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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: Chicago Tribune
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune (2-8-09)
Forty feet below the surface of Lake Michigan in Grand Traverse Bay, a mysterious pattern of stones can be seen rising from an otherwise sandy half-mile of lake floor.
Likely the stones are a natural feature. But the possibility they are not has piqued the interest of archeologists, native tribes and state officials since underwater archeologist Mark Holley found the site in 2007 during a survey of the lake bottom.
The site recently has become something of an Internet sensation, thanks to a blogger who noticed an archeological paper on the topic and described the stones as "underwater Stonehenge."
Though the stones could signal an ancient shoreline or a glacial formation, their striking geometric alignment raises the possibility of human involvement. The submerged site was tundra when humans of the hunter-gatherer era roamed it 6,000 to 9,000 years ago. Could the stones have come from a massive fishing weir laid across a long-gone river? Could they mark a ceremonial site?
Adding to the intrigue, one dishwasher-size rock seems to bear an etching of a mastodon.
Likely the stones are a natural feature. But the possibility they are not has piqued the interest of archeologists, native tribes and state officials since underwater archeologist Mark Holley found the site in 2007 during a survey of the lake bottom.
The site recently has become something of an Internet sensation, thanks to a blogger who noticed an archeological paper on the topic and described the stones as "underwater Stonehenge."
Though the stones could signal an ancient shoreline or a glacial formation, their striking geometric alignment raises the possibility of human involvement. The submerged site was tundra when humans of the hunter-gatherer era roamed it 6,000 to 9,000 years ago. Could the stones have come from a massive fishing weir laid across a long-gone river? Could they mark a ceremonial site?
Adding to the intrigue, one dishwasher-size rock seems to bear an etching of a mastodon.
Sunday, February 8, 2009 - 21:55
Comments
Name of source: IHT
SOURCE: IHT (2-7-09)
In his first weeks in office, President Barack Obama has dismantled many environmental policies set by the Bush administration. But in some areas he will be building on the work of his predecessor, rather than taking it apart.
But even those who view his environmental record most harshly acknowledge that he also took significant action. He improved air quality, gave renewable energy a large financial boost, left behind the largest marine sanctuaries ever established and started a dialogue that could help lead to the next international treaty on climate change.
Bush and his aides stressed that he tried to find a balance between the environment and the economy.
Obama has called that a false choice. He intends, he says, to promote economic growth and develop new sources of energy while at the same time protecting the natural world.
So far, he has devoted most attention to reversing direction on various issues. Within days of taking the oath of office, he froze a series of last-minute actions by the departing Bush team and ordered regulators to write tough new rules on automobile emissions and fuel economy.
Earlier this week, he upended Bush administration policies on drilling in Utah and the operation of coal-fired power plants.
But as Obama moves further, a bigger challenge may be to decide how much to preserve of the broad landscape left to him by Bush - environmental and energy policies that encompass land, air, water, wildlife and climate.
But even those who view his environmental record most harshly acknowledge that he also took significant action. He improved air quality, gave renewable energy a large financial boost, left behind the largest marine sanctuaries ever established and started a dialogue that could help lead to the next international treaty on climate change.
Bush and his aides stressed that he tried to find a balance between the environment and the economy.
Obama has called that a false choice. He intends, he says, to promote economic growth and develop new sources of energy while at the same time protecting the natural world.
So far, he has devoted most attention to reversing direction on various issues. Within days of taking the oath of office, he froze a series of last-minute actions by the departing Bush team and ordered regulators to write tough new rules on automobile emissions and fuel economy.
Earlier this week, he upended Bush administration policies on drilling in Utah and the operation of coal-fired power plants.
But as Obama moves further, a bigger challenge may be to decide how much to preserve of the broad landscape left to him by Bush - environmental and energy policies that encompass land, air, water, wildlife and climate.
The public view of Bush's record on global warming was largely set by his blunt rejection of the Kyoto Protocol, his swift abandonment of his campaign pledge to restrict some greenhouse gases and the disclosures of interference by presidential appointees with government climate scientists.
Overall, Claussen said, Bush's climate legacy was mainly one of delay and lost opportunities. Through most of his presidency, Bush largely framed his approach to global warming around two talking points - the uncertainties in forecasts of a dangerously human-heated world and the certainty that economic harm would come from mandatory cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.
Obama has taken precisely the opposite tack. He spoke late last month of the specter of "violent conflict, terrible storms, shrinking coastlines" and other perils from unchecked warming, while pressing his vision of prosperity rebuilt around clean cars and pollution-free power from the wind and sun.
Many analysts say that Obama must navigate among an array of campaigners, lobbyists and lawmakers with particular interests - from dependency on coal to aversion to power lines or nuclear plants. But if he makes too many political compromises, he may find his plan fails on environmental grounds.
Sunday, February 8, 2009 - 21:51
SOURCE: IHT (2-5-09)
Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday welcomed the Vatican's decision to order a traditionalist bishop who denies the Holocaust to recant his views, saying it was a good and important signal.
Merkel, who criticized Pope Benedict XVI this week for rehabilitating four bishops, including one who has questioned the extent of the Holocaust, said she was satisfied the Vatican had made clear that denying the Holocaust could not be permitted.
"The order from the Vatican is an important and good signal," she said at a news conference when asked about the issue. "It makes clear that Holocaust denial cannot be allowed to stand without consequences. Relations between Jewish communities and Christian churches can only succeed without Holocaust denial and without anti-Semitism."
Merkel made a rare criticism of the Vatican on Tuesday, saying it was a fundamental matter if the impression arose, as the result of a Vatican decision, that the Holocaust could be denied.
The Vatican quickly issued a statement saying that Benedict had clearly condemned Holocaust denial in past speeches and at his general audience last week.
Merkel, who criticized Pope Benedict XVI this week for rehabilitating four bishops, including one who has questioned the extent of the Holocaust, said she was satisfied the Vatican had made clear that denying the Holocaust could not be permitted.
"The order from the Vatican is an important and good signal," she said at a news conference when asked about the issue. "It makes clear that Holocaust denial cannot be allowed to stand without consequences. Relations between Jewish communities and Christian churches can only succeed without Holocaust denial and without anti-Semitism."
Merkel made a rare criticism of the Vatican on Tuesday, saying it was a fundamental matter if the impression arose, as the result of a Vatican decision, that the Holocaust could be denied.
The Vatican quickly issued a statement saying that Benedict had clearly condemned Holocaust denial in past speeches and at his general audience last week.
Friday, February 6, 2009 - 18:32
SOURCE: IHT (2-5-09)
Some 60 million years ago, well after the demise of the dinosaurs, a giant relative of today's boa constrictors, weighing more than a ton and measuring 13 meters long, hunted crocodiles in rain-washed tropical forests in northern South America, according to a new fossil discovery.
The fossil find - a batch of super-size vertebrae pulled from an open-pit coal mine in northeastern Colombia - is remarkable enough just as a paleontological extreme. The species, given the name Titanoboa cerrejonensis, is the largest known snake species ever discovered.
But the existence of such a large snake may also help clarify how hot the tropics became during an era when the planet, as a whole, was far warmer than it is now, and also how well moist tropical ecosystems can tolerate a much warmer global climate.
