, and overt prejudice.
"The 19th century was an extremely racist climate," said Phil Choy, past president of the Chinese Historical Society of America and a skeptic of tunnel lore. "There had always been an attempt to remove the Chinese. You had this population of undesirables. The more mysterious they make us, the better."
Oral histories and newspaper accounts from the early 20th century include clues that Los Angeles' original Chinatown (where Union Station now stands) was connected by a web of tunnels leading to brothels, speak-easies and other illicit businesses. But when the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority dug up the area in 1990 for subway construction, it found artifacts but no tunnels.
Some historians say the tunnel tales originated from a misunderstanding of Chinese culture, and overt prejudice.
"The 19th century was an extremely racist climate," said Phil Choy, past president of the Chinese Historical Society of America and a skeptic of tunnel lore. "There had always been an attempt to remove the Chinese. You had this population of undesirables. The more mysterious they make us, the better."
Tuesday, November 27, 2007 - 20:24
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Name of source: NYT
SOURCE: NYT (11-27-07)
Senator Edward M. Kennedy, the most prominent surviving member of the Kennedy family, has agreed to sell his memoirs for an advance of more than $8 million, people with knowledge of the negotiations say.
After a six-day auction that concluded Nov. 19, Twelve, an imprint of Grand Central Publishing, bought world rights for the autobiography. Before the deal can be completed, Mr. Kennedy must clear his publishing contract with the Senate Ethics Committee.
Jonathan Karp, publisher and editor in chief of Twelve, said he hoped to publish the book in the fall of 2010. Mr. Kennedy is “walking, talking history,” Mr. Karp said, “and there’s no limit to what he can talk about with authority and distinctive personal perspective.”...
After a six-day auction that concluded Nov. 19, Twelve, an imprint of Grand Central Publishing, bought world rights for the autobiography. Before the deal can be completed, Mr. Kennedy must clear his publishing contract with the Senate Ethics Committee.
Jonathan Karp, publisher and editor in chief of Twelve, said he hoped to publish the book in the fall of 2010. Mr. Kennedy is “walking, talking history,” Mr. Karp said, “and there’s no limit to what he can talk about with authority and distinctive personal perspective.”...
“I’ve been fortunate in my life to grow up in an extraordinary family and to have a front-row seat at many key events in our nation’s history,” Mr. Kennedy said in a statement.
For the past three years, he has been working with the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia on an oral history of his life, and those tapes will serve as source material for his autobiography.
Mr. Kennedy, who will work with a co-writer, is expected to write candidly about his personal history, including the 1969 Chappaquiddick accident in which he drove a car off a bridge on Martha’s Vineyard, resulting in the death of Mary Jo Kopechne, a former member of Senator Robert F. Kennedy’s staff. He will also write about his unsuccessful bid for the presidency.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007 - 20:13
SOURCE: NYT (11-27-07)
Empowered by an oil boom that pushed the country’s trade surplus past $94 billion this year, Russia has been flexing its muscles abroad. At home, meanwhile, young and trendy Muscovites are in the throes of nostalgia for the staples of Soviet childhoods, relics of a time when the U.S.S.R. was at the height of superpower status.
That may explain why one of the most popular fashion designers this fall is Denis Simachev, who is selling overcoats fastened with hammer-and-sickle buttons, gold jewelry minted to look like Soviet kopecks and shirts festooned with the Soviet coat of arms, complete with embroidered ears of wheat.
“People in their 30s see these kinds of symbols as reminders of happy memories, like going to pioneer camp where they lived together, ate breakfast together and played sports,” said Mr. Simachev, 33, who wears his hair in a Samurai-style ponytail. He insists he is no Communist — for one thing, his overcoats sell for about $2,100 and his T-shirts for about $600. His boutique is sandwiched between Hermès and Burberry stores on a pedestrian lane, Stoleshnikov, that is one of the capital’s most expensive shopping streets.
That may explain why one of the most popular fashion designers this fall is Denis Simachev, who is selling overcoats fastened with hammer-and-sickle buttons, gold jewelry minted to look like Soviet kopecks and shirts festooned with the Soviet coat of arms, complete with embroidered ears of wheat.
“People in their 30s see these kinds of symbols as reminders of happy memories, like going to pioneer camp where they lived together, ate breakfast together and played sports,” said Mr. Simachev, 33, who wears his hair in a Samurai-style ponytail. He insists he is no Communist — for one thing, his overcoats sell for about $2,100 and his T-shirts for about $600. His boutique is sandwiched between Hermès and Burberry stores on a pedestrian lane, Stoleshnikov, that is one of the capital’s most expensive shopping streets.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007 - 13:21
SOURCE: NYT (11-25-07)
YEKATERINBURG, Russia — On the outskirts of this burly industrial center, off a road like any other, on a nowhere scrap of land — here unfolded the final act of one of the last century’s most momentous events.
A short way through a clearing, toward a cluster of birch trees, the killers deposited their victims’ bodies, which had been mutilated, burned and doused with acid to mask their origins. It would be 73 more years, in 1991, before the remains would be reclaimed and the announcement would ring out: the grave of the last Russian czar, Nicholas II, and his family had been found.
But the story does not end there.
Eleven people were said to have been killed that day in July 1918 on Lenin’s orders. Just nine sets of remains were dug up here and then authenticated using DNA. The remains of the czar’s son, Aleksei, and one daughter, whose identity is still not absolutely clear, were missing. Did their bones lie elsewhere, or could it actually be that they had escaped execution, as rumor had it for so long?
Only in the past few months have these questions dating from the Russian revolution apparently been resolved here, and only by a group of amateur sleuths who spent their weekends plumbing the case.
A short way through a clearing, toward a cluster of birch trees, the killers deposited their victims’ bodies, which had been mutilated, burned and doused with acid to mask their origins. It would be 73 more years, in 1991, before the remains would be reclaimed and the announcement would ring out: the grave of the last Russian czar, Nicholas II, and his family had been found.
But the story does not end there.
Eleven people were said to have been killed that day in July 1918 on Lenin’s orders. Just nine sets of remains were dug up here and then authenticated using DNA. The remains of the czar’s son, Aleksei, and one daughter, whose identity is still not absolutely clear, were missing. Did their bones lie elsewhere, or could it actually be that they had escaped execution, as rumor had it for so long?
Only in the past few months have these questions dating from the Russian revolution apparently been resolved here, and only by a group of amateur sleuths who spent their weekends plumbing the case.
Monday, November 26, 2007 - 13:42
SOURCE: NYT (11-25-07)
FROM the 1880s to the 1960s, at least 4,700 men and women were lynched in this country. The noose remains a terrifying symbol, and continues to be used by racists to intimidate African-Americans (who made up more than 70 percent of lynching victims).
In the past decade or so, only about a dozen noose incidents a year came to the attention of civil rights groups. But since the huge Sept. 20 rally in Jena, La., where tens of thousands protested what they saw as racism in the prosecution of six black youths known as the “Jena 6,” this country has seen a rash of as many as 50 to 60 noose incidents. Last Tuesday, for example, a city employee in Slidell, La., was fired after being accused of hanging a noose at a job site a few days earlier.
These incidents are worrying, but even more so is the social reality they reflect. The level of hate crimes in the United States is astoundingly high — more than 190,000 incidents per year, according to a 2005 Department of Justice study.
And the number of hate groups, according to the annual count by the Southern Poverty Law Center, has shot up 40 percent in recent years, from 602 groups in 2000 to 844 in 2006.
In the past decade or so, only about a dozen noose incidents a year came to the attention of civil rights groups. But since the huge Sept. 20 rally in Jena, La., where tens of thousands protested what they saw as racism in the prosecution of six black youths known as the “Jena 6,” this country has seen a rash of as many as 50 to 60 noose incidents. Last Tuesday, for example, a city employee in Slidell, La., was fired after being accused of hanging a noose at a job site a few days earlier.
These incidents are worrying, but even more so is the social reality they reflect. The level of hate crimes in the United States is astoundingly high — more than 190,000 incidents per year, according to a 2005 Department of Justice study.
And the number of hate groups, according to the annual count by the Southern Poverty Law Center, has shot up 40 percent in recent years, from 602 groups in 2000 to 844 in 2006.
Sunday, November 25, 2007 - 16:48
SOURCE: NYT (11-25-07)
PSYCHOANALYSIS and its ideas about the unconscious mind have spread to every nook and cranny of the culture from Salinger to “South Park,” from Fellini to foreign policy. Yet if you want to learn about psychoanalysis at the nation’s top universities, one of the last places to look may be the psychology department.
A new report by the American Psychoanalytic Association has found that while psychoanalysis — or what purports to be psychoanalysis — is alive and well in literature, film, history and just about every other subject in the humanities, psychology departments and textbooks treat it as “desiccated and dead,” a historical artifact instead of “an ongoing movement and a living, evolving process.”
