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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: BBC
SOURCE: BBC (11-6-08)
One of the five remaining veterans of World War I has died at the age of 108, it has been announced.
Sydney Maurice Lucas was born in Leicester on 21 September 1900. He was among the last batch of conscripts to be called up in 1918.
The Armistice meant he escaped the horror of the trenches but went on to serve in World War II.
He died on 4 November in his home town near Melbourne in Australia where he moved in 1928.
He was just 17 when he was drafted into the Sherwood Foresters in August 1918.
Sydney Maurice Lucas was born in Leicester on 21 September 1900. He was among the last batch of conscripts to be called up in 1918.
The Armistice meant he escaped the horror of the trenches but went on to serve in World War II.
He died on 4 November in his home town near Melbourne in Australia where he moved in 1928.
He was just 17 when he was drafted into the Sherwood Foresters in August 1918.
Thursday, November 6, 2008 - 10:57
Comments
SOURCE: BBC (11-5-08)
What should be done with objects from antiquity, when their provenance is uncertain?
From the debate over the British Museum's Elgin Marbles, to the conviction of art dealer Giacomo Medici in 2004 for selling millions of pounds worth of stolen Italian antiquities on the international market, curators face a minefield when acquiring new objects.
Now, the director of the Art Institute in Chicago, James Cuno, has argued that we should not waste time debating what to do with objects whose origin is less than completely certain.
He says that museums should simply take all the necessary steps to ensure that purchases are legal and are not looted or stolen.
From the debate over the British Museum's Elgin Marbles, to the conviction of art dealer Giacomo Medici in 2004 for selling millions of pounds worth of stolen Italian antiquities on the international market, curators face a minefield when acquiring new objects.
Now, the director of the Art Institute in Chicago, James Cuno, has argued that we should not waste time debating what to do with objects whose origin is less than completely certain.
He says that museums should simply take all the necessary steps to ensure that purchases are legal and are not looted or stolen.
Thursday, November 6, 2008 - 00:56
SOURCE: BBC (10-30-08)
A few dozen miles south of Berlin, Germany, in the province of Brandenburg, a narrow tree-lined road weaves across scenic meadows and lake-side villages.
Near the town of Kummersdorf, a complex of old brown buildings resembling military barracks stands at the intersection of a seemingly abandoned railway line.
Right across from it, a barricaded road made of rough concrete blocks cuts through the thick pine forest.
As it curves into the wilderness, strange ruins appear, lurking in the depths of the woods.
Covered with Russian-language graffiti, these semi-collapsed bunkers can be easily mistaken for remnants of the Soviet military bases which litter Eastern Europe.
Yet, these unmarked structures represent a forgotten cradle of the Space Age.
These were powers that were trying to catch up, they were willing to entertain rather outlandish ideas like rockets
Michael Neufeld, National Air and Space Museum
It is here that the German military initiated the world's first large-scale rocket development programme in the first half of the 20th Century.
Near the town of Kummersdorf, a complex of old brown buildings resembling military barracks stands at the intersection of a seemingly abandoned railway line.
Right across from it, a barricaded road made of rough concrete blocks cuts through the thick pine forest.
As it curves into the wilderness, strange ruins appear, lurking in the depths of the woods.
Covered with Russian-language graffiti, these semi-collapsed bunkers can be easily mistaken for remnants of the Soviet military bases which litter Eastern Europe.
Yet, these unmarked structures represent a forgotten cradle of the Space Age.
These were powers that were trying to catch up, they were willing to entertain rather outlandish ideas like rockets
Michael Neufeld, National Air and Space Museum
It is here that the German military initiated the world's first large-scale rocket development programme in the first half of the 20th Century.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008 - 02:09
SOURCE: BBC (11-3-08)
Demonstrations have been held in Iran to mark the 29th anniversary of the seizure of the US embassy in Tehran.
The Islamic revolution in 1979 took over from the US backed regime of the Shah and installed the clerical rule of Ayatollah Khomeini.
Students stormed the US Embassy on 4 November 1979 taking 52 Americans hostage for 444 days.
The hostages were released in 1981 and relations between Washington and Tehran have never recovered.
The old US embassy compound is now used by the Revolutionary Guards and the walls are plastered with anti-American slogans.
The Islamic revolution in 1979 took over from the US backed regime of the Shah and installed the clerical rule of Ayatollah Khomeini.
Students stormed the US Embassy on 4 November 1979 taking 52 Americans hostage for 444 days.
The hostages were released in 1981 and relations between Washington and Tehran have never recovered.
The old US embassy compound is now used by the Revolutionary Guards and the walls are plastered with anti-American slogans.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008 - 07:29
SOURCE: BBC (11-3-08)
Adolf Hitler had ambitious plans for Linz, the city where he grew up.
He wanted to make the town on the Danube into one of the five Fuhrer cities of the Third Reich, along with Berlin, Hamburg, Nuremberg and Munich.
Linz is now examining this page of its past in an exhibition called the Fuhrer's Capital of Culture.
Martin Heller, the artistic director of Linz 2009, says there was an obligation to tackle the city's Nazi history.
"We want to reflect back and show how cultural and political ambitions went together in the Nazi time," he says.
He wanted to make the town on the Danube into one of the five Fuhrer cities of the Third Reich, along with Berlin, Hamburg, Nuremberg and Munich.
Linz is now examining this page of its past in an exhibition called the Fuhrer's Capital of Culture.
Martin Heller, the artistic director of Linz 2009, says there was an obligation to tackle the city's Nazi history.
"We want to reflect back and show how cultural and political ambitions went together in the Nazi time," he says.
Monday, November 3, 2008 - 10:53
Name of source: Chronicle of Higher Ed
SOURCE: Chronicle of Higher Ed (11-5-08)
Barack Obama, who won the overwhelming support of college students, faculty members, and higher-education officials during his campaign, will be the next president of the United States. His election on Tuesday breaks a racial barrier, making the U.S. senator from Illinois the first black man to ascend to the nation’s top job.
Mr. Obama, who taught constitutional law as a senior lecturer at the University of Chicago and was the first black president of the Harvard Law Review, campaigned on a platform that called for increased aid to students, a doubling of federal funds for basic research, and government grants to “successful community colleges” that train unemployed workers in emerging industries.
His election ushers in an administration in which the president, vice president, and their spouses will have unprecedented ties to higher education (see a related article).
Young voters overwhelmingly favored Mr. Obama in Tuesday's election, including in key battleground states such as North Carolina, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, according to national exit polls.
Over all, 68 percent of voters ages 18 to 29 cast their ballots for the Democrat, versus 30 percent who supported John McCain. That is by far the greatest share of the youth vote that any presidential candidate has received since exit polls began reporting results by age categories, in 1976, according to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, at Tufts University.
Mr. Obama, who taught constitutional law as a senior lecturer at the University of Chicago and was the first black president of the Harvard Law Review, campaigned on a platform that called for increased aid to students, a doubling of federal funds for basic research, and government grants to “successful community colleges” that train unemployed workers in emerging industries.
His election ushers in an administration in which the president, vice president, and their spouses will have unprecedented ties to higher education (see a related article).
Young voters overwhelmingly favored Mr. Obama in Tuesday's election, including in key battleground states such as North Carolina, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, according to national exit polls.
Over all, 68 percent of voters ages 18 to 29 cast their ballots for the Democrat, versus 30 percent who supported John McCain. That is by far the greatest share of the youth vote that any presidential candidate has received since exit polls began reporting results by age categories, in 1976, according to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, at Tufts University.
Thursday, November 6, 2008 - 01:54
SOURCE: Chronicle of Higher Ed (11-5-08)
The 2008 presidential election has broken so many political barriers that historians may overlook one unusual fact: When Barack Obama takes the oath of office next January alongside his running mate, Joe Biden, it will be the first time in history that the president, vice president, and both of their spouses have worked in higher education.
Taken together, the Obamas and the Bidens have amassed decades of experience at colleges and universities. Mr. Obama taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 until 2004, when he took office in the U.S. Senate. His wife, Michelle, has worked in the administration at the same university and is on leave from her job as vice president for community and external affairs at the University of Chicago Hospitals.
The Bidens also have spent considerable time in academe. For the past 17 years, Mr. Biden has taught as an adjunct professor at the Widener University School of Law. His wife, Jill, is an English instructor at Delaware Technical and Community College's Stanton-Wilmington campus.
Taken together, the Obamas and the Bidens have amassed decades of experience at colleges and universities. Mr. Obama taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 until 2004, when he took office in the U.S. Senate. His wife, Michelle, has worked in the administration at the same university and is on leave from her job as vice president for community and external affairs at the University of Chicago Hospitals.
The Bidens also have spent considerable time in academe. For the past 17 years, Mr. Biden has taught as an adjunct professor at the Widener University School of Law. His wife, Jill, is an English instructor at Delaware Technical and Community College's Stanton-Wilmington campus.
Thursday, November 6, 2008 - 01:53
Name of source: WaPo
SOURCE: WaPo (11-6-08)
Seventy-five days and counting -- to "game day," as the military planners call it. Inauguration Day to the rest of us.
It is not a lot of time until Jan. 20, the day Barack Obama will be inaugurated as the nation's first black president.
The congressional committee in charge of the swearing-in announced yesterday that the inaugural theme will come from stirring words spoken by Abraham Lincoln and be linked to the 200th anniversary of his birth next year.