The fossil find - a batch of super-size vertebrae pulled from an open-pit coal mine in northeastern Colombia - is remarkable enough just as a paleontological extreme. The species, given the name Titanoboa cerrejonensis, is the largest known snake species ever discovered.
But the existence of such a large snake may also help clarify how hot the tropics became during an era when the planet, as a whole, was far warmer than it is now, and also how well moist tropical ecosystems can tolerate a much warmer global climate.
Thursday, February 5, 2009 - 14:42
Name of source: BBC
SOURCE: BBC (2-8-09)
A musical experience with a difference is being previewed at the National Museum Wales in Cardiff - an attempt to recreate the sound of the Neanderthals.
Jazz composer Simon Thorne was given the task of creating the "soundscape" to provide a musical backdrop to some of the ancient exhibits on display.
The musician says the work is "probably the most unusual" he has undertaken.
Despite having a reputation for lacking intelligence, recent research suggests the neanderthals were a lot more resourceful and innovative than was first thought.
His 75-minute composition was commissioned by National Museum Wales to provide a musical illustration for the palaeolithic section of its exhibition Origins of Early Wales.
Jazz composer Simon Thorne was given the task of creating the "soundscape" to provide a musical backdrop to some of the ancient exhibits on display.
The musician says the work is "probably the most unusual" he has undertaken.
Despite having a reputation for lacking intelligence, recent research suggests the neanderthals were a lot more resourceful and innovative than was first thought.
His 75-minute composition was commissioned by National Museum Wales to provide a musical illustration for the palaeolithic section of its exhibition Origins of Early Wales.
Sunday, February 8, 2009 - 21:39
SOURCE: BBC (2-7-09)
"The new Russian journalism first lost its modesty, then its innocence."
The words of Alexei Simonov, a Russian media freedom campaigner, sound like an epitaph for "glasnost", the spirit of openness encouraged by former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in the late 1980s, which accelerated the collapse of communism.
Mr Gorbachev's nemesis - Boris Yeltsin - got re-elected in 1996 with the help of powerful businessmen, whose media told voters that it was a stark choice between Yeltsin's democracy and a return to communism.
"The media showed it could be sold for good money - it showed not that the law is its boss, but that the boss is its law," Mr Simonov said.
He was speaking in a debate at the Chatham House think tank in London this week, focusing on the fate of glasnost in Russia. His Glasnost Defence Foundation monitors freedom of speech.
Twenty years after the tumultuous events that toppled communist regimes like dominoes across Eastern Europe the euphoria of glasnost is but a distant memory.
The words of Alexei Simonov, a Russian media freedom campaigner, sound like an epitaph for "glasnost", the spirit of openness encouraged by former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in the late 1980s, which accelerated the collapse of communism.
Mr Gorbachev's nemesis - Boris Yeltsin - got re-elected in 1996 with the help of powerful businessmen, whose media told voters that it was a stark choice between Yeltsin's democracy and a return to communism.
"The media showed it could be sold for good money - it showed not that the law is its boss, but that the boss is its law," Mr Simonov said.
He was speaking in a debate at the Chatham House think tank in London this week, focusing on the fate of glasnost in Russia. His Glasnost Defence Foundation monitors freedom of speech.
Twenty years after the tumultuous events that toppled communist regimes like dominoes across Eastern Europe the euphoria of glasnost is but a distant memory.
Sunday, February 8, 2009 - 14:08
SOURCE: BBC (2-6-09)
Archaeologists are using the appearance of a mysterious hole at Broughty Castle green in Dundee to discover more about what lies underneath the grass.
It is suspected there may be several military buildings below the ground, including pits where mines were armed.
There were plans in the 1880s to put a minefield in the Tay for extra defence.
The archaeologists will also study why the 30cm hole opened up, so the safety of the area can be improved and conservation of the remains considered.
It is suspected there may be several military buildings below the ground, including pits where mines were armed.
There were plans in the 1880s to put a minefield in the Tay for extra defence.
The archaeologists will also study why the 30cm hole opened up, so the safety of the area can be improved and conservation of the remains considered.
Saturday, February 7, 2009 - 03:01
SOURCE: BBC (2-6-09)
Twenty years ago, Poland's communist government did something without precedent - it sat down with the banned Solidarity trade union to try to defuse growing social unrest.
What became known as the Round Table Talks led to the first multi-party elections in the Soviet bloc and a stunning victory by Solidarity, led by Lech Walesa, which heralded the collapse of communism across the eastern half of Europe.
The Iron Curtain has gone, but there is a cold curtain of fog over Gdansk, the birthplace of Solidarity, enveloping the city's church steeples and the shipyard's cranes alike.
What became known as the Round Table Talks led to the first multi-party elections in the Soviet bloc and a stunning victory by Solidarity, led by Lech Walesa, which heralded the collapse of communism across the eastern half of Europe.
The Iron Curtain has gone, but there is a cold curtain of fog over Gdansk, the birthplace of Solidarity, enveloping the city's church steeples and the shipyard's cranes alike.
Friday, February 6, 2009 - 09:20
SOURCE: BBC (2-4-09)
The remains of a 1,500-year-old Saxon burial ground have been uncovered by two Sussex metal detector enthusiasts.
Bob White and Cliff Smith unearthed brooches, a bronze bowl, a spear and a shield from the graves of a man and two women on farmland near Lewes.
East Sussex County archaeologists, confirmed they were Saxon burials and decided to excavate the graves immediately to avoid the risk of looting.
The most impressive grave contained the remains of a female, an unusual bronze bowl, gilded brooches and silver belt decorations.
The most impressive grave contained the remains of a female, an unusual bronze bowl, gilded brooches and silver belt decorations.
The male was buried with a spear and shield.
The 1,500-year-old skeletal remains and the relics have been sent to English Heritage's laboratory in Portsmouth for analysis.
It is hoped they will eventually go on public display at Lewes's Barbican House Museum.
Bob White and Cliff Smith unearthed brooches, a bronze bowl, a spear and a shield from the graves of a man and two women on farmland near Lewes.
East Sussex County archaeologists, confirmed they were Saxon burials and decided to excavate the graves immediately to avoid the risk of looting.
The most impressive grave contained the remains of a female, an unusual bronze bowl, gilded brooches and silver belt decorations.
The most impressive grave contained the remains of a female, an unusual bronze bowl, gilded brooches and silver belt decorations.
The male was buried with a spear and shield.
The 1,500-year-old skeletal remains and the relics have been sent to English Heritage's laboratory in Portsmouth for analysis.
It is hoped they will eventually go on public display at Lewes's Barbican House Museum.
Thursday, February 5, 2009 - 14:57
Name of source: CNN
SOURCE: CNN (2-8-09)
German Chancellor Angela Merkel phoned Pope Benedict XVI Sunday over a Holocaust denier whom the pope welcomed back into the Roman Catholic Church last month.
Neither side seems to have shifted its position over Bishop Richard Williamson, who, shortly before the pope lifted his excommunication, denied the Nazis had systematically murdered six million Jews during World War II.