A new report by the American Psychoanalytic Association has found that while psychoanalysis — or what purports to be psychoanalysis — is alive and well in literature, film, history and just about every other subject in the humanities, psychology departments and textbooks treat it as “desiccated and dead,” a historical artifact instead of “an ongoing movement and a living, evolving process.”
Sunday, November 25, 2007 - 16:46
SOURCE: NYT (11-25-07)
IN 1960, Richard Nixon ran for president against John F. Kennedy on a slogan that had powerful resonance for cold war America: “Experience Counts.” Nixon had been vice president for eight years, a senator for two, and a House member for four. Kennedy had been a senator for eight years and a House member for six, and was also a war hero and the scion of a politically powerful family.
Nixon’s claim to experience, though, were those eight years in the White House — he was dispatched by Eisenhower on missions to dozens of countries, he often noted, and he won acclaim for quick thinking during his “kitchen debate” with Khrushchev in Moscow in 1959. Even if Ike memorably struggled to come up with a real contribution that Nixon had made, the vice president made the experience argument just the same.
Hillary Rodham Clinton was arguably far more involved in White House affairs during her husband’s administration than Nixon was in the 1950s, and she, too, is running on that experience. (“Change is just a word without the strength and experience to make it happen” is one of her taglines.) While she has won respect as a senator of seven years, and has become a student of the military as a member of the Armed Services Committee, her seasoning in the White House is at the core of her campaign argument.
But is the experience argument enough to beat Barack Obama and her other rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination this winter?
Nixon’s claim to experience, though, were those eight years in the White House — he was dispatched by Eisenhower on missions to dozens of countries, he often noted, and he won acclaim for quick thinking during his “kitchen debate” with Khrushchev in Moscow in 1959. Even if Ike memorably struggled to come up with a real contribution that Nixon had made, the vice president made the experience argument just the same.
Hillary Rodham Clinton was arguably far more involved in White House affairs during her husband’s administration than Nixon was in the 1950s, and she, too, is running on that experience. (“Change is just a word without the strength and experience to make it happen” is one of her taglines.) While she has won respect as a senator of seven years, and has become a student of the military as a member of the Armed Services Committee, her seasoning in the White House is at the core of her campaign argument.
But is the experience argument enough to beat Barack Obama and her other rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination this winter?
Sunday, November 25, 2007 - 16:45
SOURCE: NYT (11-20-07)
This year, as Jamestown, Va., splashily celebrated the 400th anniversary of its founding as the nation’s first permanent English settlement, the home of Plymouth Rock found itself on the defensive.
Virginians have relished trumpeting that Jamestown came first, even vowing to get it “out from under Plymouth Rock.”
Their strategy has worked, to an extent: Jamestown’s tourism figures rivaled Plymouth’s this year, and even Queen Elizabeth II paid a visit. In a speech near Jamestown on Tuesday, President Bush challenged the popular notion that Plymouth was home to the first Thanksgiving.
“The good folks here say that the founders of Berkeley held their celebration before the Pilgrims had even left port,” Mr. Bush said, referring to a plantation in Virginia where settlers arrived in 1619. “As you can imagine, this version of events is not very popular up north.”
In response to such barbs, the people of Plymouth have gone to greater lengths than usual to prove it is “America’s Hometown,” as its marketing brochures announce.
Virginians have relished trumpeting that Jamestown came first, even vowing to get it “out from under Plymouth Rock.”
Their strategy has worked, to an extent: Jamestown’s tourism figures rivaled Plymouth’s this year, and even Queen Elizabeth II paid a visit. In a speech near Jamestown on Tuesday, President Bush challenged the popular notion that Plymouth was home to the first Thanksgiving.
“The good folks here say that the founders of Berkeley held their celebration before the Pilgrims had even left port,” Mr. Bush said, referring to a plantation in Virginia where settlers arrived in 1619. “As you can imagine, this version of events is not very popular up north.”
In response to such barbs, the people of Plymouth have gone to greater lengths than usual to prove it is “America’s Hometown,” as its marketing brochures announce.
Friday, November 23, 2007 - 14:04
Name of source: AFP
SOURCE: AFP (11-27-07)
A US genetic study bolsters claims that Native Americans are descended from one migrant group that crossed a lost land link from modern Siberia to Alaska -- not waves of arrivals from Asia, as rival theories say.
The new study by the University of Michigan, published Monday, examined genes of indigenous people from North to South America and from two Siberian groups, the university said in a report introducing the research.
Analysis found one unique genetic variant widespread across both the northern and southern American continents -- suggesting that all Native Americans were descended from a single group, not various ones as the rival theory holds.
The new study by the University of Michigan, published Monday, examined genes of indigenous people from North to South America and from two Siberian groups, the university said in a report introducing the research.
Analysis found one unique genetic variant widespread across both the northern and southern American continents -- suggesting that all Native Americans were descended from a single group, not various ones as the rival theory holds.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007 - 18:24
SOURCE: AFP (11-22-07)
The world's biggest diamond company De Beers said Thursday it was selling its historic Cullinan Diamond Mine in South Africa, where the largest ever diamond was found.
It said it was selling the mine for one billion rand (147 million US dollars, 99 million euros).
It said it was selling the mine for one billion rand (147 million US dollars, 99 million euros).
Friday, November 23, 2007 - 15:05
SOURCE: AFP (11-21-07)
When Americans sit down on Thursday to eat stuffed Thanksgiving turkey, cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes, followed by a slice of pumpkin pie, many think they are upholding a 400-year-old tradition.
They aren't.
The meal which settlers from England shared with native Americans in 1621, which has come to be known as the first Thanksgiving, probably didn't feature many of the culinary favorites that grace tables at present day Thanksgivings, and almost definitely did not happen in November, a food historian told AFP.
Indeed, 1621 wasn't even a festival of giving thanks, but was "clearly a harvest festival," said Kathleen Curtin of the Plimoth Plantation in Massachusetts, where a 17th-century farming village set up by English colonists on native American tribal lands has been recreated.
They aren't.
The meal which settlers from England shared with native Americans in 1621, which has come to be known as the first Thanksgiving, probably didn't feature many of the culinary favorites that grace tables at present day Thanksgivings, and almost definitely did not happen in November, a food historian told AFP.
Indeed, 1621 wasn't even a festival of giving thanks, but was "clearly a harvest festival," said Kathleen Curtin of the Plimoth Plantation in Massachusetts, where a 17th-century farming village set up by English colonists on native American tribal lands has been recreated.
Thursday, November 22, 2007 - 20:22
Name of source: CanWest
SOURCE: CanWest (11-25-07)
As Canada seeks to assert its Arctic claims, the founder of a Quebec historical society says the time has never been better to honour an explorer who helped the country claim a huge chunk of the North.
In the late 1800s, Quebec-based captain Joseph-Elzear Bernier tried to persuade a young Canada of the importance of claiming sovereignty over the islands of the North. The British government had formally ceded the land in 1880 but the Canadian government had yet to exercise its jurisdiction there.
Bernier's expeditions eventually helped the country claim sovereignty over 750,000 square kilometres in the Arctic, says Jeanne Coude of the Levis regional historic society. Coude has been prodding various governments for years to erect a monument paying homage to a man sometimes called "the greatest Canadian navigator."
"When I saw reports of other countries contesting the Northwest Passage . . . I thought we needed to honour him here (in Levis), where he lived," said Coude, who has approached federal, provincial and municipal governments to erect a monument.
In the late 1800s, Quebec-based captain Joseph-Elzear Bernier tried to persuade a young Canada of the importance of claiming sovereignty over the islands of the North. The British government had formally ceded the land in 1880 but the Canadian government had yet to exercise its jurisdiction there.
Bernier's expeditions eventually helped the country claim sovereignty over 750,000 square kilometres in the Arctic, says Jeanne Coude of the Levis regional historic society. Coude has been prodding various governments for years to erect a monument paying homage to a man sometimes called "the greatest Canadian navigator."
"When I saw reports of other countries contesting the Northwest Passage . . . I thought we needed to honour him here (in Levis), where he lived," said Coude, who has approached federal, provincial and municipal governments to erect a monument.
Monday, November 26, 2007 - 20:49
Name of source: AP
SOURCE: AP (11-23-07)
On Saturday [Nov. 24], Ukraine marks the 75th anniversary of the terrible famine of 1932-33, engineered by Soviet authorities to force peasants across the former U.S.S.R. to give up their privately held plots of land and join collective farms. Millions perished.
Now President Viktor Yushchenko is leading an effort to gain international recognition of Holodomor — or death by hunger, as it is known here — as a crime rather than merely a disaster, by labeling it an act of genocide.
Long kept secret by Soviet authorities, accounts of the Great Famine still divide historians and politicians, not just in this nation of 47 million but throughout the former Soviet Union.