"A New Birth of Freedom," words taken from the Gettysburg Address, will be woven throughout the inaugural ceremonies and will commemorate the Feb. 12, 2009, Lincoln Bicentennial.
It is not a lot of time until Jan. 20, the day Barack Obama will be inaugurated as the nation's first black president.
The congressional committee in charge of the swearing-in announced yesterday that the inaugural theme will come from stirring words spoken by Abraham Lincoln and be linked to the 200th anniversary of his birth next year.
"A New Birth of Freedom," words taken from the Gettysburg Address, will be woven throughout the inaugural ceremonies and will commemorate the Feb. 12, 2009, Lincoln Bicentennial.
Thursday, November 6, 2008 - 01:48
Name of source: Times (UK)
SOURCE: Times (UK) (11-5-08)
Slave cabins still stand at the Friendfield Plantation in Georgetown, South Carolina. The whitewashed, wooden structures in Slave Street, a sandy track at the back of the plantation owner's house, were once crammed with captive African labourers. No more than sheds really, the cabins have no heating, no glass and no indoor plumbing, and are propped up on brick pillars to keep out flood water and visiting snakes.
The Withers family relied on more than 300 Africans to bring in the rice crop from their fields along the Sampit River. Among their slaves in the mid-19th century was a tall, hardworking, God-fearing man named Jim Robinson. His remains probably lie in the slave graveyard in the swampy land down by the river's edge and his fate might well have been to disappear from history, like so many other slaves, except he is the great-great-grandfather of America's new First Lady.
Michelle Obama's family embodies the tragic yet triumphant journey of African-Americans. Slavery is a bitter history that many would prefer to forget, but it continues to cast a dark shadow over a nation that was founded on the promise that "all men are created equal" and endowed with the "unalienable rights" to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Though it may seem like a phenomenon of an impossibly distant past, slavery is only just outside living memory. The last slave cabin at Friendfield was vacated in the Sixties and one of Robinson's granddaughters, who heard stories about him from her father, still lives in a whitewashed, breeze-block bungalow on the edge of the Friendfield lands.
Carrie Nelson, 80, can barely contain her emotion when she imagines what her grandfather would think of one of his descendants moving into the White House. "I think it's beautiful. If he was still alive, I think he would – oh Lord! – be so grateful. He would be so happy."
The Withers family relied on more than 300 Africans to bring in the rice crop from their fields along the Sampit River. Among their slaves in the mid-19th century was a tall, hardworking, God-fearing man named Jim Robinson. His remains probably lie in the slave graveyard in the swampy land down by the river's edge and his fate might well have been to disappear from history, like so many other slaves, except he is the great-great-grandfather of America's new First Lady.
Michelle Obama's family embodies the tragic yet triumphant journey of African-Americans. Slavery is a bitter history that many would prefer to forget, but it continues to cast a dark shadow over a nation that was founded on the promise that "all men are created equal" and endowed with the "unalienable rights" to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Though it may seem like a phenomenon of an impossibly distant past, slavery is only just outside living memory. The last slave cabin at Friendfield was vacated in the Sixties and one of Robinson's granddaughters, who heard stories about him from her father, still lives in a whitewashed, breeze-block bungalow on the edge of the Friendfield lands.
Carrie Nelson, 80, can barely contain her emotion when she imagines what her grandfather would think of one of his descendants moving into the White House. "I think it's beautiful. If he was still alive, I think he would – oh Lord! – be so grateful. He would be so happy."
Thursday, November 6, 2008 - 01:25
SOURCE: Times (UK) (11-5-08)
She had dinner with Bobby Kennedy. Nat King Cole came to her parties. Martin Luther King sent her a telegram when her husband died and she has photographs of herself with his late wife Coretta on her sideboard.
In the early hours of yesterday morning, at the age of 106, she beat her personal best - Barack Obama singled out Ann Nixon Cooper for praise in his acceptance speech to hundreds of thousands of ecstatic supporters in Chicago.
The President-elect spoke of his admiration for Mrs Nixon Cooper, a well-to-do, monied centagenarian living in Atlanta whose own life has plotted the struggle of black Americans during the last century:
"She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn't vote for two reasons - because she was a woman and because of the colour of her skin."
Mrs Nixon Cooper was not entirely susprised when she heard her name mentioned at the victory rally. A spokesman from the Obama campaign had called her on Tuesday afternoon at her home on Martin Luther King Drive in Atlanta, and told her that she was about to become America's most famous 106-year-old.
Speaking to The Times in her dining room yesterday afternoon, Mrs Nixon Cooper, said: "I stayed up late to watch his speech. I was elated, of course. It was very exciting. I never, never, never thought we would get a black President. Never."
In the early hours of yesterday morning, at the age of 106, she beat her personal best - Barack Obama singled out Ann Nixon Cooper for praise in his acceptance speech to hundreds of thousands of ecstatic supporters in Chicago.
The President-elect spoke of his admiration for Mrs Nixon Cooper, a well-to-do, monied centagenarian living in Atlanta whose own life has plotted the struggle of black Americans during the last century:
"She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn't vote for two reasons - because she was a woman and because of the colour of her skin."
Mrs Nixon Cooper was not entirely susprised when she heard her name mentioned at the victory rally. A spokesman from the Obama campaign had called her on Tuesday afternoon at her home on Martin Luther King Drive in Atlanta, and told her that she was about to become America's most famous 106-year-old.
Speaking to The Times in her dining room yesterday afternoon, Mrs Nixon Cooper, said: "I stayed up late to watch his speech. I was elated, of course. It was very exciting. I never, never, never thought we would get a black President. Never."
Thursday, November 6, 2008 - 01:24
SOURCE: Times (UK) (11-4-08)
Henry Pierrepoint measured out death in feet and inches. He started a dynasty of hangmen who together executed more than 800 people. His diaries, which came to light yesterday, reveal the undemonstrative efficiency that made his son, Albert, the most prolific of all British executioners.
Pierrepoint senior’s executions, 105 in all, are recorded in an unemotional log by name, age, height and drop. His only remarks describe prisoners’ necks in chillingly stark terms – “long”, “weak”, “thin” or “ordinary”.
His more famous cases, such as the “Finchley Baby Farmers”, appear in more detail. Amelia Sach and Annie Walters were paid by women who had given birth illegitimately to have the children adopted – but instead killed them by poisoning. Pierrepoint hanged the pair after baby clothes were found in Sach’s house.
He did not record his feelings about such cases but the procession of death gradually seems to have taken its toll. The handwriting in the diary becomes increasingly erratic and smudged, as Pierrepoint took to drinking heavily.
“This is a fascinating insight into British criminal history,” Simon Nuttall, of Marshall’s auctioneers, said. “While Henry’s logs are very meticulous to start off with, they seem to get increasingly untidy towards the end, perhaps illustrating how his career was heading.”
The diary is in private hands and will be sold at auction in Cheshire next week, along with a “well-used” tape measure with which Pierrepoint measured out the drops.
Pierrepoint senior’s executions, 105 in all, are recorded in an unemotional log by name, age, height and drop. His only remarks describe prisoners’ necks in chillingly stark terms – “long”, “weak”, “thin” or “ordinary”.
His more famous cases, such as the “Finchley Baby Farmers”, appear in more detail. Amelia Sach and Annie Walters were paid by women who had given birth illegitimately to have the children adopted – but instead killed them by poisoning. Pierrepoint hanged the pair after baby clothes were found in Sach’s house.
He did not record his feelings about such cases but the procession of death gradually seems to have taken its toll. The handwriting in the diary becomes increasingly erratic and smudged, as Pierrepoint took to drinking heavily.
“This is a fascinating insight into British criminal history,” Simon Nuttall, of Marshall’s auctioneers, said. “While Henry’s logs are very meticulous to start off with, they seem to get increasingly untidy towards the end, perhaps illustrating how his career was heading.”
The diary is in private hands and will be sold at auction in Cheshire next week, along with a “well-used” tape measure with which Pierrepoint measured out the drops.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008 - 08:18
SOURCE: Times (UK) (10-31-08)
Who is the greatest of them all? While Barack Obama and John McCain battle to become the 44th President of the United States, we asked a panel of experts from The Times to rank the previous Commanders-in-Chief in order of greatness.
1. Abraham Lincoln
1861-65 (Republican, National Union)
The No 1: our panel chose the radical Republican who kept the fledgling nation alive when it could have collapsed altogether.
The first Republican President, Lincoln led the defeat of the Confederate states in the American Civil War and freed around four million slaves by issuing the Emancipation Proclamation. The formal abolition of slavery in the US was ratified soon after his death.
He succeeded in unifying the nation militarily as well as laying out a moral imperative for its governance in his Gettysburg address. During the final days of the civil war he was shot dead by John Wilkes Booth.
"Fought and won a just war, kept the United States united and created the ground for a country which could live up to its constitution." Camilla Cavendish, columnist.
"Had the coolest-sounding presidential name of all time." Chris Ayres, Los Angeles correspondent.
2. George Washington
1789-97 (No party)
Washington led the army that vanquished the British during the American Revolutionary War before presiding over the drafting of the Constitution. When it came to elect the first US President he was chosen unanimously by electors representing the 11 states of the Union.