"It was a very constructive conversation," the German government and Vatican said in a joint statement about the call. Merkel and the pope expressed respect for each others' opinion, the release said -- diplomatic-speak for saying neither side budged.
Merkel demanded Tuesday that the pope firmly reject Holocaust denial: "The pope and the Vatican must make absolutely clear that there can be no denial of the Holocaust," Merkel said.
The Vatican has pointed to several statements by Pope Benedict in the past few years condemning the destruction of European Jewry, including his visits to concentration camps. He has also said he did not know of Williamson's views on the Holocaust when he lifted the excommunication.
Neither side seems to have shifted its position over Bishop Richard Williamson, who, shortly before the pope lifted his excommunication, denied the Nazis had systematically murdered six million Jews during World War II.
"It was a very constructive conversation," the German government and Vatican said in a joint statement about the call. Merkel and the pope expressed respect for each others' opinion, the release said -- diplomatic-speak for saying neither side budged.
Merkel demanded Tuesday that the pope firmly reject Holocaust denial: "The pope and the Vatican must make absolutely clear that there can be no denial of the Holocaust," Merkel said.
The Vatican has pointed to several statements by Pope Benedict in the past few years condemning the destruction of European Jewry, including his visits to concentration camps. He has also said he did not know of Williamson's views on the Holocaust when he lifted the excommunication.
Sunday, February 8, 2009 - 21:11
Name of source: Newsweek
SOURCE: Newsweek (2-7-09)
Ever since their 444 days spent in captivity, from November 1979 to January 1981, Bruce Laingen and John Limbert's names have been preceded by the words "Iran hostage," a grim honorific that's emblematic of the suffering and frustration that have marked U.S.-Iranian relations.
Laingen was the highest-ranking U.S. diplomat in Tehran when revolutionaries stormed the embassy. Limbert, a Persian speaker and former Peace Corps volunteer, was an English teacher at the time who later went on to become an ambassador.
It was all a long time ago, of course. As of this month, three decades have passed since the Shah of Iran, who had been supported by the United States as the policeman of the Persian Gulf, fled his homeland and the Ayatollah Khomeini seized power, establishing a revolutionary Islamic regime that continues to threaten, challenge, undermine and sometimes violently attack the United States and its allies, especially Israel. That same Iran is now well on its way to becoming a nuclear power, and last week it launched its first satellite into orbit, sending it high over the United States.
In all these years, no American has been posted in Tehran like Laingen, Limbert or their colleagues were; nor has any dealt officially and directly with the Iranian government beyond a few limited exchanges over Iraq and Afghanistan. Yet that might be about to change. The Obama administration has suggested starting a conversation. So we sought out Laingen and Limbert and other U.S. survivors from those fraught and frightening times three decades back, including Henry Precht, the Iran desk officer at the State Department in 1979, to ask them how and whether to talk to the ayatollahs.
On a recent Saturday afternoon, Laingen, now 87, Limbert, 65, and Precht, 76, met at a Persian restaurant in Washington, D.C. Over plates of pomegranate stew, they spoke, as they often do, about how the United States government, after years supporting the shah, got blindsided by the Iranian revolution, and what lessons might be learned. In general, they agreed the Iranians today want, and should be shown, "mutual respect." But the Great Satan is in the details.
"We have to talk to these people to understand them," says Laingen. "There has to be respect from both sides. But we need to hear something from the other side that makes us think they really want to talk to us."
Laingen was the highest-ranking U.S. diplomat in Tehran when revolutionaries stormed the embassy. Limbert, a Persian speaker and former Peace Corps volunteer, was an English teacher at the time who later went on to become an ambassador.
It was all a long time ago, of course. As of this month, three decades have passed since the Shah of Iran, who had been supported by the United States as the policeman of the Persian Gulf, fled his homeland and the Ayatollah Khomeini seized power, establishing a revolutionary Islamic regime that continues to threaten, challenge, undermine and sometimes violently attack the United States and its allies, especially Israel. That same Iran is now well on its way to becoming a nuclear power, and last week it launched its first satellite into orbit, sending it high over the United States.
In all these years, no American has been posted in Tehran like Laingen, Limbert or their colleagues were; nor has any dealt officially and directly with the Iranian government beyond a few limited exchanges over Iraq and Afghanistan. Yet that might be about to change. The Obama administration has suggested starting a conversation. So we sought out Laingen and Limbert and other U.S. survivors from those fraught and frightening times three decades back, including Henry Precht, the Iran desk officer at the State Department in 1979, to ask them how and whether to talk to the ayatollahs.
On a recent Saturday afternoon, Laingen, now 87, Limbert, 65, and Precht, 76, met at a Persian restaurant in Washington, D.C. Over plates of pomegranate stew, they spoke, as they often do, about how the United States government, after years supporting the shah, got blindsided by the Iranian revolution, and what lessons might be learned. In general, they agreed the Iranians today want, and should be shown, "mutual respect." But the Great Satan is in the details.
"We have to talk to these people to understand them," says Laingen. "There has to be respect from both sides. But we need to hear something from the other side that makes us think they really want to talk to us."
Sunday, February 8, 2009 - 17:54
Name of source: Independent (UK)
SOURCE: Independent (UK) (2-8-09)
They are dismissed as primitive savages who charged into battle screaming and waving their claymores, only to be cut down by musket fire from well-drilled British army redcoats.
The defeat of Bonnie Prince Charlie's forces at Culloden, near Inverness, in 1746 is widely considered a triumph of modernity over the romance of a bygone age.
But new research has established this is yet another of the many myths about the rebellion based largely on government propaganda of the day. Gaelic poets also share some blame for the misconception because of their obsession with the sword as a heroic weapon. In reality, the battles between the Jacobites and Hanoverian forces were more contests between equals with the rebels using up-to-date military tactics and relying on the musket and bayonet – not the claymore.
The defeat of Bonnie Prince Charlie's forces at Culloden, near Inverness, in 1746 is widely considered a triumph of modernity over the romance of a bygone age.
But new research has established this is yet another of the many myths about the rebellion based largely on government propaganda of the day. Gaelic poets also share some blame for the misconception because of their obsession with the sword as a heroic weapon. In reality, the battles between the Jacobites and Hanoverian forces were more contests between equals with the rebels using up-to-date military tactics and relying on the musket and bayonet – not the claymore.
Sunday, February 8, 2009 - 15:44
Name of source: Times (UK)
SOURCE: Times (UK) (2-8-09)
THE morning sickness drug thalidomide, which caused pregnant women to give birth to babies without arms and legs, was first developed by the Nazis, probably as part of their chemical weapons programme, according to new research. Two separate academics have revealed the discovery of documents indicating that the drug did not originate with Chemie Grünenthal, the postwar German chemical firm, as has always been claimed.
If, as their research suggests, thalidomide was first developed by scientists working in wartime Germany, it could have implications for the liability of the German government. So far it has given compensation only to German victims, although the drug was distributed in at least 46 countries.
Thousands of the drug’s victims are still battling for increased financial aid to help them cope with its legacy. There are 457 thalidomiders remaining in the UK; 2,700 in Germany; and a total of up to 6,000 worldwide.