Some are convinced that the famine targeted Ukrainians as an ethnic group. Others argue authorities set out to eradicate all private land owners as a social class, and that the Soviets sought to pay for the U.S.S.R.'s industrialization with grain exports at the expense of starving millions of its own people.
Now President Viktor Yushchenko is leading an effort to gain international recognition of Holodomor — or death by hunger, as it is known here — as a crime rather than merely a disaster, by labeling it an act of genocide.
Long kept secret by Soviet authorities, accounts of the Great Famine still divide historians and politicians, not just in this nation of 47 million but throughout the former Soviet Union.
Some are convinced that the famine targeted Ukrainians as an ethnic group. Others argue authorities set out to eradicate all private land owners as a social class, and that the Soviets sought to pay for the U.S.S.R.'s industrialization with grain exports at the expense of starving millions of its own people.
Monday, November 26, 2007 - 20:36
SOURCE: AP (11-25-07)
In a small survey boat, maritime archaeologist J. Lee Cox Jr. was checking the bottom of the Delaware River at the Sunoco Logistics pier in South Philadelphia when he got a hit on the side-scan sonar. A pipe? A log? A hazard to the oil tankers docking nearby?
No one was sure until a diver was sent down weeks later and found a strange pointed object buried in the muck about 40 feet down.
Earlier this month, Cox identified it as the business end of a cheval-de-frise, an iron-tipped log once embedded in the river, along with many others, to gore the hulls of British warships menacing Philadelphia in the mid-1770s. It had been silently resting not far from where oil-laden Sunoco tankers have berthed since Philadelphia's industrial age.
No one was sure until a diver was sent down weeks later and found a strange pointed object buried in the muck about 40 feet down.
Earlier this month, Cox identified it as the business end of a cheval-de-frise, an iron-tipped log once embedded in the river, along with many others, to gore the hulls of British warships menacing Philadelphia in the mid-1770s. It had been silently resting not far from where oil-laden Sunoco tankers have berthed since Philadelphia's industrial age.
Monday, November 26, 2007 - 19:44
SOURCE: AP (11-26-07)
The Civil War resulted in many human narratives, each seemingly more heart-wrenching than the last. But few match that of Confederate Col. Isaac Erwin Avery in his final moments.
On July 2, 1863, the opening day of the Battle of Gettysburg, Avery's North Carolina unit was ordered to attack a heavily fortified Union position on East Cemetery Hill. Leading the charge on a white horse, the colonel was struck in the neck by a musket ball.
As he lay dying, a close friend, Maj. Samuel McDowell, managed to reach Avery's side. So badly wounded that he was unable to speak, Avery dipped the point of a stick or some other sharp object into his blood and scratched out on a piece of paper his last words, "Major, tell my father I died with my face to the enemy."
The final message is preserved in historical archives in Raleigh, N.C. But for nearly a century and a half, Avery's descendants have been trying to discover where his body is buried.
Now they know, thanks to the efforts of Hagerstown historian Richard Clem.
On July 2, 1863, the opening day of the Battle of Gettysburg, Avery's North Carolina unit was ordered to attack a heavily fortified Union position on East Cemetery Hill. Leading the charge on a white horse, the colonel was struck in the neck by a musket ball.
As he lay dying, a close friend, Maj. Samuel McDowell, managed to reach Avery's side. So badly wounded that he was unable to speak, Avery dipped the point of a stick or some other sharp object into his blood and scratched out on a piece of paper his last words, "Major, tell my father I died with my face to the enemy."
The final message is preserved in historical archives in Raleigh, N.C. But for nearly a century and a half, Avery's descendants have been trying to discover where his body is buried.
Now they know, thanks to the efforts of Hagerstown historian Richard Clem.
Monday, November 26, 2007 - 19:37
SOURCE: AP (11-25-07)
The gravestone of a young woman executed more than 60 years ago after being caught on a clandestine mission to save Hungarian Jews in the Holocaust has been moved to Israel, officials said Sunday.
Hannah Szenes, a Hungarian Jew who parachuted into Nazi-occupied Europe in 1944 to help rescue Jews, was honored on Nov. 7 as her gravestone was placed alongside her former home on a kibbutz farm next to the Mediterranean, Israel's Defense Ministry said. The ceremony marked the 63rd anniversary of her death.
Szenes left "a legacy whose essence is civil leadership, the relations between the individual and the collective and our role in this world," Cabinet Minister Ami Ayalon told the Israeli daily Haaretz. Ayalon's uncle sent Szenes on the mission to Hungary that led to her death, he said.
Hannah Szenes, a Hungarian Jew who parachuted into Nazi-occupied Europe in 1944 to help rescue Jews, was honored on Nov. 7 as her gravestone was placed alongside her former home on a kibbutz farm next to the Mediterranean, Israel's Defense Ministry said. The ceremony marked the 63rd anniversary of her death.
Szenes left "a legacy whose essence is civil leadership, the relations between the individual and the collective and our role in this world," Cabinet Minister Ami Ayalon told the Israeli daily Haaretz. Ayalon's uncle sent Szenes on the mission to Hungary that led to her death, he said.
Monday, November 26, 2007 - 19:25
SOURCE: AP (11-25-07)
The U.S. Justice Department began trying to deport former Ohio autoworker John Demjanjuk more than three decades ago, claiming that he was an armed guard at a Nazi death camp and helped murder Jewish prisoners in World War II.
Demjanjuk was extradited to Israel in 1986 and was under a death sentence until Israel's Supreme Court ruled in 1993 that Demjanjuk was not the sadistic guard at the Treblinka death camp in German-occupied Poland whom prisoners called "Ivan the Terrible."
Since Demjanjuk's return to the Cleveland suburb of Seven Hills, the Justice Department has continued its efforts to send him back to his native Ukraine — or Germany or Poland — saying it was sufficient that Demjanjuk falsified information on his applications to enter the U.S. in 1952 and to become a citizen in 1958.
His U.S. citizenship was revoked in 1981, restored in 1998 and revoked again in 2002. Now 87, Demjanjuk is facing what his lawyer says may be his last chance to stay in the U.S.
Demjanjuk was extradited to Israel in 1986 and was under a death sentence until Israel's Supreme Court ruled in 1993 that Demjanjuk was not the sadistic guard at the Treblinka death camp in German-occupied Poland whom prisoners called "Ivan the Terrible."
Since Demjanjuk's return to the Cleveland suburb of Seven Hills, the Justice Department has continued its efforts to send him back to his native Ukraine — or Germany or Poland — saying it was sufficient that Demjanjuk falsified information on his applications to enter the U.S. in 1952 and to become a citizen in 1958.
His U.S. citizenship was revoked in 1981, restored in 1998 and revoked again in 2002. Now 87, Demjanjuk is facing what his lawyer says may be his last chance to stay in the U.S.
Monday, November 26, 2007 - 19:24
Name of source: http://www.exduco.net
SOURCE: http://www.exduco.net (11-26-07)
The grandson of a soldier who fought in one of history’s first major tank battles will see his grandfather’s First World War vehicle - unearthed from a French farmer’s field - take pride of place at a 90th anniversary memorial event.
Tim Heap, 55, a University of Derby lecturer from Winster, Derbyshire, will this weekend attend the unveiling of a memorial to all the soldiers who died at the Battle of Cambrai, northern France, in November 1917, in memory of his grandfather Frank Heap; a tank commander in the conflict which saw more than 300 British tanks used to break through the German Hindenburg line.
The 19-year-old soldier escaped death when his tank was shelled three times, killing four of its nine-man crew, only because he had stepped outside the Mark IV ‘Deborah’ vehicle to take compass directions. One shell landed where he had been sitting a minute before.
Tim Heap, 55, a University of Derby lecturer from Winster, Derbyshire, will this weekend attend the unveiling of a memorial to all the soldiers who died at the Battle of Cambrai, northern France, in November 1917, in memory of his grandfather Frank Heap; a tank commander in the conflict which saw more than 300 British tanks used to break through the German Hindenburg line.
The 19-year-old soldier escaped death when his tank was shelled three times, killing four of its nine-man crew, only because he had stepped outside the Mark IV ‘Deborah’ vehicle to take compass directions. One shell landed where he had been sitting a minute before.
Monday, November 26, 2007 - 19:42
Name of source: Reuters
SOURCE: Reuters (11-24-07)
A LEADING Italian archaeologist said that the grotto whose discovery was announced this week in Rome is not the sacred cave linked to the myth of the city's foundation by Romulus and Remus.
The Culture Ministry and experts who presented the find said they were “reasonably certain” the cavern is the Lupercale - a sanctuary worshipped for centuries by Romans because, according to legend, a wolf nursed the twin brothers there.