He was celebrated as the Father of the Nation after expanding the Union and overseeing the creation of a taxation system, a national bank and the first Supreme Court judges. His Farewell Address also became one of the cornerstones of American democracy but he still missed out on top spot in our rankings.
"Inspired generalship and making it all possible." Ben Macintyre, writer-at-large.
3. Franklin D. Roosevelt
1933-45 (Democratic)
The longest-serving of all the presidents, Roosevelt was in office for more than a decade until his death. He was re-elected four times during one of the most tumultuous periods of the 20th century.
His radical, big-government spending programme designed to kick-start the US economy became global consensus after the Second World War, but it was widely mistrusted before the conflict. FDR also ended US isolationism by leading America into battle in Europe.
"FDR is top for me, because he navigated America out of depression and through the Second World War." Tom Baldwin, Washington Bureau chief...
1. Abraham Lincoln
1861-65 (Republican, National Union)
The No 1: our panel chose the radical Republican who kept the fledgling nation alive when it could have collapsed altogether.
The first Republican President, Lincoln led the defeat of the Confederate states in the American Civil War and freed around four million slaves by issuing the Emancipation Proclamation. The formal abolition of slavery in the US was ratified soon after his death.
He succeeded in unifying the nation militarily as well as laying out a moral imperative for its governance in his Gettysburg address. During the final days of the civil war he was shot dead by John Wilkes Booth.
"Fought and won a just war, kept the United States united and created the ground for a country which could live up to its constitution." Camilla Cavendish, columnist.
"Had the coolest-sounding presidential name of all time." Chris Ayres, Los Angeles correspondent.
2. George Washington
1789-97 (No party)
Washington led the army that vanquished the British during the American Revolutionary War before presiding over the drafting of the Constitution. When it came to elect the first US President he was chosen unanimously by electors representing the 11 states of the Union.
He was celebrated as the Father of the Nation after expanding the Union and overseeing the creation of a taxation system, a national bank and the first Supreme Court judges. His Farewell Address also became one of the cornerstones of American democracy but he still missed out on top spot in our rankings.
"Inspired generalship and making it all possible." Ben Macintyre, writer-at-large.
3. Franklin D. Roosevelt
1933-45 (Democratic)
The longest-serving of all the presidents, Roosevelt was in office for more than a decade until his death. He was re-elected four times during one of the most tumultuous periods of the 20th century.
His radical, big-government spending programme designed to kick-start the US economy became global consensus after the Second World War, but it was widely mistrusted before the conflict. FDR also ended US isolationism by leading America into battle in Europe.
"FDR is top for me, because he navigated America out of depression and through the Second World War." Tom Baldwin, Washington Bureau chief...
Sunday, November 2, 2008 - 12:04
SOURCE: Times (UK) (11-1-08)
Graffiti on a wall near the hall where Saddam Hussein is buried describes him as the “martyr of the Arab nation”, another line simply says: “Long live Saddam”.
Inside the tomb, which is treated more like a shrine, the sense of adoration grows stronger. Photographs of the executed president with a smile on his face adorn the walls, along with gifts and a number of poems inspired by his death.
The former dictator’s body rests in the centre of the room. His grave, framed by plastic flowers, is covered in a white sheet embroidered with gold. The old flag of Iraq lies at its head, a final act of defiance to the new Iraqi Government.
Almost two years after he was hanged for crimes against humanity, Saddam and his mustachioed image live on in the hearts of his followers who flock in increasing numbers to the burial site in al-Awja, a village near Tikrit, north of Baghdad, where the dictator spent much of his childhood, to pay their respects.
Plans are underway to turn the hall, originally built to hold celebrations, into a museum to commemorate the former leader’s life, according to Falah Hassan al-Neda, son of the head of Saddam’s tribe.
“This is to make sure he is never forgotten,” Mr al-Neda, 35, told The Times on a visit to the site. The Albu Nassir tribe is in charge of maintaining the tomb and defending Saddam’s memory.
Inside the tomb, which is treated more like a shrine, the sense of adoration grows stronger. Photographs of the executed president with a smile on his face adorn the walls, along with gifts and a number of poems inspired by his death.
The former dictator’s body rests in the centre of the room. His grave, framed by plastic flowers, is covered in a white sheet embroidered with gold. The old flag of Iraq lies at its head, a final act of defiance to the new Iraqi Government.
Almost two years after he was hanged for crimes against humanity, Saddam and his mustachioed image live on in the hearts of his followers who flock in increasing numbers to the burial site in al-Awja, a village near Tikrit, north of Baghdad, where the dictator spent much of his childhood, to pay their respects.
Plans are underway to turn the hall, originally built to hold celebrations, into a museum to commemorate the former leader’s life, according to Falah Hassan al-Neda, son of the head of Saddam’s tribe.
“This is to make sure he is never forgotten,” Mr al-Neda, 35, told The Times on a visit to the site. The Albu Nassir tribe is in charge of maintaining the tomb and defending Saddam’s memory.
Sunday, November 2, 2008 - 11:16
Name of source: CNN
SOURCE: CNN (11-5-08)
The Rev. Martin Luther King is looking down on the United States, smiling, Otis Sutton said Wednesday.
"That's what he wanted. He'd been preaching that all along," Sutton, 78, said of the nation electing its first African-American president.
Sutton, who has worked on and off at the historic Busy Bee Cafe in Atlanta, Georgia, since it opened in 1947, was baptized by the civil rights icon's father, King Sr. He remembers playing pick-up football games in a dirt lot with King Jr. when they were both youngsters in Atlanta.
Asked if King Jr. was any good at football, Sutton chuckled.
"He liked to read and study," he said with a reverence that prohibited him from disparaging King Jr. in any way, "but he loved the game."
Walk around Atlanta and you'll find plenty of African-Americans who hope Sen. Barack Obama will inspire young people to reach for a book rather than a football.
"That's what he wanted. He'd been preaching that all along," Sutton, 78, said of the nation electing its first African-American president.
Sutton, who has worked on and off at the historic Busy Bee Cafe in Atlanta, Georgia, since it opened in 1947, was baptized by the civil rights icon's father, King Sr. He remembers playing pick-up football games in a dirt lot with King Jr. when they were both youngsters in Atlanta.
Asked if King Jr. was any good at football, Sutton chuckled.
"He liked to read and study," he said with a reverence that prohibited him from disparaging King Jr. in any way, "but he loved the game."
Walk around Atlanta and you'll find plenty of African-Americans who hope Sen. Barack Obama will inspire young people to reach for a book rather than a football.
Thursday, November 6, 2008 - 01:18
Name of source: Newsweek
SOURCE: Newsweek (11-5-08)
The good news for President-elect Barack Obama: following George W. Bush is only slightly harder than following Jane Fonda at a Veterans of Foreign Wars rally. The bad news: compared with governing, campaigning is easy.
As much as Obama may want to turn the page and make good on his change mantra during the first hundred days, he might take a moment to read about the Hoover-Roosevelt transition of 1932-33. Or peruse tales of the clumsy Clinton start after the 1992 election. The period between the first Tuesday in November and Jan. 20 can be a treacherous time for an incoming commander in chief, and history is rife with controversy—from radioactive cabinet nominee dramas to tales of political revenge, catty vandalism and petty theft. "The early months are so important," White House veteran David Gergen has said, "because that's when you have the most authority, but that's also when you have the least capacity for making the right decisions." A brief history of some of the most troubled presidential transitions ....
As much as Obama may want to turn the page and make good on his change mantra during the first hundred days, he might take a moment to read about the Hoover-Roosevelt transition of 1932-33. Or peruse tales of the clumsy Clinton start after the 1992 election. The period between the first Tuesday in November and Jan. 20 can be a treacherous time for an incoming commander in chief, and history is rife with controversy—from radioactive cabinet nominee dramas to tales of political revenge, catty vandalism and petty theft. "The early months are so important," White House veteran David Gergen has said, "because that's when you have the most authority, but that's also when you have the least capacity for making the right decisions." A brief history of some of the most troubled presidential transitions ....
Thursday, November 6, 2008 - 01:09
Name of source: St. Louis Today
SOURCE: St. Louis Today (11-4-08)
With an outdated kitchen and living space that measures only about 900 square feet, the modest house at 4420 Ohio Street isn't your typical $400,000 listing. It's what lies beneath the home that excites lovers of St. Louis history, or, in this case, prehistory.
The house sits on Sugar Loaf Mound, the city's last remaining link with the native people who lived here centuries before 1764, when Auguste Chouteau and a band of Creoles landed at the river's edge.
There once were dozens of these earthen structures in St. Louis, but all save Sugar Loaf were cleared in the name of progress.
The house sits on Sugar Loaf Mound, the city's last remaining link with the native people who lived here centuries before 1764, when Auguste Chouteau and a band of Creoles landed at the river's edge.
There once were dozens of these earthen structures in St. Louis, but all save Sugar Loaf were cleared in the name of progress.
Thursday, November 6, 2008 - 00:58
Name of source: Reuters
SOURCE: Reuters (11-5-08)
The Vatican returned a small fragment of the Parthenon Marbles to Greece on Wednesday on a one-year loan, fuelling calls for the British Museum to hand back its own priceless sculptures from the ancient temple.