If, as their research suggests, thalidomide was first developed by scientists working in wartime Germany, it could have implications for the liability of the German government. So far it has given compensation only to German victims, although the drug was distributed in at least 46 countries.
Thousands of the drug’s victims are still battling for increased financial aid to help them cope with its legacy. There are 457 thalidomiders remaining in the UK; 2,700 in Germany; and a total of up to 6,000 worldwide.
Sunday, February 8, 2009 - 15:38
Name of source: Spiegel Online
SOURCE: Spiegel Online (2-6-09)
Berlin paid tribute Thursday to the last person shot trying to cross the Berlin Wall. Chris Gueffroy died in a hail of bullets as he tried to flee East Germany on the night of Feb. 5-6, 1989. He was the last person to fall victim to the East German policy of shooting people trying to flee across the Berlin Wall -- although more were to die trying to escape from East Germany before the borders were opened on Nov. 9, 1989.
Gueffroy's mother, Karin Gueffroy, lit a candle to her dead son at a service marking the 20th anniversary of her son's death Thursday in Berlin's Chapel of Reconciliation, which is located on the site of the former Berlin Wall "death strip." Gueffroy was just 20 years old when he died.
Gueffroy's mother, Karin Gueffroy, lit a candle to her dead son at a service marking the 20th anniversary of her son's death Thursday in Berlin's Chapel of Reconciliation, which is located on the site of the former Berlin Wall "death strip." Gueffroy was just 20 years old when he died.
Sunday, February 8, 2009 - 15:18
SOURCE: Spiegel Online (2-6-09)
What was it he had seen? A fire burning on an uninhabited island in the South Pacific? The next day, the captain of the Duke, an English buccaneer ship, sent an armed party to the island to investigate. When the men returned to the ship, they brought along two surprises: large numbers of spiny lobsters and a shaggy creature.
The figure that climbed on board the Duke on Feb. 2, 1709 was apparently human, but wild as an animal, barefoot and covered in goatskin. The creature, extremely agitated, was only able to stammer a few barely comprehensible words at first, but they were enough to become immortal.
In his novel, first published in 1719, Daniel Defoe named the islander "Robinson Crusoe." But the real Robinson was a man named Alexander Selkirk. He was a Scotsman, the seventh son of a shoemaker from the village of Lower Largo, near Edinburgh. He had spent four years and four months on Más a Tierra, a windswept island in the Juan Fernandez archipelago, 650 kilometers (404 miles) off the coast of Chile. He was as alone as a human being can be. For Selkirk, there was no "Man Friday," a character Defoe created for his novel.
The figure that climbed on board the Duke on Feb. 2, 1709 was apparently human, but wild as an animal, barefoot and covered in goatskin. The creature, extremely agitated, was only able to stammer a few barely comprehensible words at first, but they were enough to become immortal.
In his novel, first published in 1719, Daniel Defoe named the islander "Robinson Crusoe." But the real Robinson was a man named Alexander Selkirk. He was a Scotsman, the seventh son of a shoemaker from the village of Lower Largo, near Edinburgh. He had spent four years and four months on Más a Tierra, a windswept island in the Juan Fernandez archipelago, 650 kilometers (404 miles) off the coast of Chile. He was as alone as a human being can be. For Selkirk, there was no "Man Friday," a character Defoe created for his novel.
Sunday, February 8, 2009 - 14:27
Name of source: NYT
SOURCE: NYT (2-7-09)
In her first weeks in the White House, Mrs. Obama has been the gracious hostess and loyal spouse, welcoming visitors to the Executive Mansion and accompanying President Obama to a prayer breakfast and to a charter school to read to second graders. But in a departure from her predecessor, Mrs. Obama has also begun promoting bills that support her husband’s policy priorities.
Last month, Mrs. Obama celebrated the enacting of a pay-equity law with a reception for women’s advocates at the White House. Last week, she supported the economic stimulus bill on her visit to the housing agency and another to the Department of Education....
“She went to some lengths to say she was going to be first mom in chief,” Myra Gutin, a scholar of first ladies at Rider University in New Jersey, said of Mrs. Obama. “I don’t think we ever really imagined her edging toward public policy like this. It’s not like she’s making public policy. But it’s a little less neutral than some of the other things she’s talked about focusing on.”
Marcia D. Greenberger, co-president of the National Women’s Law Center here, countered that Mrs. Obama was successfully balancing her ceremonial role as first lady, her role as a mother and her keen interest in public policy.
“It seems like a combination of responsibilities that fit very naturally with who she is,” said Ms. Greenberger, who attended the signing of the pay-equity law at the White House. “You don’t have a sense that being a mom and being human and being able to understand everybody’s daily struggles has to come at the expense of her intelligence, her expertise and her understanding of the issues.”
Last month, Mrs. Obama celebrated the enacting of a pay-equity law with a reception for women’s advocates at the White House. Last week, she supported the economic stimulus bill on her visit to the housing agency and another to the Department of Education....
“She went to some lengths to say she was going to be first mom in chief,” Myra Gutin, a scholar of first ladies at Rider University in New Jersey, said of Mrs. Obama. “I don’t think we ever really imagined her edging toward public policy like this. It’s not like she’s making public policy. But it’s a little less neutral than some of the other things she’s talked about focusing on.”
Marcia D. Greenberger, co-president of the National Women’s Law Center here, countered that Mrs. Obama was successfully balancing her ceremonial role as first lady, her role as a mother and her keen interest in public policy.
“It seems like a combination of responsibilities that fit very naturally with who she is,” said Ms. Greenberger, who attended the signing of the pay-equity law at the White House. “You don’t have a sense that being a mom and being human and being able to understand everybody’s daily struggles has to come at the expense of her intelligence, her expertise and her understanding of the issues.”
Sunday, February 8, 2009 - 15:15
SOURCE: NYT (2-5-09)
Japan’s rural areas have been paved over and filled in with roads, dams and other big infrastructure projects, the legacy of trillions of dollars spent to lift the economy from a severe downturn caused by the bursting of a real estate bubble in the late 1980s. During those nearly two decades, Japan accumulated the largest public debt in the developed world — totaling 180 percent of its $5.5 trillion economy — while failing to generate a convincing recovery.
Now, as the Obama administration embarks on a similar path, proposing to spend more than $820 billion to stimulate the sagging American economy, many economists are taking a fresh look at Japan’s troubled experience. While Japan is not exactly comparable to the United States — especially as a late developer with a history of heavy state investment in infrastructure — economists say it can still offer important lessons about the pitfalls, and chances for success, of a stimulus package in an advanced economy.
In a nutshell, Japan’s experience suggests that infrastructure spending, while a blunt instrument, can help revive a developed economy, say many economists and one very important American official: Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, who was a young financial attaché in Japan during the collapse and subsequent doldrums. One lesson Mr. Geithner has said he took away from that experience is that spending must come in quick, massive doses, and be continued until recovery takes firm root.
Moreover, it matters what gets built: Japan spent too much on increasingly wasteful roads and bridges, and not enough in areas like education and social services, which studies show deliver more bang for the buck than infrastructure spending.