But Adriano La Regina, Rome's superintendent of archaeology from 1976 to 2004, said ancient descriptions of the place suggest the Lupercale is elsewhere - 50 to 70 metres northwest of the cave discovered near Emperor Augustus' palace.
“I am positive this is not the Lupercale,” Mr La Regina told Reuters in an interview.
The Culture Ministry and experts who presented the find said they were “reasonably certain” the cavern is the Lupercale - a sanctuary worshipped for centuries by Romans because, according to legend, a wolf nursed the twin brothers there.
But Adriano La Regina, Rome's superintendent of archaeology from 1976 to 2004, said ancient descriptions of the place suggest the Lupercale is elsewhere - 50 to 70 metres northwest of the cave discovered near Emperor Augustus' palace.
“I am positive this is not the Lupercale,” Mr La Regina told Reuters in an interview.
Monday, November 26, 2007 - 19:40
SOURCE: Reuters (11-23-07)
A Springfield rifle owned by the famed Apache warrior Geronimo fetched $100,000 during an auction of Wild West guns and weapons that brought in more than $1 million.
Lawman Wyatt Earp's double-barreled shotgun garnered $65,500, while a saber attributed to U.S. Army cavalry commander George Custer sold for $20,315 at the Bonhams & Butterfields auction Tuesday.
Some of the guns were offered by a private collector who spent a lifetime accumulating firearms once carried by some of the most famous and infamous figures in American history, said Paul Carella, director of the company's arms department.
"Obviously, he was like many of us, just intrigued and enamored of the old West," Carella said Wednesday.
Lawman Wyatt Earp's double-barreled shotgun garnered $65,500, while a saber attributed to U.S. Army cavalry commander George Custer sold for $20,315 at the Bonhams & Butterfields auction Tuesday.
Some of the guns were offered by a private collector who spent a lifetime accumulating firearms once carried by some of the most famous and infamous figures in American history, said Paul Carella, director of the company's arms department.
"Obviously, he was like many of us, just intrigued and enamored of the old West," Carella said Wednesday.
Sunday, November 25, 2007 - 21:07
Name of source: WaPo
SOURCE: WaPo (11-26-07)
Abraham Lincoln was the rarest of men, and John G. Sotos believes that extended all the way to his chromosome 10.
A physician, connoisseur of rare ailments and amateur historian, Sotos believes Lincoln had a genetic syndrome called MEN 2B. He thinks the diagnosis not only accounts for Lincoln's great height, which has been the subject of most medical speculation over the years, but also for many of the president's other reported ailments and behaviors.
He also suspects Lincoln was dying of cancer at the time he was assassinated, and was unlikely to have survived a year. He thinks cancer -- an inevitable element of MEN 2B -- killed at least one of Lincoln's four sons, three of whom died before reaching age 20.
Sotos's theory assigns one of medicine's rarest conditions to one of the nation's best-known figures. It is likely to be controversial. But unlike many historical diagnoses, it can be easily proved or rejected with a DNA test for the single mutation in the gene called RET on chromosome 10 that causes MEN 2B.
A physician, connoisseur of rare ailments and amateur historian, Sotos believes Lincoln had a genetic syndrome called MEN 2B. He thinks the diagnosis not only accounts for Lincoln's great height, which has been the subject of most medical speculation over the years, but also for many of the president's other reported ailments and behaviors.
He also suspects Lincoln was dying of cancer at the time he was assassinated, and was unlikely to have survived a year. He thinks cancer -- an inevitable element of MEN 2B -- killed at least one of Lincoln's four sons, three of whom died before reaching age 20.
Sotos's theory assigns one of medicine's rarest conditions to one of the nation's best-known figures. It is likely to be controversial. But unlike many historical diagnoses, it can be easily proved or rejected with a DNA test for the single mutation in the gene called RET on chromosome 10 that causes MEN 2B.
Monday, November 26, 2007 - 19:28
Name of source: BBC
SOURCE: BBC (11-26-07)
A new BBC documentary has re-examined the legacy of a controversial Scottish soldier who was dubbed "Mad Mitch" for his tough methods.
Lt Col Colin Mitchell became a national hero when he led his Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders back into the Crater area of Aden in July 1967.
The British army had earlier pulled out of the district after 24 soldiers were killed by insurgents.
But Mitchell's reputation has been tarnished by allegations of brutality.
Lt Col Colin Mitchell became a national hero when he led his Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders back into the Crater area of Aden in July 1967.
The British army had earlier pulled out of the district after 24 soldiers were killed by insurgents.
But Mitchell's reputation has been tarnished by allegations of brutality.
Monday, November 26, 2007 - 19:21
SOURCE: BBC (1-20-07)
A freelance archaeologist has uncovered what is thought to be the only known Anglo-Saxon royal burial site in the north of England.
Spectacular gold jewellery, weapons and clothing were found at the 109-grave cemetery, believed to date from the middle of the 7th Century.
Excavations were carried out after Steve Sherlock studied an aerial photo of the land near Redcar, Teesside.
Spectacular gold jewellery, weapons and clothing were found at the 109-grave cemetery, believed to date from the middle of the 7th Century.
Excavations were carried out after Steve Sherlock studied an aerial photo of the land near Redcar, Teesside.
Thursday, November 22, 2007 - 20:19
Name of source: http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk
SOURCE: http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk (11-24-07)
ONE was a notorious Nazi war criminal, the other a young Tyneside soldier.
They came from different countries and from different backgrounds, but they forged a friendship of sorts and ended up playing chess together.
This is the remarkable real life story of Hitler’s deputy Rudolf Hess and Maurice Williams of the Durham Light Infantry.
Charged with guarding Hess in Berlin’s Spandau Prison, Maurice the pair ended up playing a game of chess.
“It was 1951 and our Battalion was taking up guard duty at Spandau Prison,” said Maurice, who lives at Ovington in the Tyne Valley.
“There were a number of Nazi war criminals there and I was curious about the place.
“I decided to take a tour of the prison and it certainly was a grim place. On my travels I came upon this guy in the prison garden, reading a paper.
“It turned out to be Rudolf Hess. We weren’t supposed to talk to either him or the other Nazi prisoners and, if caught, I would have been on a charge, but I was curious about him.
“He had a chess board and I asked him about it. He asked if I played chess and, luckily, I did.”
They came from different countries and from different backgrounds, but they forged a friendship of sorts and ended up playing chess together.
This is the remarkable real life story of Hitler’s deputy Rudolf Hess and Maurice Williams of the Durham Light Infantry.
Charged with guarding Hess in Berlin’s Spandau Prison, Maurice the pair ended up playing a game of chess.
“It was 1951 and our Battalion was taking up guard duty at Spandau Prison,” said Maurice, who lives at Ovington in the Tyne Valley.
“There were a number of Nazi war criminals there and I was curious about the place.
“I decided to take a tour of the prison and it certainly was a grim place. On my travels I came upon this guy in the prison garden, reading a paper.
“It turned out to be Rudolf Hess. We weren’t supposed to talk to either him or the other Nazi prisoners and, if caught, I would have been on a charge, but I was curious about him.
“He had a chess board and I asked him about it. He asked if I played chess and, luckily, I did.”
Monday, November 26, 2007 - 19:19
Name of source: Chicago Tribune
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune (11-26-07)
Munich is an easy city to like: clean, bright and livable. It has world-class art museums, stylish shops, wide boulevards, parks and squares. Conviviality overflows in its fabled beer gardens, and its people have an open, animated air.
Joachim von Halasz, a London-based financial analyst who often travels to Munich, knows well the attractions of this southern German city, including its towered and turreted Gothic revival Neues Rathaus, which the U.S. 7th Army used as headquarters near the end of World War II. But he is troubled by an inscription there that says, "To the soldiers who liberated Munich from the national socialist tyranny on April 30, 1945."
To von Halasz, it's fair to say that France and Belgium (not to mention concentration camps such as Auschwitz and Dachau) were liberated by the Allies. Armies liberate places that are being held captive, against their will.
But that was not precisely the case with Munich, the birthplace and stronghold of the Nazi party. For von Halasz, the word choice seems misleading, a verbal whitewashing of the city's firm historic connection to Adolf Hitler. And it reflects what he thinks is a bigger problem of how the city faces its past.
Von Halasz set out to correct that by writing "Hunting Nazis in Munich," a guidebook on lost sites connected with Hitler and his National Socialist party. (He has launched a companion Web site, http://www.huntingnazis.com.)
Joachim von Halasz, a London-based financial analyst who often travels to Munich, knows well the attractions of this southern German city, including its towered and turreted Gothic revival Neues Rathaus, which the U.S. 7th Army used as headquarters near the end of World War II. But he is troubled by an inscription there that says, "To the soldiers who liberated Munich from the national socialist tyranny on April 30, 1945."
To von Halasz, it's fair to say that France and Belgium (not to mention concentration camps such as Auschwitz and Dachau) were liberated by the Allies. Armies liberate places that are being held captive, against their will.