The loan of the fragment, one of three in the Vatican Museum's vast collection of antiquities, follows a request for its return by Greece's late Orthodox Archbishop Christopoulos at a meeting with Pope Benedict in 2006.
In recent years Greece has stepped up its campaign to recover large sections of the frieze removed from the Parthenon in 1801 by Thomas Bruce, seventh Earl of Elgin and British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire.
The loan of the fragment, one of three in the Vatican Museum's vast collection of antiquities, follows a request for its return by Greece's late Orthodox Archbishop Christopoulos at a meeting with Pope Benedict in 2006.
In recent years Greece has stepped up its campaign to recover large sections of the frieze removed from the Parthenon in 1801 by Thomas Bruce, seventh Earl of Elgin and British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire.
Thursday, November 6, 2008 - 00:57
Name of source: Deutsche Welle
SOURCE: Deutsche Welle (11-5-08)
Nearly 70 years after the Nazis' infamous 1938 pogrom against the Jews, German lawmakers reaffirmed Germany's commitment to combating anti-Semitism. But the debate revealed deep party rifts.
Condemning anti-Semitism is something nearly all German politicians agree on, regardless of party ties. And on Tuesday, Nov. 4 -- five days prior to the anniversary of the Night of Broken Glass pogrom -- members from all parliamentary fractions signed a declaration emphasizing Germany's commitment to funding projects that counter anti-Semitism, improve education, and reduce anti-Semitic crime.
The declaration calls on the German government to commission a regular report on anti-Semitic activity and attitudes in the country. It also calls for long-term funding for projects that have proven successful in combating anti-Semitism. School curricula covering Judaism, Jewish history and modern-day Israel are to be expanded as well.
Though all parties agreed on the content of the document, Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Party (CDU), together with its Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union (CSU), refused to sign the same paper as the hard-line socialist Left party.
As a result, two identical declarations were passed -- one by the Left party and the other by the four remaining parties represented in the Bundestag. The Left Party is made up of former disaffected Social Democrats and former East German communists.
Condemning anti-Semitism is something nearly all German politicians agree on, regardless of party ties. And on Tuesday, Nov. 4 -- five days prior to the anniversary of the Night of Broken Glass pogrom -- members from all parliamentary fractions signed a declaration emphasizing Germany's commitment to funding projects that counter anti-Semitism, improve education, and reduce anti-Semitic crime.
The declaration calls on the German government to commission a regular report on anti-Semitic activity and attitudes in the country. It also calls for long-term funding for projects that have proven successful in combating anti-Semitism. School curricula covering Judaism, Jewish history and modern-day Israel are to be expanded as well.
Though all parties agreed on the content of the document, Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Party (CDU), together with its Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union (CSU), refused to sign the same paper as the hard-line socialist Left party.
As a result, two identical declarations were passed -- one by the Left party and the other by the four remaining parties represented in the Bundestag. The Left Party is made up of former disaffected Social Democrats and former East German communists.
Thursday, November 6, 2008 - 00:56
SOURCE: Deutsche Welle (11-4-08)
Radio transcripts in which the Nazi-era Pope Pius XII purportedly denounced totalitarian rule have gone on show in a new Vatican exhibition.
Some historians and Jewish groups have charged that Pius XII failed to speak out against the Nazi massacre of Jews.
But the exhibition sets out to paint Pius in a different light.
"The purpose is to allow the general public to get to know the full life of Pope Eugenio Pacelli (Pius XII)," Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences President Walter Brandmueller, told reporters, Monday.
"In part it serves to counter some of the malignant interpretations that try to cast a shadow on the figure of Pope Pacelli," he added.
Some historians and Jewish groups have charged that Pius XII failed to speak out against the Nazi massacre of Jews.
But the exhibition sets out to paint Pius in a different light.
"The purpose is to allow the general public to get to know the full life of Pope Eugenio Pacelli (Pius XII)," Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences President Walter Brandmueller, told reporters, Monday.
"In part it serves to counter some of the malignant interpretations that try to cast a shadow on the figure of Pope Pacelli," he added.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008 - 07:35
Name of source: Telegraph (UK)
SOURCE: Telegraph (UK) (11-5-08)
The grave, which also held 50 tortoise shells, a leopard pelvis and a human foot, is thought to be one of earliest burial sites of a shaman on archeological record and is the first of its kind found in the Middle East, said Leore Grosman, the archeologist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem who led the excavation.
She said that the precise way the shaman, who was about 45 at the time of her death, was buried and the type of objects buried with her suggests her high standing in the community.
"Clearly a great amount of time and energy was invested in the preparation, arrangement, and sealing of the grave," said Miss Grosman, noting the body was placed in an unusual way – laid out on its side and its legs folded inward at the knees.
It was then covered with 10 large stones, either to keep wild animals away, speculated Miss Grosman, or as part of efforts by the community to keep the shaman's spirit inside the grave.
She said that the precise way the shaman, who was about 45 at the time of her death, was buried and the type of objects buried with her suggests her high standing in the community.
"Clearly a great amount of time and energy was invested in the preparation, arrangement, and sealing of the grave," said Miss Grosman, noting the body was placed in an unusual way – laid out on its side and its legs folded inward at the knees.
It was then covered with 10 large stones, either to keep wild animals away, speculated Miss Grosman, or as part of efforts by the community to keep the shaman's spirit inside the grave.
Thursday, November 6, 2008 - 00:54
SOURCE: Telegraph (UK) (11-5-08)
The previously unseen photographs were taken by a high ranking Nazi officer who attended the ceremony at Compiegne in Northern France.
Hitler is shown at the peak of his confidence. In one of the photos Goering is seen shaking Hitler's hand. In others he can be seen inspecting a group of high ranking German officers.
They are being auctioned in Ludlow, Shrops.
Richard Westwood-Brookes, Historical Documents Expert from Mullock's Auctioneers, said: "The photographs provide a vivid record of the most important event in the early stages of the War - the fall of France - which was also Hitler's highest achievement.
"These are very significant as they show the moment when Hitler had conquered Europe and only had England left to invade."
He added the photographs were unusual because all official photographs were taken looking upwards to make Hitler appear taller than the 5ft 5in he was.
He added: "They really illustrate how short he actually was."
Mr Westwood-Brookes said the 10 images of the French surrender were taken at the same place as the 1918 Armistice had been signed, in order for Hitler to "totally humiliate" France.
It is the first time that unpublished photographs of the French surrender have come up for auction and they were expected to fetch around £500.
Hitler is shown at the peak of his confidence. In one of the photos Goering is seen shaking Hitler's hand. In others he can be seen inspecting a group of high ranking German officers.
They are being auctioned in Ludlow, Shrops.
Richard Westwood-Brookes, Historical Documents Expert from Mullock's Auctioneers, said: "The photographs provide a vivid record of the most important event in the early stages of the War - the fall of France - which was also Hitler's highest achievement.
"These are very significant as they show the moment when Hitler had conquered Europe and only had England left to invade."
He added the photographs were unusual because all official photographs were taken looking upwards to make Hitler appear taller than the 5ft 5in he was.
He added: "They really illustrate how short he actually was."
Mr Westwood-Brookes said the 10 images of the French surrender were taken at the same place as the 1918 Armistice had been signed, in order for Hitler to "totally humiliate" France.
It is the first time that unpublished photographs of the French surrender have come up for auction and they were expected to fetch around £500.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008 - 10:49
SOURCE: Telegraph (UK) (11-2-08)
The animation, posted on the New Zealand company's internet website for Hallowe'en and still on display, depicts Sir Edmund's decaying corpse flanked by the late Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother and the late Australian actor Heath Ledger.
The three are seen climbing out of their graves and gyrating to the tones of the Michael Jackson song Thriller.
Sir Edmund died in January, aged 88.
His son Peter Hillary called the advertisement "a little grotesque".
"I don't think it's funny and I'm not very impressed," he told the Dominion-Post newspaper.
"It is early days and it's still pretty raw. It's extremely poor taste really.
"The reality is they've put it on the internet. It is now uncontrollable. The damage is done."
The company, Hell Pizza, is no stranger to causing controversy with outrageous advertising.
Previous promotions have featured Adolf Hitler, the death of the "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin, and a mail drop giving away condoms which upset the Roman Catholic Church.
Sir Edmund, who became the first man to climb Everest on the eve of the Queen's coronation in 1953, is regarded as a national hero by New Zealanders.
The three are seen climbing out of their graves and gyrating to the tones of the Michael Jackson song Thriller.
Sir Edmund died in January, aged 88.
His son Peter Hillary called the advertisement "a little grotesque".
"I don't think it's funny and I'm not very impressed," he told the Dominion-Post newspaper.
"It is early days and it's still pretty raw. It's extremely poor taste really.
"The reality is they've put it on the internet. It is now uncontrollable. The damage is done."
The company, Hell Pizza, is no stranger to causing controversy with outrageous advertising.
Previous promotions have featured Adolf Hitler, the death of the "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin, and a mail drop giving away condoms which upset the Roman Catholic Church.
Sir Edmund, who became the first man to climb Everest on the eve of the Queen's coronation in 1953, is regarded as a national hero by New Zealanders.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008 - 07:55
SOURCE: Telegraph (UK) (11-3-08)
Carlos Arias Navarro, the last Spanish prime minister to serve under Gen Franco, met with US officials to garner support for such a move, according to documents held in the American National Archive and made public on Monday.