Now, as the Obama administration embarks on a similar path, proposing to spend more than $820 billion to stimulate the sagging American economy, many economists are taking a fresh look at Japan’s troubled experience. While Japan is not exactly comparable to the United States — especially as a late developer with a history of heavy state investment in infrastructure — economists say it can still offer important lessons about the pitfalls, and chances for success, of a stimulus package in an advanced economy.
In a nutshell, Japan’s experience suggests that infrastructure spending, while a blunt instrument, can help revive a developed economy, say many economists and one very important American official: Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, who was a young financial attaché in Japan during the collapse and subsequent doldrums. One lesson Mr. Geithner has said he took away from that experience is that spending must come in quick, massive doses, and be continued until recovery takes firm root.
Moreover, it matters what gets built: Japan spent too much on increasingly wasteful roads and bridges, and not enough in areas like education and social services, which studies show deliver more bang for the buck than infrastructure spending.
Friday, February 6, 2009 - 22:40
Name of source: Telegraph (UK)
SOURCE: Telegraph (UK) (2-6-09)
The foot-wide stone was found by Hartlepool pensioner Connie Lofthouse, 79, after she recognised it from a programme charting its history and disappearance.
In 1989 it disappeared from a knoll near the Glenfinnan Monument at the head of Loch Shiel. There, on 17 August 1745, Bonnie Prince Charlie raised a 16ft-high standard on the stone to rally his troops to march on Edinburgh.
In 1990 Mrs Lofthouse was given the stone while living in Kentallen near Glencoe. Two years later she returned to north east England.
In 1989 it disappeared from a knoll near the Glenfinnan Monument at the head of Loch Shiel. There, on 17 August 1745, Bonnie Prince Charlie raised a 16ft-high standard on the stone to rally his troops to march on Edinburgh.
In 1990 Mrs Lofthouse was given the stone while living in Kentallen near Glencoe. Two years later she returned to north east England.
Sunday, February 8, 2009 - 14:46
SOURCE: Telegraph (UK) (2-7-09)
Three decades after Iran's Islamic Revolution, activists who took part in the events that saw the Shah toppled – and which ushered in an era of unrelenting hostility to the West – despair at how their dreams have been so little realised.
Now, as Iran prepares to celebrate the 30th anniversary of its revolution on Tuesday, many of those who ran through the streets of Tehran in 1979 are disappointed with the results.
As students, their behaviour shook the world, bringing down the American president, Jimmy Carter, and unleashing a wave of revolutionary fervour that utterly changed the Middle East – inspiring militants in Lebanon, the Occupied Territories and Iraq.
Almost overnight, the West's most steadfast ally in the Muslim world had become a violent and volatile enemy, where mass crowds raised their fists to chant "death to America". The students, mullahs and intellectuals who packed the streets were convinced that they had struck a blow for freedom against the imperialist might of the world's strongest powers.
"The revolution was very genuine and popular," believes Ebrahim Yazdi, who served the revolutionary state as foreign minister and deputy prime minister before falling out of favour. "It was unavoidable because of the policies of the Shah and the foreign countries who supported him."
Yet the Islamic Republic created by Mr Yazdi and his comrades failed to live up to the dreams of a Muslim democracy, in which sagacious ayatollahs would stand as guardians of the democratic wishes of the people.
Now, as Iran prepares to celebrate the 30th anniversary of its revolution on Tuesday, many of those who ran through the streets of Tehran in 1979 are disappointed with the results.
As students, their behaviour shook the world, bringing down the American president, Jimmy Carter, and unleashing a wave of revolutionary fervour that utterly changed the Middle East – inspiring militants in Lebanon, the Occupied Territories and Iraq.
Almost overnight, the West's most steadfast ally in the Muslim world had become a violent and volatile enemy, where mass crowds raised their fists to chant "death to America". The students, mullahs and intellectuals who packed the streets were convinced that they had struck a blow for freedom against the imperialist might of the world's strongest powers.
"The revolution was very genuine and popular," believes Ebrahim Yazdi, who served the revolutionary state as foreign minister and deputy prime minister before falling out of favour. "It was unavoidable because of the policies of the Shah and the foreign countries who supported him."
Yet the Islamic Republic created by Mr Yazdi and his comrades failed to live up to the dreams of a Muslim democracy, in which sagacious ayatollahs would stand as guardians of the democratic wishes of the people.
Saturday, February 7, 2009 - 17:06
SOURCE: Telegraph (UK) (2-6-09)
Bully beef, the cornerstone of the Army for more than a century, is to be replaced by mushroom pasta and halal dishes.
A new varied menu which will to be given to troops in Afghanistan will do away with corned beef hash in favour of dishes designed for the boiling temperatures of Helmand and a more multi-cultural military.
While some hardened veterans may shed a tear at the passing of their beloved bully beef (apparently out-voted by their juniors) all will welcome the long overdue decision to throw out chocolate.
Since the 2003 invasion of Iraq troops have been bemused by the decision to continue packing their 24 hour ration packs with bars of chocolate that regularly melted and then exploded inside the pack's cardboard box leaving a sticky mess that coated the other rations.
Instead the bland tasting chocolate has been replaced by goodies such as Oreo cookies, chocolate chip cake and energy bars.
A new varied menu which will to be given to troops in Afghanistan will do away with corned beef hash in favour of dishes designed for the boiling temperatures of Helmand and a more multi-cultural military.
While some hardened veterans may shed a tear at the passing of their beloved bully beef (apparently out-voted by their juniors) all will welcome the long overdue decision to throw out chocolate.
Since the 2003 invasion of Iraq troops have been bemused by the decision to continue packing their 24 hour ration packs with bars of chocolate that regularly melted and then exploded inside the pack's cardboard box leaving a sticky mess that coated the other rations.
Instead the bland tasting chocolate has been replaced by goodies such as Oreo cookies, chocolate chip cake and energy bars.
Friday, February 6, 2009 - 22:57
SOURCE: Telegraph (UK) (2-6-09)
The Trust aims to renovate more than five thousand buildings to meet minimum environmental standards. The first priority will be insulation through lagging in the walls and roofs, draught proofing chimneys and double glazing.
Saving water will also be important with flow-restricted taps fitted, rain water butts installed and smaller dish washers replacing older models.
Energy saving lightbulbs have already been fitted in a number of properties, as have biomass heating systems using locally sourced wood.
Although it will not be possible to make changes to historic buildings, for example double glazing, alternatives can be found such as temporary glazing on windows in the winter or using natural products such as sheep's wool as insulation.
Stephen Kane, deputy head of buildings at the National Trust, said the "mammoth task" will have to be sensitively done but will ensure properties are prepared for high energy prices, water shortages and climate change. It will also provide inspiration for visitors renovating their own homes.
Saving water will also be important with flow-restricted taps fitted, rain water butts installed and smaller dish washers replacing older models.
Energy saving lightbulbs have already been fitted in a number of properties, as have biomass heating systems using locally sourced wood.
Although it will not be possible to make changes to historic buildings, for example double glazing, alternatives can be found such as temporary glazing on windows in the winter or using natural products such as sheep's wool as insulation.