But that was not precisely the case with Munich, the birthplace and stronghold of the Nazi party. For von Halasz, the word choice seems misleading, a verbal whitewashing of the city's firm historic connection to Adolf Hitler. And it reflects what he thinks is a bigger problem of how the city faces its past.
Von Halasz set out to correct that by writing "Hunting Nazis in Munich," a guidebook on lost sites connected with Hitler and his National Socialist party. (He has launched a companion Web site, http://www.huntingnazis.com.)
Monday, November 26, 2007 - 19:17
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune (11-25-07)
A mysterious box of letters, memos and legal documents pertaining to the White Sox team accused of throwing the 1919 World Series -- some of the papers thought to be lost since the middle of the last century -- is bound for the auction block this week after being uncovered by two Chicago-area collectors.
The identity of the sellers is not being disclosed and the story of how the papers came to emerge is incomplete. The auction house, Mastro Auctions in Burr Ridge, says the owners probably bought the box at a file sale without knowing what was inside. The auction house would not go into detail about its origins.
Nevertheless, the sudden emergence of an archive of previously unknown documents pertaining to the 1919 Black Sox case has seized the imagination of archivists and historians.
The identity of the sellers is not being disclosed and the story of how the papers came to emerge is incomplete. The auction house, Mastro Auctions in Burr Ridge, says the owners probably bought the box at a file sale without knowing what was inside. The auction house would not go into detail about its origins.
Nevertheless, the sudden emergence of an archive of previously unknown documents pertaining to the 1919 Black Sox case has seized the imagination of archivists and historians.
Sunday, November 25, 2007 - 19:22
Name of source: Boston Globe
SOURCE: Boston Globe (11-24-07)
A clue, a clue, my kingdom for a clue.
With apologies to William Shakespeare, that line sums up the plea of scholars who for years have tried to untangle one of literary history's most nettlesome knots: To which church did the Bard belong?
Was he Roman Catholic, the religion of his mother's family, many of his schoolteachers, and perhaps the closet faith of his father? Was he Protestant, a version of which was the official religion of Elizabethan England, where he crafted works that rival the Bible for fame and citation? Or was he an ecumenist ahead of his time, one whose views transcended the fanatical religious debates of his day?
The Rev. David Beauregard, a Roman Catholic priest who teaches Shakespeare at the seminary of St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine in the Back Bay, argues in his new book, "Catholic Theology in Shakespeare's Plays" (University of Delaware Press), that Shakespeare was Catholic.
With apologies to William Shakespeare, that line sums up the plea of scholars who for years have tried to untangle one of literary history's most nettlesome knots: To which church did the Bard belong?
Was he Roman Catholic, the religion of his mother's family, many of his schoolteachers, and perhaps the closet faith of his father? Was he Protestant, a version of which was the official religion of Elizabethan England, where he crafted works that rival the Bible for fame and citation? Or was he an ecumenist ahead of his time, one whose views transcended the fanatical religious debates of his day?
The Rev. David Beauregard, a Roman Catholic priest who teaches Shakespeare at the seminary of St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine in the Back Bay, argues in his new book, "Catholic Theology in Shakespeare's Plays" (University of Delaware Press), that Shakespeare was Catholic.
Monday, November 26, 2007 - 19:16
Name of source: Telegraph (UK)
SOURCE: Telegraph (UK) (11-26-07)
Newly-elected Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd has promised to apologise to Aborigines for historic injustices, as the conservative party he defeated faced a bruising leadership battle.
Mr Rudd's pledge to say sorry to Aborigines was a radical departure from his predecessor John Howard, who during 11 years in power argued that contemporary Australians bore no responsibility for past wrongs.
It would be the first time that an Australian federal government had apologized to the country's 450,000 Aborigines, who after 220 years of white settlement suffer low life expectancy, poor health and high rates of joblessness and incarceration.
Mr Rudd's pledge to say sorry to Aborigines was a radical departure from his predecessor John Howard, who during 11 years in power argued that contemporary Australians bore no responsibility for past wrongs.
It would be the first time that an Australian federal government had apologized to the country's 450,000 Aborigines, who after 220 years of white settlement suffer low life expectancy, poor health and high rates of joblessness and incarceration.
Monday, November 26, 2007 - 19:13
SOURCE: Telegraph (UK) (11-23-07)
The 1,800-year-old skeleton of one of Roman Britain's "social elite" has been discovered by two men with metal detectors who had already unearthed a £1 million Viking treasure.
The father and son team, David and Andrew Whelan discovered the skeleton buried in a six-foot lead-lined coffin near the Roman town of Aldborough in north Yorks.
The find has excited archaeologists who believe the skeleton is probably that of a woman of British descent and that the style of coffin indicates that she was probably a wealthy landowner.
The father and son team, David and Andrew Whelan discovered the skeleton buried in a six-foot lead-lined coffin near the Roman town of Aldborough in north Yorks.
The find has excited archaeologists who believe the skeleton is probably that of a woman of British descent and that the style of coffin indicates that she was probably a wealthy landowner.
Friday, November 23, 2007 - 14:17
SOURCE: Telegraph (UK) (11-22-07)
The elderly widow of a renowned Oxford don is the unlikely recipient of a European arrest warrant alleging that she sent a war hero to his death during the Stalinist era show trials more than half a century ago.
Helena Wolinska, 88, a former Polish prosecutor who has lived in England since 1972, is accused of fabricating evidence against Gen Emil Fieldorf, a member of the Polish resistance during the Second World War.
Mrs Wolinska, well known in the cosy academic circles of north Oxford, is said in her former guise as a Soviet magistrate to have masterminded his wrongful arrest and execution in 1953.
Since the overthrow of the communist regime, Gen Fieldorf has been posthumously pardoned and the authorities are chasing those responsible for the alleged miscarriage of justice.
They claim that Mrs Wolinska, now a British citizen, was an enthusiastic member of the communist justice system which carried out the post-war purges against anyone seen as a threat to the Soviet leadership.
[She denies the charge.]
Helena Wolinska, 88, a former Polish prosecutor who has lived in England since 1972, is accused of fabricating evidence against Gen Emil Fieldorf, a member of the Polish resistance during the Second World War.
Mrs Wolinska, well known in the cosy academic circles of north Oxford, is said in her former guise as a Soviet magistrate to have masterminded his wrongful arrest and execution in 1953.
Since the overthrow of the communist regime, Gen Fieldorf has been posthumously pardoned and the authorities are chasing those responsible for the alleged miscarriage of justice.
They claim that Mrs Wolinska, now a British citizen, was an enthusiastic member of the communist justice system which carried out the post-war purges against anyone seen as a threat to the Soviet leadership.
[She denies the charge.]
Thursday, November 22, 2007 - 20:20
Name of source: Times (London)
SOURCE: Times (London) (11-26-07)
Oxford University was preparing for lockdown tonight ahead of threatened protests against the decision to invite two controversial far right figures to a debate.
Nick Griffin, the British National Party leader, and the historian David Irving, who was jailed in Austria for Holocaust denial, are due to speak at the Oxford Union debating society on the subject of free speech.
Nick Griffin, the British National Party leader, and the historian David Irving, who was jailed in Austria for Holocaust denial, are due to speak at the Oxford Union debating society on the subject of free speech.
Oxford colleges e-mailed their students warning them to stay in their rooms, and many colleges were planning to lock their doors this evening, amid fears that there could be a counter-demonstration by far-right activists which could turn violent.
Protesters planning to demonstrate against the debate include several university societies such as the Student Union, Unite Against Fascism, as well as a rare alliance between the Muslim and Jewish societies. Scores of students were also being bussed in from other universities.
More than a thousand are expected to attend, and colleges today sent their students e-mails warning them to stay indoors during the protest. Students fear that a counter-demonstration by far-right activists could set off scuffles.
Mr Griffin, who received a suspended prison sentence in 1998 for incitement to racial hatred for material denying the Holocaust, and Mr Irving, who spent three years in prison in Austria for Holocaust-denial, are due to take part in a discussion on the limits of free speech.
Monday, November 26, 2007 - 19:10
Name of source: Times (UK)
SOURCE: Times (UK) (11-17-07)
Tony Blair has admitted for the first time that he ignored the pleas of his aides and ministers to deter President Bush from waging war on Iraq because he believed that America was doing the right thing. And he has acknowledged that he turned down a last-ditch offer from Mr Bush to pull Britain out of the conflict.
He has also revealed that he wishes he had published the full reports from the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) instead of the infamous September dossier about Saddam Hussein’s alleged weapons of mass destruction that so damaged him, and was almost certainly one of the factors that contributed to him leaving office sooner than he wanted.
In frank remarks in a BBC documentary, Mr Blair confirmed openly the belief of many of his closest supporters that he never used his position as America’s strongest ally to try to force Mr Bush down the diplomatic rather than the military route.