The declassified documents, released to Spanish daily newspaper El Pais, revealed that Gen Franco's government was "deeply concerned" by events across the border following the Carnation Revolution of April, 1974.
The event, a bloodless coup by the Left which effectively put an end to Portugal's authoritarian regime and set the nation on the path to democracy, sparked fears that Gen Franco's own regime could go the same way.
Mr Arias privately assured the Americans that "adequate precautions" were being taken to prevent "the events in Portugal from spilling over the Spanish border," a report from the time claims.
Six months before Gen Franco's death in November 1975 his prime minister met with the US deputy Secretary of State to express Spanish concerns and win backing for military intervention.
"Portugal posed a serious threat to Spain, not only because of the way the situation there was developing, but because of the foreign support it might ultimately receive, which could be hostile to Spain," wrote diplomat Robert Ingersoll to the then Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, in a report on the March 1975 meeting.
The declassified documents, released to Spanish daily newspaper El Pais, revealed that Gen Franco's government was "deeply concerned" by events across the border following the Carnation Revolution of April, 1974.
The event, a bloodless coup by the Left which effectively put an end to Portugal's authoritarian regime and set the nation on the path to democracy, sparked fears that Gen Franco's own regime could go the same way.
Mr Arias privately assured the Americans that "adequate precautions" were being taken to prevent "the events in Portugal from spilling over the Spanish border," a report from the time claims.
Six months before Gen Franco's death in November 1975 his prime minister met with the US deputy Secretary of State to express Spanish concerns and win backing for military intervention.
"Portugal posed a serious threat to Spain, not only because of the way the situation there was developing, but because of the foreign support it might ultimately receive, which could be hostile to Spain," wrote diplomat Robert Ingersoll to the then Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, in a report on the March 1975 meeting.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008 - 07:52
SOURCE: Telegraph (UK) (11-3-08)
One of the great mysteries surrounding the collapse of the Chinese empire may have been solved by scientific tests suggesting the last emperor but one was poisoned with arsenic.
Analysis of hair and other fragments taken from the tomb of the Guangxu emperor, who died 100 years ago this month, showed high levels of the chemical.
The findings are seen as proving suspicions that the emperor was murdered, and the implications will be eagerly discussed, not just by historians. The traditional secrecy of Chinese rulers through the centuries makes the fate of China's last dynastic rulers important for understanding modern-day Communist Party politics.
Analysis of hair and other fragments taken from the tomb of the Guangxu emperor, who died 100 years ago this month, showed high levels of the chemical.
The findings are seen as proving suspicions that the emperor was murdered, and the implications will be eagerly discussed, not just by historians. The traditional secrecy of Chinese rulers through the centuries makes the fate of China's last dynastic rulers important for understanding modern-day Communist Party politics.
Monday, November 3, 2008 - 17:55
SOURCE: Telegraph (UK) (11-2-08)
A senior government official said that the yacht, the palatial 270-foot Ocean Breeze, has been moored off the southern French resort of Nice. It has been estimated that it could fetch approximately £20 million.
The official, Ali al-Dabbagh, said that the government hopes for a sale within the next few weeks.
While grand when it was built in 1981, the Ocean Breeze is modest in size compared with the "megayachts" commissioned by a new wave of super-rich.
However it is decked out with the sort of familiar features that abounded in Saddam's luxurious, gold-trimmed, palaces. It boasts gold taps, a mini-operating theatre, a helicopter landing pad and a secret escape passageway.
Mr Dabbagh said that an ownership dispute over the yacht had concluded in a French court.
"The ruling was in favour of Iraq," he said.
The official, Ali al-Dabbagh, said that the government hopes for a sale within the next few weeks.
While grand when it was built in 1981, the Ocean Breeze is modest in size compared with the "megayachts" commissioned by a new wave of super-rich.
However it is decked out with the sort of familiar features that abounded in Saddam's luxurious, gold-trimmed, palaces. It boasts gold taps, a mini-operating theatre, a helicopter landing pad and a secret escape passageway.
Mr Dabbagh said that an ownership dispute over the yacht had concluded in a French court.
"The ruling was in favour of Iraq," he said.
Monday, November 3, 2008 - 11:21
Name of source: NYT
SOURCE: NYT (11-4-08)
No president since before Barack Obama was born has ascended to the Oval Office confronted by the accumulation of seismic challenges awaiting him. Historians grasping for parallels point to Abraham Lincoln taking office as the nation was collapsing into Civil War, or Franklin D. Roosevelt arriving in Washington in the throes of the Great Depression.
The task facing Mr. Obama does not rise to those levels, but that these are the comparisons most often cited sobers even Democrats rejoicing at their return to power. On the shoulders of a 47-year-old first-term senator, with the power of inspiration yet no real executive experience, now falls the responsibility of prosecuting two wars, protecting the nation from terrorist threat and stitching back together a shredded economy.
Given the depth of these issues, Mr. Obama has little choice but to “put your arm around chaos,” in the words of Leon E. Panetta, the former White House chief of staff who has been advising his transition team.
The task facing Mr. Obama does not rise to those levels, but that these are the comparisons most often cited sobers even Democrats rejoicing at their return to power. On the shoulders of a 47-year-old first-term senator, with the power of inspiration yet no real executive experience, now falls the responsibility of prosecuting two wars, protecting the nation from terrorist threat and stitching back together a shredded economy.
Given the depth of these issues, Mr. Obama has little choice but to “put your arm around chaos,” in the words of Leon E. Panetta, the former White House chief of staff who has been advising his transition team.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008 - 15:49
SOURCE: NYT (11-4-08)
Barack Hussein Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States on Tuesday, sweeping away the last racial barrier in American politics with ease as the country chose him as its first black chief executive.
Mr. Obama’s election amounted to a national catharsis — a repudiation of a historically unpopular Republican president and his economic and foreign policies, and an embrace of Mr. Obama’s call for a change in the direction and the tone of the country. But it was just as much a strikingly symbolic moment in the evolution of the nation’s fraught racial history, a breakthrough that would have seemed unthinkable just two years ago.
Mr. Obama, 47, a first-term Democratic senator from Illinois, defeated Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, a former prisoner of war who was making his second bid for the presidency.
Mr. Obama’s election amounted to a national catharsis — a repudiation of a historically unpopular Republican president and his economic and foreign policies, and an embrace of Mr. Obama’s call for a change in the direction and the tone of the country. But it was just as much a strikingly symbolic moment in the evolution of the nation’s fraught racial history, a breakthrough that would have seemed unthinkable just two years ago.
Mr. Obama, 47, a first-term Democratic senator from Illinois, defeated Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, a former prisoner of war who was making his second bid for the presidency.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008 - 01:45
SOURCE: NYT (11-3-08)
Timothy J. Petumenos, the independent counsel to the Alaska
Personnel Board, concluded that in the firing of the former
Alaska public safety commissioner Walt Monegan,"There is no
probable cause to believe that the governor or any other
state official violated the Alaska Executive Ethics Act in
connection with these matters."
Monday, November 3, 2008 - 22:19
SOURCE: NYT (11-2-08)
Most people do not believe that Tim Dufel can push 2,000 tons of steel all the way across New York State. Isn’t the old Erie Canal dried up, they ask him, its locks broken, its ditch filled in and forgotten?
They ask these questions even on days like this one, when Mr. Dufel is standing in an orange life vest, watching brown water flood Lock 16 here and lift his loaded barge like a toy battleship in a bathtub.
“Sixty percent of the people I meet have no idea the Erie Canal is even still functioning,” Mr. Dufel said. He is assistant engineer on the tugboat Margot and an owner of the New York State Marine Highway Transportation Company, one of the largest shippers on the canal.
After decades of decline, commercial shipping has returned to the Erie Canal, though it is a far cry from the canal’s heyday. The number of shipments rose to 42 so far this year during the season the canal is open, from 15 during last year’s season, which lasts from May 1 to Nov. 15.
They ask these questions even on days like this one, when Mr. Dufel is standing in an orange life vest, watching brown water flood Lock 16 here and lift his loaded barge like a toy battleship in a bathtub.
“Sixty percent of the people I meet have no idea the Erie Canal is even still functioning,” Mr. Dufel said. He is assistant engineer on the tugboat Margot and an owner of the New York State Marine Highway Transportation Company, one of the largest shippers on the canal.
After decades of decline, commercial shipping has returned to the Erie Canal, though it is a far cry from the canal’s heyday. The number of shipments rose to 42 so far this year during the season the canal is open, from 15 during last year’s season, which lasts from May 1 to Nov. 15.
Sunday, November 2, 2008 - 22:36
SOURCE: NYT (11-1-08)
“THE conception of political equality from the Declaration of Independence, to Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, to the Fifteenth, Seventeenth and Nineteenth Amendments can mean only one thing — one person, one vote,” the Supreme Court ruled almost a half-century ago. Yet the framers of the Constitution made this aspiration impossible, then and now.
Under the Constitution, electoral votes are apportioned to states according to the total number of senators and representatives from each state. So even the smallest states, regardless of their population, get at least three electoral votes.
But there is a second, less obvious distortion to the “one person, one vote” principle. Seats in the House of Representatives are apportioned according to the number of residents in a given state, not the number of eligible voters. And many residents — children, noncitizens and, in many states, prisoners and felons — do not have the right to vote.