Stephen Kane, deputy head of buildings at the National Trust, said the "mammoth task" will have to be sensitively done but will ensure properties are prepared for high energy prices, water shortages and climate change. It will also provide inspiration for visitors renovating their own homes.
Friday, February 6, 2009 - 21:28
SOURCE: Telegraph (UK) (2-6-09)
The chief justice of the Islamabad High Court, Sardar Mohammad Aslam, made the decision after hearing lawyers representing government and the nuclear scientist in a closed doors session on Friday.
"The petitioner is declared a free citizen and writ petition is disposed off," said a written order issued by the court.
Khan has been effectively under house arrest in Islamabad since February 2004, when he confessed on television to sending nuclear secrets to Iran, Libya and North Korea, although he retracted his remarks later.
"The petitioner is declared a free citizen and writ petition is disposed off," said a written order issued by the court.
Khan has been effectively under house arrest in Islamabad since February 2004, when he confessed on television to sending nuclear secrets to Iran, Libya and North Korea, although he retracted his remarks later.
Friday, February 6, 2009 - 09:45
Name of source: Daily Mail (UK)
SOURCE: Daily Mail (UK) (2-8-09)
A little-known English nun who helped to hide Italian Jews from the Nazis in wartime Rome is being considered as a possible saint.
Mother Ricarda Beauchamp Hambrough is credited with playing a vital role in saving the lives of more than 60 Jews by smuggling them into her convent.
The Bridgettines, the order to which she belonged, have now applied to the Vatican for permission to open her cause for sainthood.
If granted she will become one of four British women whose sainthood cases are under consideration by the Church.
Mother Ricarda Beauchamp Hambrough is credited with playing a vital role in saving the lives of more than 60 Jews by smuggling them into her convent.
The Bridgettines, the order to which she belonged, have now applied to the Vatican for permission to open her cause for sainthood.
If granted she will become one of four British women whose sainthood cases are under consideration by the Church.
Sunday, February 8, 2009 - 14:40
SOURCE: Daily Mail (UK) (2-5-09)
Three chilling telegrams have been uncovered which reveal the brutal sinking of a defenceless British passenger ship by a U-boat just hours after World War II was declared.
The Athenia carrying 1,103 passengers was attacked in September 3rd 1939 when the German captain mistook her for an armed merchant ship.
Her sinking led to the deaths of 118 people including a Canadian child which brought the Commonwealth country into the conflict.
The Athenia carrying 1,103 passengers was attacked in September 3rd 1939 when the German captain mistook her for an armed merchant ship.
Her sinking led to the deaths of 118 people including a Canadian child which brought the Commonwealth country into the conflict.
The captain of the submarine had attacked the Athenia after mistaking it for an armed merchant ship.
When Adolf Hitler found out he was furious and made the trigger-happy captain re-write his log so stop news of the sinking from getting out.
The three telegrams were kept by Capt McCelland and were handed down through his family.
They are now about to go on public show for the first time at London's Imperial War Museum after his grandson Greg McCelland, 50, re-discovered them in a drawer.
Thursday, February 5, 2009 - 14:47
Name of source: Tehran Times
SOURCE: Tehran Times (2-8-09)
The Islamic Revolution “turned the Iranian nation into a determined, powerful, dignified and influential nation” in the world with voting rights, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told a large group of Air Force commanders and staff ahead of February 10 celebrations which marks the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution.
The meeting with the Supreme Leader is held every year to appreciate the key role of the Air Force in the victory of revolution in 1979.
The Leader pointed to the “determining role” of Iran in the region and said, “Some great powers still do not want to admit this great development in Iran.”
“However,” the Leader said, “when a nation realizes the importance of its determination and decides and acts based on it no power can withstand it, and domination over such a nation is impossible.”
The meeting with the Supreme Leader is held every year to appreciate the key role of the Air Force in the victory of revolution in 1979.
The Leader pointed to the “determining role” of Iran in the region and said, “Some great powers still do not want to admit this great development in Iran.”
“However,” the Leader said, “when a nation realizes the importance of its determination and decides and acts based on it no power can withstand it, and domination over such a nation is impossible.”
Sunday, February 8, 2009 - 14:18
SOURCE: Tehran Times (2-5-09)
An Iranian archaeological team has recently discovered ten Parthian era jar burials at the Nakhl-e Ebrahim site in Hormozgan Province.
The burials were unearthed during the second season of excavations carried out to save artifacts and information from the Parthian cemetery and castle located at a distance of three kilometers from the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf.
The cemetery has almost completely been destroyed by smugglers of Iran’s cultural heritage.
One of the 17 graves discovered during the two seasons of excavations over the past two years used a different style of burial. It belongs to a child who was buried in a fetal position.
The burials were unearthed during the second season of excavations carried out to save artifacts and information from the Parthian cemetery and castle located at a distance of three kilometers from the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf.
The cemetery has almost completely been destroyed by smugglers of Iran’s cultural heritage.
One of the 17 graves discovered during the two seasons of excavations over the past two years used a different style of burial. It belongs to a child who was buried in a fetal position.
Friday, February 6, 2009 - 18:45
SOURCE: Tehran Times (2-5-09)
The burials were unearthed during the second season of excavations carried out to save artifacts and information from the Parthian cemetery and castle located at a distance of three kilometers from the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf.
The cemetery has almost completely been destroyed by smugglers of Iran’s cultural heritage.
One of the 17 graves discovered during the two seasons of excavations over the past two years used a different style of burial. It belongs to a child who was buried in a fetal position.
“All the graves show that jar burials were common in the region during the Parthian era. However, the different burial style of the child’s (grave) has astonished the team,” team director Siamak Sarlak told the Persian service of CHN on Tuesday.
The cemetery has almost completely been destroyed by smugglers of Iran’s cultural heritage.
One of the 17 graves discovered during the two seasons of excavations over the past two years used a different style of burial. It belongs to a child who was buried in a fetal position.
“All the graves show that jar burials were common in the region during the Parthian era. However, the different burial style of the child’s (grave) has astonished the team,” team director Siamak Sarlak told the Persian service of CHN on Tuesday.
Friday, February 6, 2009 - 09:29
Name of source: AP
SOURCE: AP (2-7-09)
When you think of Abraham Lincoln, you think of ... Idaho?
As the nation prepares to commemorate the Feb. 12 bicentennial of Lincoln's birth, Western states that didn't exist until after Lincoln's 1865 assassination, much less his 1809 birth near Hodgenville, Ky., are grabbing a piece of the famous birthday.
Problem is, the connection between the architect of the Emancipation Proclamation and the nation's post-Civil War states is sometimes thin. In Idaho, for example, officials claim their state is closer to Lincoln than any other — because he helped choose Idaho's name when he signed an order making it a territory in 1863.
"More than any other state, Idaho is related to Abraham Lincoln," argued David Leroy, chairman of the Idaho Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission. "That sounds astounding, I suppose, if you're from Kentucky, Indiana or Illinois. But we think we have a pretty good claim."
As the nation prepares to commemorate the Feb. 12 bicentennial of Lincoln's birth, Western states that didn't exist until after Lincoln's 1865 assassination, much less his 1809 birth near Hodgenville, Ky., are grabbing a piece of the famous birthday.