He has also revealed that he wishes he had published the full reports from the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) instead of the infamous September dossier about Saddam Hussein’s alleged weapons of mass destruction that so damaged him, and was almost certainly one of the factors that contributed to him leaving office sooner than he wanted.
In frank remarks in a BBC documentary, Mr Blair confirmed openly the belief of many of his closest supporters that he never used his position as America’s strongest ally to try to force Mr Bush down the diplomatic rather than the military route.
Monday, November 26, 2007 - 13:43
SOURCE: Times (UK) (11-25-07)
NEARLY five years after it was ransacked by hordes of looters in the wake of Saddam Hussein’s overthrow, the Iraq museum in Baghdad is about to open its doors again.
The museum, famous for priceless antiquities representing the world’s earliest civilisation, is scheduled to open next month, according to its acting director, Amira Emiran.
Visits will be confined to just two galleries on the ground floor containing Assyrian and Islamic treasures that are too large and heavy to be easily removed. The remaining 16 galleries will remain empty and closed and security will be tight.
Nevertheless, Iraqi and American officials are keen to portray the opening as a sign that security in Baghdad has improved after the chaos of the past few years.
The museum, famous for priceless antiquities representing the world’s earliest civilisation, is scheduled to open next month, according to its acting director, Amira Emiran.
Visits will be confined to just two galleries on the ground floor containing Assyrian and Islamic treasures that are too large and heavy to be easily removed. The remaining 16 galleries will remain empty and closed and security will be tight.
Nevertheless, Iraqi and American officials are keen to portray the opening as a sign that security in Baghdad has improved after the chaos of the past few years.
Sunday, November 25, 2007 - 19:17
Name of source: National Security Archive
SOURCE: National Security Archive (11-21-07)
Washington D.C., November 22, 2007 - The first comprehensive U.S. nuclear war plan, produced in 1960, was controversial within the U.S. government because top commanders and White House scientists objected to its massive destructiveness--the "high level of damage and population casualties"--according to newly declassified histories published today by the National Security Archive. The war plan also appalled Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, who wanted to find ways to curb its overkill, but the first nuclear plan revised on his watch remained massively destructive.
The nuclear war plan, the Single Integrated Operational Plan (SIOP), has been among the U.S. government's most sensitive secrets. No SIOP has ever been declassified, and details about the making of U.S. nuclear war plans have been hard to pry loose.
Declassified histories from the early 1960s of SIOP-62 (for fiscal year) and SIOP-63 provide an acute sense of the way that the U.S. government planned to wage nuclear war, as well as how the plans were made and the inter-service conflicts over them. Among the disclosures:
The nuclear war plan, the Single Integrated Operational Plan (SIOP), has been among the U.S. government's most sensitive secrets. No SIOP has ever been declassified, and details about the making of U.S. nuclear war plans have been hard to pry loose.
Declassified histories from the early 1960s of SIOP-62 (for fiscal year) and SIOP-63 provide an acute sense of the way that the U.S. government planned to wage nuclear war, as well as how the plans were made and the inter-service conflicts over them. Among the disclosures:
* The availability of options for preemptive or retaliatory strikes against Soviet and Chinese targets.
* Goals of high levels of damage ("damage expectancy") were intrinsic to the plan, which explains why historians have treated "overkill", or excessive destruction, as one of its most distinctive features.
* The internal debate within the military over the war plan, especially Army and Navy concern about excessive destruction and radiation hazards to U.S. troops and people in allied countries near targeted countries.
* The high priority of military targets; according to the National Strategic Targeting and Attack Policy (NSTAP), one of the SIOP's purposes was "to destroy or neutralize the military capabilities of the enemy."
* How the JSTPS constructed the five alternative strikes that constituted SIOP-63 (fiscal year 1963) in order to be responsive to Secretary of Defense McNamara's quest for alternatives to nuclear attacks on urban-industrial areas, and limit the destructiveness of nuclear war, by focusing on nuclear targets only ("no cities/counterforce").
* The role of "strike timing sheets" in the plan, showing how each bomber and missile would reach its target without destroying each other ("fratricide").
Visit the Web site of the National Security Archive for more information about today's posting.
Friday, November 23, 2007 - 18:26
Name of source: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn
SOURCE: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn (11-23-07)
A Chinese former "comfort woman" flew to Canada Thursday to place pressure on the Canadian parliament to pass a bill urging Japan to formally apologize to women forced into sexual slavery during World War II. The Dutch parliament endorsed a similar resolution this week.
Liu Mianhuan, 80, from Shanxi Province, was joined by three other comfort women from South Korea, the Netherlands and the Philippines, and is scheduled to take part in a series of events in Toronto and Ottawa during the next few days to raise public awareness among Canadians.
The events have been organized by the Global Alliance for Preserving the History of World War II in Asia, a non-profit organization.
The four women are expected to appear before the Canadian parliament on Tuesday, Kang Jian, a Chinese lawyer who is representing Liu, said.
Liu Mianhuan, 80, from Shanxi Province, was joined by three other comfort women from South Korea, the Netherlands and the Philippines, and is scheduled to take part in a series of events in Toronto and Ottawa during the next few days to raise public awareness among Canadians.
The events have been organized by the Global Alliance for Preserving the History of World War II in Asia, a non-profit organization.
The four women are expected to appear before the Canadian parliament on Tuesday, Kang Jian, a Chinese lawyer who is representing Liu, said.
Friday, November 23, 2007 - 18:25
Name of source: Daily Mail
SOURCE: Daily Mail (11-21-07)
Italy's ex-royals are demanding £260 million in damages - and the return of confiscated property, including the presidential palace - for being sent into exile after World War II.
The Savoy dynasty, with a lineage dating back to the 10th century, unified Italy in the 1800s and ruled the country as a kingdom until Italians voted in a 1946 referendum to become a republic.
Two years later, Italy's new Constitution barred the last king, Umberto II, and his male descendants from Italy.
They went into exile in Portugal and Switzerland.
The Savoys, led by the king's son, Victor Emmanuel, returned in 2002 when the provision was overturned.
Family members and their lawyers said they have sent letters to Italy's government and president seeking reparations.
They called the exile a violation of the Savoys' human rights based on the ban on inhuman and degrading punishment by the European Convention on Human Rights.
The Savoy dynasty, with a lineage dating back to the 10th century, unified Italy in the 1800s and ruled the country as a kingdom until Italians voted in a 1946 referendum to become a republic.
Two years later, Italy's new Constitution barred the last king, Umberto II, and his male descendants from Italy.
They went into exile in Portugal and Switzerland.
The Savoys, led by the king's son, Victor Emmanuel, returned in 2002 when the provision was overturned.
Family members and their lawyers said they have sent letters to Italy's government and president seeking reparations.
They called the exile a violation of the Savoys' human rights based on the ban on inhuman and degrading punishment by the European Convention on Human Rights.
Friday, November 23, 2007 - 18:25
Name of source: HNN Staff
SOURCE: HNN Staff (11-23-07)
M. Stanton Evans, a stalwart of the conservative movement for half a century, has written a new book about Joe McCarthy, the long-reviled senator from Wisconsin whose name became a term of opprobrium.
In a review in the conservative magazine, the Weekly Standard, Robert Novak asserts that Evans make a convincing case that McCarthy was innocent of the three main charges leveled against him:
In a review in the conservative magazine, the Weekly Standard, Robert Novak asserts that Evans make a convincing case that McCarthy was innocent of the three main charges leveled against him:
The demonization of McCarthy was essentially a three-part indictment. First, he labeled as security risks and drove from public life officials (especially skilled Foreign Service professionals) whose only sin was liberalism. Second, he accused innocents of being Communists, sometimes in cases of mistaken identity. And third, he degraded the political process by accusing major rivals of treason.
Evans makes a convincing case that McCarthy is innocent on all three counts, and he does so with a painstaking case-by-case approach. The jacket blurb says it took over six years to write Blacklisted by History, but in fact, the 73-year-old Evans, born and bred in the conservative movement, has spent his whole career thinking about Joe. A relentless researcher, Evans was frustrated by the mysterious disappearance of government files and even newspaper clippings. But he tracked down much of the missing data, helped immeasurably by the Venona files of decrypted secret Soviet communications and by the new accessibility of both FBI reports and Soviet archives.
McCarthy's oft-stated goal, says Evans, "was to get his suspects out of the federal government and its policy-making system." So the book begins by listing 10 senior government officials (the most prominent of whom was the Soviet agent Lauchlin Currie, an executive assistant to President Franklin D. Roosevelt) who, because they were "targets" of McCarthy, "must have been mere innocent victims of his mid-century reign of terror." But, Evans continues, "all these McCarthy cases were right there in the Soviet cables." Venona, plus supporting data from Kremlin archives, shows that "rather than being blameless martyrs, all were indeed Communists, Soviet agents or assets of the KGB, just as McCarthy had suggested."