Under the Constitution, electoral votes are apportioned to states according to the total number of senators and representatives from each state. So even the smallest states, regardless of their population, get at least three electoral votes.
But there is a second, less obvious distortion to the “one person, one vote” principle. Seats in the House of Representatives are apportioned according to the number of residents in a given state, not the number of eligible voters. And many residents — children, noncitizens and, in many states, prisoners and felons — do not have the right to vote.
Sunday, November 2, 2008 - 22:20
SOURCE: NYT (11-1-08)
DONORA, Pa. — When the killer smog rolled into town here in October 1948, 12-year-old Joann Crow thought it was an adventure.
“Dad couldn’t drive us to school because it was so hard to see,” said Mrs. Crow, now 72. “He had to walk us to school that Wednesday with a flashlight, which we thought was fun.”
But the next day, Thursday, Oct. 28, her grandmother, Susan Gnora, 62, started coughing and experiencing chest pains. It was the same for a lot of older residents of this Monongahela River valley mill town 24 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.
“She died the next day. That’s when we all got worried,” said Mrs. Crow, a retired child care worker. “They tried to blame it on asthma. But we knew that wasn’t true. She was always so strong. It was that smog from the mills.”
By the time a rain on Oct. 31 cleared the air, 20 people in Donora had died, and nearly half the town became ill in one of the worst air pollution disasters in the nation’s history.
After decades of largely remaining silent about the horrors of that week, Donora residents began to open up about it in recent years, placing a historical marker in town on the 50th anniversary.
“Dad couldn’t drive us to school because it was so hard to see,” said Mrs. Crow, now 72. “He had to walk us to school that Wednesday with a flashlight, which we thought was fun.”
But the next day, Thursday, Oct. 28, her grandmother, Susan Gnora, 62, started coughing and experiencing chest pains. It was the same for a lot of older residents of this Monongahela River valley mill town 24 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.
“She died the next day. That’s when we all got worried,” said Mrs. Crow, a retired child care worker. “They tried to blame it on asthma. But we knew that wasn’t true. She was always so strong. It was that smog from the mills.”
By the time a rain on Oct. 31 cleared the air, 20 people in Donora had died, and nearly half the town became ill in one of the worst air pollution disasters in the nation’s history.
After decades of largely remaining silent about the horrors of that week, Donora residents began to open up about it in recent years, placing a historical marker in town on the 50th anniversary.
Sunday, November 2, 2008 - 12:47
Name of source: Daily Mail (UK)
SOURCE: Daily Mail (UK) (11-4-08)
They rode 'into the jaws of Death, into the mouth of Hell', wrote Tennyson in his poem commemorating the suicidal Charge of the Light Brigade.
Now a remarkable account from one of the soldiers involved in the carnage has surfaced to provide a graphic insight into one of the most glorious failures in British military history.
Private James Olley, who was just 16 at the time of the Crimean War charge, described how he fought on despite being shot in the eye and having his skull split by a Russian sabre as comrades fell around him.
The three-page manuscript, owned by a private collector, is expected to fetch thousands of pounds when it is auctioned tomorrow.
Now a remarkable account from one of the soldiers involved in the carnage has surfaced to provide a graphic insight into one of the most glorious failures in British military history.
Private James Olley, who was just 16 at the time of the Crimean War charge, described how he fought on despite being shot in the eye and having his skull split by a Russian sabre as comrades fell around him.
The three-page manuscript, owned by a private collector, is expected to fetch thousands of pounds when it is auctioned tomorrow.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008 - 10:39
SOURCE: Daily Mail (UK) (10-24-08)
A graveyard of former Nazis bent on creating a 'foreign Fatherland' in the Amazonian rainforests from which to spread Hitler's maniacal beliefs has been discovered in Brazil.
The relics betray a madcap plan back in the 1930s to create a master race thousands of miles from Germany.
The graveyard and other ruins that fanatical Nazis left behind are chronicled in a new book.
Entitled ’The Guayana-Projekt. A German Adventure on the Amazon’ it says die-hard Nazis believed they were destined to settle the world like pioneers of the wild west in America.
The relics betray a madcap plan back in the 1930s to create a master race thousands of miles from Germany.
The graveyard and other ruins that fanatical Nazis left behind are chronicled in a new book.
Entitled ’The Guayana-Projekt. A German Adventure on the Amazon’ it says die-hard Nazis believed they were destined to settle the world like pioneers of the wild west in America.
Monday, November 3, 2008 - 21:55
SOURCE: Daily Mail (UK) (11-3-08)
On a trip out in London just days after being freed from jail, this is the only terrorist to survive the Iranian Embassy siege - enjoying his new life on benefits.
Fowzi Nejad, 51, has been granted parole after serving 28 years for his part in the hostage-taking, and will not be deported back to his native Iran because of human rights laws.
Instead, he has been placed in a safe house in London and receives hundreds of pounds every week in free housing and benefits.
A source said: 'He will usually be up by 8am. He does a circuit, he is super-fit and might go for a run and to the gym. In the afternoon he tends to go to the job centre, the pictures or even sight-seeing around London.
'He is leading quite a good lifestyle really. He is so happy to be out that he is doing the tour of London. He's not doing any harm but he has areas where he can't go, for example the Iranian Embassy.'
The source added: 'He was completely understanding that what he did was wrong. He has apologised to those people who were involved. He is completely reformed.'
Nejad and five other terrorists forced their way into the embassy in West London in April 1980, demanding independence for part of southern Iran and taking 26 hostages.
They killed a hostage after six days, which led then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher to order the SAS to storm the building.
Fowzi Nejad, 51, has been granted parole after serving 28 years for his part in the hostage-taking, and will not be deported back to his native Iran because of human rights laws.
Instead, he has been placed in a safe house in London and receives hundreds of pounds every week in free housing and benefits.
A source said: 'He will usually be up by 8am. He does a circuit, he is super-fit and might go for a run and to the gym. In the afternoon he tends to go to the job centre, the pictures or even sight-seeing around London.
'He is leading quite a good lifestyle really. He is so happy to be out that he is doing the tour of London. He's not doing any harm but he has areas where he can't go, for example the Iranian Embassy.'
The source added: 'He was completely understanding that what he did was wrong. He has apologised to those people who were involved. He is completely reformed.'
Nejad and five other terrorists forced their way into the embassy in West London in April 1980, demanding independence for part of southern Iran and taking 26 hostages.
They killed a hostage after six days, which led then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher to order the SAS to storm the building.
Monday, November 3, 2008 - 11:11
SOURCE: Daily Mail (UK) (11-3-08)
Headstones at the Commonwealth War Graves commission cemetery in France are being re-engraved to ensure the writing remains legible.
The war graves in La Targette, near Arras in the north of the country, are being repaired by stone cutters to combat the ravages of time.
The natural erosion of the Portland Down headstones, first engraved 80 years ago, has made reading the inscriptions increasingly difficult.
The war graves in La Targette, near Arras in the north of the country, are being repaired by stone cutters to combat the ravages of time.
The natural erosion of the Portland Down headstones, first engraved 80 years ago, has made reading the inscriptions increasingly difficult.
Monday, November 3, 2008 - 11:08
SOURCE: Daily Mail (UK) (11-2-08)
Town halls have banned employees from using Latin words on documents because they could confuse people who don't speak English as their first language.
The move has infuriated classical scholars who have blasted it as the 'linguistic equivalent of ethnic cleansing'.
Bournemouth Council has listed 19 items which are no longer suitable for use on its documents.
These include bona fide, eg, prima facie, ad lib, etc, ie, inter alia, NB, per se, pro rata, vis-a-vis and vice versa.
Instead, the authority has ordered employees to use wordier alternatives including 'for this special purpose', instead of adhoc, and 'state of things' instead of status quo.
According to the Sunday Telegraph, instructions to staff said: 'Not everyone knows Latin. Many readers do not have English as their first language so using Latin can be particularly difficult.'
Other authorities which have banned the use of Latin include Salisbury Council, which asked staff to avoid using ad hoc, ergo and QED, and Fife Council which banned ad hoc as ex officio.
Professor Mary Beard, a professor Classics at the University of Cambridge, told the Sunday Telegraph: 'This is absolute bonkers and the linguistic equivalent of ethnic cleansing. English is and always has been a language full of foreign words.
The move has infuriated classical scholars who have blasted it as the 'linguistic equivalent of ethnic cleansing'.
Bournemouth Council has listed 19 items which are no longer suitable for use on its documents.
These include bona fide, eg, prima facie, ad lib, etc, ie, inter alia, NB, per se, pro rata, vis-a-vis and vice versa.
Instead, the authority has ordered employees to use wordier alternatives including 'for this special purpose', instead of adhoc, and 'state of things' instead of status quo.
According to the Sunday Telegraph, instructions to staff said: 'Not everyone knows Latin. Many readers do not have English as their first language so using Latin can be particularly difficult.'
Other authorities which have banned the use of Latin include Salisbury Council, which asked staff to avoid using ad hoc, ergo and QED, and Fife Council which banned ad hoc as ex officio.
Professor Mary Beard, a professor Classics at the University of Cambridge, told the Sunday Telegraph: 'This is absolute bonkers and the linguistic equivalent of ethnic cleansing. English is and always has been a language full of foreign words.