Problem is, the connection between the architect of the Emancipation Proclamation and the nation's post-Civil War states is sometimes thin. In Idaho, for example, officials claim their state is closer to Lincoln than any other — because he helped choose Idaho's name when he signed an order making it a territory in 1863.
"More than any other state, Idaho is related to Abraham Lincoln," argued David Leroy, chairman of the Idaho Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission. "That sounds astounding, I suppose, if you're from Kentucky, Indiana or Illinois. But we think we have a pretty good claim."
Sunday, February 8, 2009 - 11:39
SOURCE: AP (1-5-09)
The Pentagon's senior judge overseeing terror trials at Guantanamo Bay dropped charges Thursday against an al-Qaida suspect in the 2000 USS Cole bombing, upholding President Barack Obama's order to freeze military tribunals there. The charges against suspected al-Qaida bomber Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri marked the last active Guantanamo war crimes case.
The legal move by Susan J. Crawford, the top legal authority for military trials at Guantanamo, brings all cases into compliance with Obama's Jan. 22 executive order to halt terrorist court proceedings at the U.S. Navy base in Cuba.
Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said Crawford dismissed the charges against al-Nashiri without prejudice. That means new charges can be brought again later. He will remain in prison for the time being.
The legal move by Susan J. Crawford, the top legal authority for military trials at Guantanamo, brings all cases into compliance with Obama's Jan. 22 executive order to halt terrorist court proceedings at the U.S. Navy base in Cuba.
Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said Crawford dismissed the charges against al-Nashiri without prejudice. That means new charges can be brought again later. He will remain in prison for the time being.
Thursday, February 5, 2009 - 23:16
Name of source: Reuters
SOURCE: Reuters (2-7-09)
The burden of endless public engagements must be exhausting yet they have fulfilled them for 57 years with dignity and without complaint. Their stamina, workload, and composure are remarkable.
There was only a slight drop in the number of engagements last year from 440 to 417 carried out by the Queen even though at 82, she is at an age when most women would have been retired for 20 years. The Duchess of Cornwall, 61, carried out 220 compared to the Duke of Edinburgh, who at 87, performed 354 engagements.
In December 2007, at the age of 81 and 244 days, the Queen became the oldest, or as her courtiers would prefer it, the longest-lived monarch in the history of the country, beating the record held by Queen Victoria.
There was only a slight drop in the number of engagements last year from 440 to 417 carried out by the Queen even though at 82, she is at an age when most women would have been retired for 20 years. The Duchess of Cornwall, 61, carried out 220 compared to the Duke of Edinburgh, who at 87, performed 354 engagements.
In December 2007, at the age of 81 and 244 days, the Queen became the oldest, or as her courtiers would prefer it, the longest-lived monarch in the history of the country, beating the record held by Queen Victoria.
Sunday, February 8, 2009 - 11:32
SOURCE: Reuters (2-6-09)
Authorities in northern Cyprus believe they have found an ancient version of the Bible written in Syriac, a dialect of the native language of Jesus.
The manuscript was found in a police raid on suspected antiquity smugglers. Turkish Cypriot police testified in a court hearing they believe the manuscript could be about 2,000 years old.
The manuscript carries excerpts of the Bible written in gold lettering on vellum and loosely strung together, photos provided to Reuters showed. One page carries a drawing of a tree, and another eight lines of Syriac script.
Experts were however divided over the provenance of the manuscript, and whether it was an original, which would render it priceless, or a fake.
Experts said the use of gold lettering on the manuscript was likely to date it later than 2,000 years.
The manuscript was found in a police raid on suspected antiquity smugglers. Turkish Cypriot police testified in a court hearing they believe the manuscript could be about 2,000 years old.
The manuscript carries excerpts of the Bible written in gold lettering on vellum and loosely strung together, photos provided to Reuters showed. One page carries a drawing of a tree, and another eight lines of Syriac script.
Experts were however divided over the provenance of the manuscript, and whether it was an original, which would render it priceless, or a fake.
Experts said the use of gold lettering on the manuscript was likely to date it later than 2,000 years.
Friday, February 6, 2009 - 18:42
SOURCE: Reuters (2-4-09)
Presidents do not like to admit mistakes. They see it as a sign of weakness. That is why it was noteworthy that Barack Obama publicly admitted making a mistake only two weeks after taking power.
Obama's slang admission that "I screwed up" in pushing ahead with Tom Daschle as U.S. health care chief despite a controversy over unpaid taxes was a sign of the new style he brings to the White House.
The last president, George W. Bush, struggled to identify a mistake when given an opportunity to list some at a 2004 news conference. It was only when he was exiting the White House after eight years that he was comfortable naming several.
Presidents rarely admit errors "because they think they're right. It's pretty simple," said Shirley Anne Warshaw, a presidential scholar at Gettysburg College.
Sometimes an admission of a mistake can help a president clear the air after making a bad stumble.
John Kennedy's 1961 acceptance of responsibility over the bungled Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba was welcomed by Americans, as was Ronald Reagan's 1987 acknowledgment that "serious mistakes were made" in the Iran-contra affair.
But Richard Nixon's baritone insistence that "I am not a crook" over the Watergate scandal did not stop his political slide and Bill Clinton's finger-waving claim that "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky," became a public laughingstock.
"It's more important to admit mistakes than to make them," said presidential scholar Stephen Hess, a professor at George Washington University. "That's what people are looking for, and how you do it, and if you do it fast and honorably."
Obama's slang admission that "I screwed up" in pushing ahead with Tom Daschle as U.S. health care chief despite a controversy over unpaid taxes was a sign of the new style he brings to the White House.
The last president, George W. Bush, struggled to identify a mistake when given an opportunity to list some at a 2004 news conference. It was only when he was exiting the White House after eight years that he was comfortable naming several.
Presidents rarely admit errors "because they think they're right. It's pretty simple," said Shirley Anne Warshaw, a presidential scholar at Gettysburg College.
Sometimes an admission of a mistake can help a president clear the air after making a bad stumble.
John Kennedy's 1961 acceptance of responsibility over the bungled Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba was welcomed by Americans, as was Ronald Reagan's 1987 acknowledgment that "serious mistakes were made" in the Iran-contra affair.
But Richard Nixon's baritone insistence that "I am not a crook" over the Watergate scandal did not stop his political slide and Bill Clinton's finger-waving claim that "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky," became a public laughingstock.
"It's more important to admit mistakes than to make them," said presidential scholar Stephen Hess, a professor at George Washington University. "That's what people are looking for, and how you do it, and if you do it fast and honorably."
Thursday, February 5, 2009 - 20:42
Name of source: AFP
SOURCE: AFP (2-7-09)
A bishop under fire for denying the Holocaust wants to examine the historical evidence before any possible renunciation of his belief that not a single Jew died in Nazi gas chambers, a report said.
"If I find proof I would rectify (earlier statements)... But all that will take time," Bishop Richard Williamson was quoted as saying by the German weekly magazine Der Spiegel.