McCarthy correctly saw a State Department infested with Soviet agents and sympathizers, influencing U.S. foreign policy--in particular, abandonment of Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist regime in China. John Stewart Service, a State Department "China hand," is widely viewed as a top-level martyr driven out of the department by McCarthy's accusations. Evans depicts Service living in the provisional Chinese capital of Chungking during World War II with two Soviet agents. Purportedly an adviser to Chiang, Service was sending reports back to Washington degrading Chiang and extolling Mao Zedong's Communists. Evans has obtained 1,200 pages of Services's dispatches, including one asserting that "the Communist political program is simple democracy . . . much more American than Russian."
The most familiar case of supposed mistaken identity by McCarthy--really the only such case--involves an elderly black woman from Washington named Annie Lee Moss, employed by the Army as a code clerk. When McCarthy brought her before his investigative committee, then in its last days, she was identified by the FBI as a Communist party member dealing with classified material to demonstrate faulty security procedures.
Democrats claimed McCarthy had the wrong Annie Lee Moss. But there was no other Annie Lee Moss, Evans makes clear. The woman testifying was a Communist, the Army belatedly admitted, with "party membership book number 37269." But that did not demolish what Evans calls "The Legend of Annie Moss." Her "mistaken identity" has been central in assaults against McCarthy dating from Edward R. Murrow's famous See It Now program in 1954 to George Clooney's 2005 panegyric of Murrow, Good Night and Good Luck.
In an odd twist of irony, Novak recounts that he abandoned McCarthy in 1953 as a 22 year old Army second lieutenant after McCarthy revealed the secret work of Maj. Gen. Perry Reichelderfer, the head of the Army Security Agency:
My fellow officers and I were so shocked that we instantly changed our outlook on McCarthy. We were assigned to the ASA Training Center at Fort Devens in a building protected by barbed wire and security guards. We had been instructed never to tell anybody of our ASA connection. We thought listing General Reichelderfer's ASA command was a security breach, and that demeaning a distinguished officer truly constituted McCarthyism.
In 2003 Novak outed Valerie Plame Wilson, a covert CIA agent.
Friday, November 23, 2007 - 18:23
Name of source: C-SPAN
SOURCE: C-SPAN (11-23-07)
Featuring film, sound and video clips that have not been aired yet during our programs - Eleanor Roosevelt speaking with troops in the Pacific, Kennedy family home movies, Gerald Ford Election eve program from Air Force One, and others. Also an interview with Sharon Fawcett, Asst. U.S. Archivist for Pres. Libraries.
Friday, November 23, 2007 - 16:33
Name of source: Haaretz
SOURCE: Haaretz (11-16-07)
The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg Thursday acquitted an Austrian journalist of "causing the suicide" of a German professor who claimed that the Jews declared war on Germany in 1933. The ruling was handed down in a complicated case involving freedom of speech, libel and anti-Semitism.
The court found in favor of veteran journalist Karl Pfeifer, ruling that Austrian courts failed to protect Pfeifer's good name. The court ordered the Austrian government to pay Pfeifer 5,000 euros in damages and 10,000 euros in court costs.
The verdict states that the Austrian courts violated article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights - the right to a private life. The court was not convinced that the reasons put forward by the lower Austrian courts concerning freedom of expression outweighed the right of the applicant to have his reputation safeguarded.
In 1995, a German professor, Dr. Werner Pfeifenberger, published an article about the "Jewish conspiracy," beginning with the 1789 French Revolution. He claimed that the Jews declared war on Germany in 1933. Pfeifer, who edited the Austrian Jewish community newspaper, responded with an article in which he accused the German professor of underrating the crimes of the Nazi regime.
The court found in favor of veteran journalist Karl Pfeifer, ruling that Austrian courts failed to protect Pfeifer's good name. The court ordered the Austrian government to pay Pfeifer 5,000 euros in damages and 10,000 euros in court costs.
The verdict states that the Austrian courts violated article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights - the right to a private life. The court was not convinced that the reasons put forward by the lower Austrian courts concerning freedom of expression outweighed the right of the applicant to have his reputation safeguarded.
In 1995, a German professor, Dr. Werner Pfeifenberger, published an article about the "Jewish conspiracy," beginning with the 1789 French Revolution. He claimed that the Jews declared war on Germany in 1933. Pfeifer, who edited the Austrian Jewish community newspaper, responded with an article in which he accused the German professor of underrating the crimes of the Nazi regime.
Friday, November 23, 2007 - 15:36
Name of source: Washington Times
SOURCE: Washington Times (11-19-07)
Say this about Bruce Salisbury — he knows how to make a mountain out of a molehill.
Five years ago, the World War II veteran and his wife, Dottie, stopped for a sandwich after driving through the Rockies near Telluride, Colo., when she had an idea.
"She looks at these mountains and she says, 'Wouldn't it be nice if one of these mountains were named after all the guys who didn't make it home?' " Mr. Salisbury said.
Last month, it finally happened. At its Oct. 4 meeting, the U.S. Board on Geographic Names added to the map Mount KIA/MIA, a previously unnamed peak in southwestern Colorado.
Five years ago, the World War II veteran and his wife, Dottie, stopped for a sandwich after driving through the Rockies near Telluride, Colo., when she had an idea.
"She looks at these mountains and she says, 'Wouldn't it be nice if one of these mountains were named after all the guys who didn't make it home?' " Mr. Salisbury said.
Last month, it finally happened. At its Oct. 4 meeting, the U.S. Board on Geographic Names added to the map Mount KIA/MIA, a previously unnamed peak in southwestern Colorado.
Friday, November 23, 2007 - 15:33
Name of source: Salt Lake Tribune
SOURCE: Salt Lake Tribune (11-22-07)
History came to life recently at Eagle Bay Elementary's annual Wax Museum as visitors strolled past fifth-graders posed as some of the nation's most-influential historical figures.
Among the individuals depicted: Bill Gates working on his laptop; Rosa Parks sitting at the front of a cardboard bus; and Paul Revere riding his horse - a rocking horse at this occasion - to herald the news of the British invasion.
What started four years ago at the Farmington school as an opportunity for students to acquaint themselves with great Americans, has resulted in costumes, hairpieces, backdrops and props galore. But when the idea was first broached, some considered it to be just one more "project" for the kids to work on.
Teacher Debbie Pead says that attitude has changed.
The students "know that this is a big thing," she said. "It gives them a chance to dive into United States history. When they take a character, they get excited. Some of the students who don't perform on other levels, do better at this."
Among the individuals depicted: Bill Gates working on his laptop; Rosa Parks sitting at the front of a cardboard bus; and Paul Revere riding his horse - a rocking horse at this occasion - to herald the news of the British invasion.
What started four years ago at the Farmington school as an opportunity for students to acquaint themselves with great Americans, has resulted in costumes, hairpieces, backdrops and props galore. But when the idea was first broached, some considered it to be just one more "project" for the kids to work on.
Teacher Debbie Pead says that attitude has changed.
The students "know that this is a big thing," she said. "It gives them a chance to dive into United States history. When they take a character, they get excited. Some of the students who don't perform on other levels, do better at this."
Friday, November 23, 2007 - 15:25
Name of source: http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk
SOURCE: http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk (11-20-07)
BELLS from ships lost during the Great War have seen daylight for the first time in nearly 90 years after Yorkshire sub aqua club members struck lucky while exploring wrecks this summer.
National diving experts say there has been a glut in recent finds aboard lost vessels around the country because the summer rain prevented diving earlier in the year and now enthusiasts are making up for last time.
Seven bells have been recovered off the Yorkshire Coast this summer by a number of sub aqua club members and other enthusiasts from the Filey and Scarborough areas – who are usually surprised to find more than one a year.
National diving experts say there has been a glut in recent finds aboard lost vessels around the country because the summer rain prevented diving earlier in the year and now enthusiasts are making up for last time.
Seven bells have been recovered off the Yorkshire Coast this summer by a number of sub aqua club members and other enthusiasts from the Filey and Scarborough areas – who are usually surprised to find more than one a year.
Friday, November 23, 2007 - 15:03
Name of source: http://solomontimes.com
SOURCE: http://solomontimes.com (11-21-07)
News on sale of World War II relics in Shortlands and having them removed from their resting places has caused public protest.
According to One News, government has agreed to the arrangement for the sale of all World War II relics at the community of Balalae in Shortlands to an international group.
It was reported that among the group on the island was the Minister for Tourism, Samuel Bentley.
According to One News, government has agreed to the arrangement for the sale of all World War II relics at the community of Balalae in Shortlands to an international group.
It was reported that among the group on the island was the Minister for Tourism, Samuel Bentley.