Sunday, November 2, 2008 - 12:06
Name of source: National Geographic News
SOURCE: National Geographic News (11-3-08)
What may be the oldest known Hebrew text, found on a hilltop above the valley where David is said to have battled Goliath, could lend historical support to some Bible stories, archaeologists say.
The 3,000-year-old pottery shard with five lines of text was found during excavations of the Elah Fortress, the oldest known biblical-period fortress, which dates to the tenth century B.C.
It is the most important archaeological discovery in Israel since the Dead Sea Scrolls, according to lead researcher Yosef Garfinkel of the Hebrew University's Institute of Archaeology.
His team believes the text may provide evidence for a real-life King David and his vast kingdom, the existence of which has been long doubted by scholars.
The 3,000-year-old pottery shard with five lines of text was found during excavations of the Elah Fortress, the oldest known biblical-period fortress, which dates to the tenth century B.C.
It is the most important archaeological discovery in Israel since the Dead Sea Scrolls, according to lead researcher Yosef Garfinkel of the Hebrew University's Institute of Archaeology.
His team believes the text may provide evidence for a real-life King David and his vast kingdom, the existence of which has been long doubted by scholars.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008 - 02:06
Name of source: International Herald Tribune
SOURCE: International Herald Tribune (11-3-08)
An article of faith among conservative critics of American universities has been that liberal professors politically indoctrinate their students. This conviction not only fueled the culture wars but has also led state lawmakers to consider requiring colleges to submit reports to the government detailing their progress in ensuring "intellectual diversity," prompted universities to establish faculty positions devoted to conservatism and spurred the creation of a network of volunteer watchdogs to monitor "political correctness" on campuses.
Just a few weeks ago, Michael Barone, a fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, warned in The Washington Times against "the liberal thugocracy," arguing that today's liberals seem to be taking "marching orders" from "college and university campuses."
But a handful of new studies have found such worries to be overwrought. Three sets of researchers recently concluded that professors have virtually no impact on the political views and ideology of their students.
Just a few weeks ago, Michael Barone, a fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, warned in The Washington Times against "the liberal thugocracy," arguing that today's liberals seem to be taking "marching orders" from "college and university campuses."
But a handful of new studies have found such worries to be overwrought. Three sets of researchers recently concluded that professors have virtually no impact on the political views and ideology of their students.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008 - 01:59
SOURCE: International Herald Tribune (11-4-08)
It ought to be a seminal moment: As a new president takes office in Washington, the Czech Republic assumes the rotating presidency of the European Union, the first former Soviet bloc country to lead the group of 470 million citizens, and during one of the worst economic conflagrations in a century.
But instead of welcoming the opportunity for this country of 10 million to shepherd the world's biggest trading bloc, the fiery Czech president, Vaclav Klaus, has evoked the Munich Agreement of 1938, when the Allied powers helped to carve up Czechoslovakia and hand parts of Czech lands to Nazi Germany.
Capturing the national mood, Klaus told the Czech television broadcaster Prima in late October that the Czech presidency would be "insignificant" since Europe, now as then, was controlled by France, Germany, Italy and Britain. Czech politicians, he warned, should not think they could change anything.
But instead of welcoming the opportunity for this country of 10 million to shepherd the world's biggest trading bloc, the fiery Czech president, Vaclav Klaus, has evoked the Munich Agreement of 1938, when the Allied powers helped to carve up Czechoslovakia and hand parts of Czech lands to Nazi Germany.
Capturing the national mood, Klaus told the Czech television broadcaster Prima in late October that the Czech presidency would be "insignificant" since Europe, now as then, was controlled by France, Germany, Italy and Britain. Czech politicians, he warned, should not think they could change anything.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008 - 01:58
SOURCE: International Herald Tribune (11-2-08)
Iraq is demanding Iran provide information about Iraqi artifacts that have been stolen from the country's archaeology sites.
A government statement asks for Iran's help in tracking down some 12,000 archaeological pieces that are still missing.
Looters snatched some 15,000 priceless artifacts and smuggled them out of the country in the chaos following the 2003 U.S.-led war.
A government statement asks for Iran's help in tracking down some 12,000 archaeological pieces that are still missing.
Looters snatched some 15,000 priceless artifacts and smuggled them out of the country in the chaos following the 2003 U.S.-led war.
Monday, November 3, 2008 - 22:21
SOURCE: International Herald Tribune (11-3-08)
Much of South Africa's self-image is built on the iconography of the African National Congress: the long walk to freedom, the devotion to democratic principles, the racially tolerant rainbow nation of Nelson Mandela. In the three national elections since the end of apartheid, the ANC has won each time with the overwhelming support of voters.
So this weekend's convention led by an ANC breakaway faction was somewhat jarring. Dissidents repeatedly described the party they once loved as now being authoritarian, hypocritical and corrupt. Leaders at the convention predicted a stream of defections — and victory for their group in elections next year.
"We are starting on the basis that we want to become the next government, in the provinces and nationally," Mbhazima Shilowa, one of the main dissidents and the former premier of Gauteng Province, said Sunday at a news conference meant to trumpet what the convention had accomplished.
Indeed, this weekend may go down in South African history as a watershed, a time when 6,400 delegates from around the nation charted a new political course that loosened the ANC's grip. Then again, the movement might turn out to be a flop, a lot of batting of wings without any sustained takeoff.
So this weekend's convention led by an ANC breakaway faction was somewhat jarring. Dissidents repeatedly described the party they once loved as now being authoritarian, hypocritical and corrupt. Leaders at the convention predicted a stream of defections — and victory for their group in elections next year.
"We are starting on the basis that we want to become the next government, in the provinces and nationally," Mbhazima Shilowa, one of the main dissidents and the former premier of Gauteng Province, said Sunday at a news conference meant to trumpet what the convention had accomplished.
Indeed, this weekend may go down in South African history as a watershed, a time when 6,400 delegates from around the nation charted a new political course that loosened the ANC's grip. Then again, the movement might turn out to be a flop, a lot of batting of wings without any sustained takeoff.
Monday, November 3, 2008 - 17:50
Name of source: Spiegel Online
SOURCE: Spiegel Online (11-3-08)
After a high court in Italy ruled that Germany is liable for damages stemming from a 1944 massacre in the village of Civitella perpetrated by Nazi soldiers, Berlin has asked the International Court of Justice to look into the case.
Berlin worries the verdict could set off an avalanche of World War II-related court cases against the German government. On Oct. 22, Italy's highest appellate court, the Cassation, ruled that Germany must pay €1 million in compensation to the descendents of those killed by Nazi soldiers in the Italian town of Civitella in 1944.
Now, Germany has taken the case to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague in the hopes that it will rule that the payments don't have to be made. A spokesman for the foreign ministry in Berlin on Saturday confirmed a report in this week's SPIEGEL, saying that the ICJ "has been asked to clarify this question."
The October verdict in Rome also sentenced a German officer named Max Josef Milde in abstentia to life in prison. The court found that the officer was involved in the June 29, 1944 massacre which saw over 200 villagers, including the village priest, executed in revenge for the killing of three German soldiers by partisans 10 days earlier. Germany and Italy signed an agreement in 1961, which resulted in a blanket payment of 40 million deutsche marks.
Of particular concern to Berlin, however, is the finding that Germany can also be held liable for the massacre. Such a precedent could trigger an expensive wave of individual lawsuits against Germany.
Berlin worries the verdict could set off an avalanche of World War II-related court cases against the German government. On Oct. 22, Italy's highest appellate court, the Cassation, ruled that Germany must pay €1 million in compensation to the descendents of those killed by Nazi soldiers in the Italian town of Civitella in 1944.
Now, Germany has taken the case to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague in the hopes that it will rule that the payments don't have to be made. A spokesman for the foreign ministry in Berlin on Saturday confirmed a report in this week's SPIEGEL, saying that the ICJ "has been asked to clarify this question."
The October verdict in Rome also sentenced a German officer named Max Josef Milde in abstentia to life in prison. The court found that the officer was involved in the June 29, 1944 massacre which saw over 200 villagers, including the village priest, executed in revenge for the killing of three German soldiers by partisans 10 days earlier. Germany and Italy signed an agreement in 1961, which resulted in a blanket payment of 40 million deutsche marks.
Of particular concern to Berlin, however, is the finding that Germany can also be held liable for the massacre. Such a precedent could trigger an expensive wave of individual lawsuits against Germany.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008 - 15:38
Name of source: NPR
SOURCE: NPR (11-3-08)
Madelyn Payne Dunham, the maternal grandmother of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, died Monday at the age of 86 after a battle with cancer, his campaign announced Monday. The Illinois senator has called his grandmother one of the "cornerstones" of his life.
In a statement released with his sister Maya Soetoro-Ng, Obama called his grandmother "a woman of extraordinary accomplishment, strength, and humility. She was the person who encouraged and allowed us to take chances."
Dunham had been too ill to appear with her grandson on the campaign trail, but he spoke of her often, particularly at crucial moments in his political career.
In a statement released with his sister Maya Soetoro-Ng, Obama called his grandmother "a woman of extraordinary accomplishment, strength, and humility. She was the person who encouraged and allowed us to take chances."