Friday, November 23, 2007 - 15:00
Name of source: http://www.news-antique.com
SOURCE: http://www.news-antique.com (11-20-07)
While not well known for his watercolors, the failed dictator of Germany, Adolf Hilter, was quite a gifted artist. The esoteric fact Hitler aspired to artistic endeavor, preceding the atrocities for which he is remembered today, is an idiosyncratic component of WWII history.
Understandably, a gallery visit is unlikely to yield any of his work, but occasionally his pieces are bought and sold. Two such paintings have recently surfaced on Manion’s International Auction House - www.manions.com: a 1911 dated watercolor of the Votivkirche in Vienna, and his WWI era interpretation of a French farmhouse.
“This is quite an interesting glimpse into the soul of one of the most infamous figures in world history,” said Manion’s representative John Conway. “To look at these renditions, one would think the hand that held the brush belonged to a gentle man – but history has revealed the opposite.”
Understandably, a gallery visit is unlikely to yield any of his work, but occasionally his pieces are bought and sold. Two such paintings have recently surfaced on Manion’s International Auction House - www.manions.com: a 1911 dated watercolor of the Votivkirche in Vienna, and his WWI era interpretation of a French farmhouse.
“This is quite an interesting glimpse into the soul of one of the most infamous figures in world history,” said Manion’s representative John Conway. “To look at these renditions, one would think the hand that held the brush belonged to a gentle man – but history has revealed the opposite.”
Friday, November 23, 2007 - 14:57
Name of source: http://www.anpost.ie
SOURCE: http://www.anpost.ie (11-20-07)
Hark the Herald Angels Sing’ is just one of more than 6,500 hymns composed by Charles Wesley, younger brother of John Wesley, founder of Methodism. An Post’s new 78c stamp marks the 300th anniversary of Charles Wesley’s birth in Lincolnshire, England in 1707.
Despite his closeness to his brother, Charles was not always in agreement with John in matters relating to their beliefs. Charles was strongly opposed to the idea of a breach with the Church of England into which they had been ordained. Nevertheless, his devotional compositions were more than just a testament to his faith; they provided an enduring musical and spiritual legacy and to this day, his hymns are contemplated and celebrated by Christians across the world.
Despite his closeness to his brother, Charles was not always in agreement with John in matters relating to their beliefs. Charles was strongly opposed to the idea of a breach with the Church of England into which they had been ordained. Nevertheless, his devotional compositions were more than just a testament to his faith; they provided an enduring musical and spiritual legacy and to this day, his hymns are contemplated and celebrated by Christians across the world.
Friday, November 23, 2007 - 14:56
Name of source: http://www.independent.ie
SOURCE: http://www.independent.ie (11-23-07)
IT is the first written indication of what would become an intense rivalry between Michael Collins and Eamon de Valera, ultimately splitting the nation.
It is expected to fetch up to €50,000 at auction next week.
A letter, written by Collins on the first anniversary of the Easter Rising in April 1917 to fellow Rising leader Thomas Ashe, gives his views of the incredibly tense political affairs of the time.
Written in code -- as Ashe was still in prison -- it contains some caustic remarks about de Valera and Arthur Griffith as Collins went about strengthening his own political base and rebuilding the Irish Republican Brotherhood following his release from internment a few months earlier.
It is expected to fetch up to €50,000 at auction next week.
A letter, written by Collins on the first anniversary of the Easter Rising in April 1917 to fellow Rising leader Thomas Ashe, gives his views of the incredibly tense political affairs of the time.
Written in code -- as Ashe was still in prison -- it contains some caustic remarks about de Valera and Arthur Griffith as Collins went about strengthening his own political base and rebuilding the Irish Republican Brotherhood following his release from internment a few months earlier.
Friday, November 23, 2007 - 14:54
Name of source: International Herald Tribune
SOURCE: International Herald Tribune (11-22-07)
For nearly seven years, Jan Longone, an antiquarian cookbook collector, has been haunted by a ghost. The spirit came into her life as thousands of other vintage volumes from book dealers had before: in a plain brown wrapper. But as soon as she held Malinda Russell's "Domestic Cook Book: Containing a Careful Selection of Useful Receipts for the Kitchen," she could see its author and her world - the small, seldom-discussed society of free blacks in the 19th century - coming to life before her eyes.
"I felt like an archaeologist who had just stumbled on a dinosaur," said Longone, who is the curator of American culinary history at the William L. Clements Library at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. "I was in awe."
Longone, long considered the top expert on old American cookbooks, knew immediately that she was holding the earliest cookbook by a black woman that had ever come to light. Turning the 39 fragile pages of the 1866 pamphlet, she realized, too, that it could challenge ingrained views about the cuisine of black Americans.
"I felt like an archaeologist who had just stumbled on a dinosaur," said Longone, who is the curator of American culinary history at the William L. Clements Library at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. "I was in awe."
Longone, long considered the top expert on old American cookbooks, knew immediately that she was holding the earliest cookbook by a black woman that had ever come to light. Turning the 39 fragile pages of the 1866 pamphlet, she realized, too, that it could challenge ingrained views about the cuisine of black Americans.
Friday, November 23, 2007 - 14:53
SOURCE: International Herald Tribune (11-20-07)
MINNEAPOLIS: Around a table at Ingebretsen's, an 86-year-old market stocked with Norwegian staples like lutefisk, meatballs and fruit soup, the women of the Monday knitting club were upset.
"This is a bit of a slap in the face," Janet Rog, 74, said of Norway's recent announcement that it would shut its career consulate here next year and send the diplomats home.
The consulate - opened in 1906 and upgraded in 1946 to its current status as consulate general - is a point of pride for the Upper Midwest, which is home to more Norwegian-Americans than any other region of the country.
It is hardly a question of their needing a nearby office to get passport updates or the like. The families of most, after all, have lived in America for generations, and many confess that they have never actually set foot inside the consulate. Rather, this is a matter of respect, of recognition.
"We're very proud of our roots, and we've tried really hard to preserve them," said Shirley Hansen, another knitter at a table bursting with the bright geometric patterns Norway is known for.
"This is a bit of a slap in the face," Janet Rog, 74, said of Norway's recent announcement that it would shut its career consulate here next year and send the diplomats home.
The consulate - opened in 1906 and upgraded in 1946 to its current status as consulate general - is a point of pride for the Upper Midwest, which is home to more Norwegian-Americans than any other region of the country.
It is hardly a question of their needing a nearby office to get passport updates or the like. The families of most, after all, have lived in America for generations, and many confess that they have never actually set foot inside the consulate. Rather, this is a matter of respect, of recognition.
"We're very proud of our roots, and we've tried really hard to preserve them," said Shirley Hansen, another knitter at a table bursting with the bright geometric patterns Norway is known for.
Thursday, November 22, 2007 - 20:18
Name of source: Korea Times
SOURCE: Korea Times (11-21-07)
A clepsydra, a water clock that was made on King Sejong's orders in 1434, has been fully recreated and will be on view to the public from Nov. 28.
The water clock is regarded as one of the greatest inventions in Korean science history. It is a standard self-striking water clock system, which uses the flow of water.
A team, led by Professor Nam Moon-hyeon of Konkuk University, recreated the water clock based on the remaining parts of a clepsydra known as the Jagyeongnu, which was made during the reign of King Jungjong in 1536, the National Palace Museum of Korea announced Wednesday.
The water clock is regarded as one of the greatest inventions in Korean science history. It is a standard self-striking water clock system, which uses the flow of water.
A team, led by Professor Nam Moon-hyeon of Konkuk University, recreated the water clock based on the remaining parts of a clepsydra known as the Jagyeongnu, which was made during the reign of King Jungjong in 1536, the National Palace Museum of Korea announced Wednesday.
Thursday, November 22, 2007 - 20:24
Name of source: http://hunews.huji.ac.il
SOURCE: http://hunews.huji.ac.il (11-21-07)
Remains of an ancient synagogue from the Roman-Byzantine era have been revealed in excavations carried out in the Arbel National Park in the Galilee under the auspices of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
The excavations, in the Khirbet Wadi Hamam, were led by Dr. Uzi Leibner of the Hebrew University’s Institute of Archaeology and Scholion – Interdisciplinary Research Center in Jewish Studies.
Dr. Leibner said that the synagogue’s design is a good example of the eastern Roman architectural tradition. A unique feature of the synagogue is the design of its mosaic floor, he said.
The excavations, in the Khirbet Wadi Hamam, were led by Dr. Uzi Leibner of the Hebrew University’s Institute of Archaeology and Scholion – Interdisciplinary Research Center in Jewish Studies.
Dr. Leibner said that the synagogue’s design is a good example of the eastern Roman architectural tradition. A unique feature of the synagogue is the design of its mosaic floor, he said.
Thursday, November 22, 2007 - 20:23