Dunham had been too ill to appear with her grandson on the campaign trail, but he spoke of her often, particularly at crucial moments in his political career.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008 - 15:36
Name of source: AP
SOURCE: AP (11-4-08)
A Florida school board voted late Monday night to keep the name of a Confederate general and early Ku Klux Klan leader at a majority black high school, despite opposition from a black board member who said the school's namesake was a "terrorist and racist."
After hearing about three hours of public comments, Duval County School Board members voted 5-2 to the retain the name of Nathan Bedford Forrest High School. The board's two black members cast the only votes to change the name.
"(Forrest) was a terrorist and a racist," argued board member Brenda Priestly Jackson, who is black.
Betty Burney, the board chairman and the board's other black member, also voted against retaining the name.
"It is time to turn the page and get beyond where we are," she said.
Board member Tommy Hazouri voted to keep the name and said it is difficult to know "who the real Forrest is."
After hearing about three hours of public comments, Duval County School Board members voted 5-2 to the retain the name of Nathan Bedford Forrest High School. The board's two black members cast the only votes to change the name.
"(Forrest) was a terrorist and a racist," argued board member Brenda Priestly Jackson, who is black.
Betty Burney, the board chairman and the board's other black member, also voted against retaining the name.
"It is time to turn the page and get beyond where we are," she said.
Board member Tommy Hazouri voted to keep the name and said it is difficult to know "who the real Forrest is."
Tuesday, November 4, 2008 - 14:13
SOURCE: AP (11-1-08)
Spain began allowing citizenship applications Saturday from the descendants of people who went into exile after its Civil War. The government said as many as 500,000 people could be eligible under the program to address the painful legacy of the conflict.
The government says 300,000 of those children and grandchildren of war emigres live in Argentina.
The government says 300,000 of those children and grandchildren of war emigres live in Argentina.
Monday, November 3, 2008 - 22:10
Name of source: http://politiken.dk
SOURCE: http://politiken.dk (10-20-08)
A young couple walking along Horsens Fjord in August this year made a sensational discovery – a 5-7,000 year old stone with a scratched motif.
The 13x10x4 cm. limestone shows a man with an erect phallus and two fish. Archaeologists at Horsens museum were taken aback, and immediately passed the stone on the National Museum to determine whether the motif was indeed from the Stone Age or simply a later work of art using an ancient style.
The 13x10x4 cm. limestone shows a man with an erect phallus and two fish. Archaeologists at Horsens museum were taken aback, and immediately passed the stone on the National Museum to determine whether the motif was indeed from the Stone Age or simply a later work of art using an ancient style.
Monday, November 3, 2008 - 22:01
Name of source: http://civilwarinteractive.com/
SOURCE: http://civilwarinteractive.com/ (11-3-08)
On the verge of crisis 145 years ago, the Confederate States of America sought an economic rescue not unlike the one U.S. financial institutions recently got.
Confederate accounts were overdrawn, and credit from overseas investment firms was about to dry up because lenders weren't confident the Southern states could repay their mounting debts.
So, in 1863, Alabama businessman Colin J. McRae was sent to Europe to orchestrate a bailout of the Confederacy.
A record of purchase for small arms ammunition purchased from Eley Brothers in London and sold to the Confederate Army in November 1863. The exhibit of the papers of Colin J. McRae are on display at the Confederate Relic Room in Columbia. Colin J. McRae was a purchasing agent in London for the Confederacy.
In 2002, a trove of documents from McRae's time in England and France was found in the attic of a home in Alabama. The papers revealed the impact of European financing on the Civil War and provided historic details of the Confederate supply chain.
"It's primary material," said Rodger Stroup, the director of the S.C. Department of Archives and History. "That really is so important. It's original materials and not something produced later."
More than 2,500 documents, including 1,000 that relate directly to the Civil War, make up The Colin J. McRae Collection housed at the S.C. Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum.
Confederate accounts were overdrawn, and credit from overseas investment firms was about to dry up because lenders weren't confident the Southern states could repay their mounting debts.
So, in 1863, Alabama businessman Colin J. McRae was sent to Europe to orchestrate a bailout of the Confederacy.
A record of purchase for small arms ammunition purchased from Eley Brothers in London and sold to the Confederate Army in November 1863. The exhibit of the papers of Colin J. McRae are on display at the Confederate Relic Room in Columbia. Colin J. McRae was a purchasing agent in London for the Confederacy.
In 2002, a trove of documents from McRae's time in England and France was found in the attic of a home in Alabama. The papers revealed the impact of European financing on the Civil War and provided historic details of the Confederate supply chain.
"It's primary material," said Rodger Stroup, the director of the S.C. Department of Archives and History. "That really is so important. It's original materials and not something produced later."
More than 2,500 documents, including 1,000 that relate directly to the Civil War, make up The Colin J. McRae Collection housed at the S.C. Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum.
Monday, November 3, 2008 - 17:58
Name of source: Science News Daily
SOURCE: Science News Daily (11-1-08)
The 2008 presidential campaign, as reflected in candidates' television spots, has been one of the most negative campaigns in history. A University of Missouri professor analyzed this year's candidates' television spots, including last night's 30-minute ad by Sen. Barack Obama and found that only one other campaign matched this level of negativity.
William Benoit, professor of communication in the College of Arts and Science, found that in television spots from 1952-2004, candidates averaged 40 percent attacks in their ad statements. In this year's race, the statements in Obama's ads were 68 percent negative compared to 62 percent for Sen. John McCain.
"The only campaign in history that matches this level of negativity was in the first ever presidential TV spot campaign when Dwight Eisenhower had negative attacks in 69 percent of his ad statements," Benoit said.
In last night's historic 30-minute ad by Obama, Benoit found the ad to be more positive with only 18 percent attacks, and it never mentioned McCain or President Bush by name. The only time Bush was mentioned in Obama's 30-minute ad was once when Obama alluded to "eight years of failed policies."
William Benoit, professor of communication in the College of Arts and Science, found that in television spots from 1952-2004, candidates averaged 40 percent attacks in their ad statements. In this year's race, the statements in Obama's ads were 68 percent negative compared to 62 percent for Sen. John McCain.
"The only campaign in history that matches this level of negativity was in the first ever presidential TV spot campaign when Dwight Eisenhower had negative attacks in 69 percent of his ad statements," Benoit said.
In last night's historic 30-minute ad by Obama, Benoit found the ad to be more positive with only 18 percent attacks, and it never mentioned McCain or President Bush by name. The only time Bush was mentioned in Obama's 30-minute ad was once when Obama alluded to "eight years of failed policies."
Monday, November 3, 2008 - 16:36
Name of source: Guardian (UK)
SOURCE: Guardian (UK) (11-2-08)
A unique museum honouring Germans who helped persecuted Jews stay alive under the Nazi tyranny has opened in Berlin. The Silent Heroes Memorial Centre is the first of its kind dedicated to individuals who helped to hide, feed and care for people who otherwise would have gone to the gas chambers.
Tucked away in a tenement block on Rosenthaler Strasse, it lies in the heart of Berlin's pre-war Jewish quarter, not far from the site of the former paintbrush factory where an anti-Nazi activist helped deaf and blind Jews shelter from the Gestapo round-ups.
Tucked away in a tenement block on Rosenthaler Strasse, it lies in the heart of Berlin's pre-war Jewish quarter, not far from the site of the former paintbrush factory where an anti-Nazi activist helped deaf and blind Jews shelter from the Gestapo round-ups.
Monday, November 3, 2008 - 16:00
Name of source: Washington Post
SOURCE: Washington Post (11-3-08)
TOKYO -- Once again, a Japanese official with nationalist sympathies -- in this case, the head of the air force -- has glossed over the Asian suffering caused by Japan during World War II.
Once again, China and South Korea -- principal victims of Japan's wartime depredations -- have expressed shock and anger.
And once again, the government in Tokyo has restated its official policy, which is that Japan deeply regrets and apologizes for its wartime aggression.
The abiding reluctance of prominent nationalists in Japan to come to grips with the past resurfaced Friday, when a hotel company announced the winner of its $30,000 "true modern history" essay contest.
The winning essay was written by Gen. Toshio Tamogami, who until Friday night was chief of staff of the air force. He was fired a few hours after the essay appeared on the hotel company's Web site.
Japan attacked Pearl Harbor because of a "trap" set by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Tamogami claimed in his essay, which also argued "that many Asian countries take a positive view" of Japan's role in the war.
He wrote, too, that the war was good for international race relations...
The essay concluded that "it is certainly a false accusation to say that our country was an aggressor nation."
Once again, China and South Korea -- principal victims of Japan's wartime depredations -- have expressed shock and anger.
And once again, the government in Tokyo has restated its official policy, which is that Japan deeply regrets and apologizes for its wartime aggression.
The abiding reluctance of prominent nationalists in Japan to come to grips with the past resurfaced Friday, when a hotel company announced the winner of its $30,000 "true modern history" essay contest.
The winning essay was written by Gen. Toshio Tamogami, who until Friday night was chief of staff of the air force. He was fired a few hours after the essay appeared on the hotel company's Web site.
Japan attacked Pearl Harbor because of a "trap" set by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Tamogami claimed in his essay, which also argued "that many Asian countries take a positive view" of Japan's role in the war.
He wrote, too, that the war was good for international race relations...
The essay concluded that "it is certainly a false accusation to say that our country was an aggressor nation."
Monday, November 3, 2008 - 02:55