The British-born bishop denied the existence of the gas chambers in an interview with Swedish television two days the pope lifted his ex-communication last month.
"I believe there were no gas chambers... I think that 200,000 to 300,000 Jews perished in Nazi concentration camps but none of them by gas chambers," Williamson said.
"There was not one Jew killed by the gas chambers. It was all lies, lies, lies!"
"If I find proof I would rectify (earlier statements)... But all that will take time," Bishop Richard Williamson was quoted as saying by the German weekly magazine Der Spiegel.
The British-born bishop denied the existence of the gas chambers in an interview with Swedish television two days the pope lifted his ex-communication last month.
"I believe there were no gas chambers... I think that 200,000 to 300,000 Jews perished in Nazi concentration camps but none of them by gas chambers," Williamson said.
"There was not one Jew killed by the gas chambers. It was all lies, lies, lies!"
Saturday, February 7, 2009 - 14:40
Name of source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer
SOURCE: Seattle Post-Intelligencer (2-6-09)
Imagine a time when Seattle had far more trees than people -- if you can.
It was 1909, a year of optimism, when women were poised to get the vote in Washington, and the harsh realities of World War I and the Great Depression were years away.
In the heady post-Gold Rush boom years, civic leaders decided it was time to put Seattle on the map. The plan: Stage the city's first world's fair. The global bash -- the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition -- aimed to attract more residents, business and trade through national and international exposure.
Few historians -- or anyone aware of King County's population growth or transportation problems today -- doubt that the strategy worked. The exposition lured dreamers, honeymooners, relatives and tourists -- many of whom never left. A total of 3.7 million people came to the fair, which ran from June 1 to Oct. 16, 1909.
The fair was a big deal then, and to celebrate its centennial, the city of Seattle, local historians and others are planning events to mark one of the region's biggest milestones.
Pavilions representing Pacific Rim states and countries, and the fair's mix of pageantry, art, educational exhibits, international displays and carnival attractions brought people together with a new concept -- globalism.
It was 1909, a year of optimism, when women were poised to get the vote in Washington, and the harsh realities of World War I and the Great Depression were years away.
In the heady post-Gold Rush boom years, civic leaders decided it was time to put Seattle on the map. The plan: Stage the city's first world's fair. The global bash -- the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition -- aimed to attract more residents, business and trade through national and international exposure.
Few historians -- or anyone aware of King County's population growth or transportation problems today -- doubt that the strategy worked. The exposition lured dreamers, honeymooners, relatives and tourists -- many of whom never left. A total of 3.7 million people came to the fair, which ran from June 1 to Oct. 16, 1909.
The fair was a big deal then, and to celebrate its centennial, the city of Seattle, local historians and others are planning events to mark one of the region's biggest milestones.
Pavilions representing Pacific Rim states and countries, and the fair's mix of pageantry, art, educational exhibits, international displays and carnival attractions brought people together with a new concept -- globalism.
Friday, February 6, 2009 - 23:34
Name of source: LAT
SOURCE: LAT (2-5-09)
Organizers of Orange County’s annual Black History Parade have canceled Saturday’s event, saying they couldn’t raise enough money to cover its cost.
The procession of floats, school bands and community leaders through Santa Ana began in 1979 as a modest affair but had grown in recent years to include more than 100 entries.
But the parade’s sponsor, the Orange County Black Historical Commission, said the poor economy made it impossible to raise the $50,000 to $60,000 needed to cover police, cleanup and other costs. Organizers hope to revive the parade next year.
The procession of floats, school bands and community leaders through Santa Ana began in 1979 as a modest affair but had grown in recent years to include more than 100 entries.
But the parade’s sponsor, the Orange County Black Historical Commission, said the poor economy made it impossible to raise the $50,000 to $60,000 needed to cover police, cleanup and other costs. Organizers hope to revive the parade next year.
Friday, February 6, 2009 - 23:33
Name of source: WaPo
SOURCE: WaPo (2-6-09)
The mutton chops and top hat, the powdered white curls and wooden teeth.
How could a child not be fascinated by iconic presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln?
The life history and legacy of the first and 16th presidents are American classroom staples that never go out of style. "Their exploits as young men have appeal for children of all ages," says Jonathan Brand, high school history teacher and headmaster of Chelsea Academy in Front Royal, Va. "Their roles in shaping the American republic and presence in modern kids' history lessons are without equal."
The bicentennial of Lincoln's birth is Thursday, and events abound throughout the Washington area for families to satisfy their thirst for information about his life and contributions. "So many things about Lincoln's life story are relatable to every American. And the field of study on Lincoln is so dynamic; 200 years after his birth, we're still discovering new items and continually learning more about him," says Erin Carlson Mast, curator of President Lincoln's Cottage.
How could a child not be fascinated by iconic presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln?
The life history and legacy of the first and 16th presidents are American classroom staples that never go out of style. "Their exploits as young men have appeal for children of all ages," says Jonathan Brand, high school history teacher and headmaster of Chelsea Academy in Front Royal, Va. "Their roles in shaping the American republic and presence in modern kids' history lessons are without equal."
The bicentennial of Lincoln's birth is Thursday, and events abound throughout the Washington area for families to satisfy their thirst for information about his life and contributions. "So many things about Lincoln's life story are relatable to every American. And the field of study on Lincoln is so dynamic; 200 years after his birth, we're still discovering new items and continually learning more about him," says Erin Carlson Mast, curator of President Lincoln's Cottage.
Friday, February 6, 2009 - 23:32
Name of source: Media Matters (liberal watchdog group)
SOURCE: Media Matters (liberal watchdog group) (2-6-09)
A February 6 Washington Post article about Leon Panetta's Senate confirmation hearing as CIA director reported that "Panetta said he would oppose 'extraordinary rendition,' the forced transfer of detainees to another country, in cases in which the suspects might be tortured" and that Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO) "noted that the Clinton administration had ordered dozens of renditions." However, the article did not note Panetta's response to Bond's statement that "during the Clinton administration there were approximately 80 renditions of terror suspects during your watch as chief of staff of the White House." In that response, Panetta differentiated between "extraordinary renditions" under the Bush administration "where I think the situation where we took a prisoner and sent him to another country for questioning and often times that questioning took place under circumstances that did not meet our test for human values" and renditions in which individuals were returned "to countries of jurisdiction" or "rendered back to this country for purposes of trial." Panetta called the latter types of rendition "an important tool."
During the hearing, Bond stated that "during the Clinton administration there were approximately 80 renditions of terror suspects during your watch as chief of staff of the White House" and asked of Panetta: "Do you have any comments on the renditions which occurred during your watch as chief of staff?" Panetta responded: "Well, I think you have to define what kind of renditions we're talking about." He continued:
PANETTA: Obviously, extraordinary renditions where I think the situation where we took a prisoner and sent him to another country for questioning and often times that questioning took place under circumstances that did not meet our test for human values. Renditions have been a tool used by this government over the years. Returning individuals to countries of jurisdiction -- Carlos the Jackal was taken and returned to France under a rendition. Others have been -- there were prisoners that we captured abroad that were rendered back to this country for purposes of trial. I think those kinds of renditions are an appropriate tool. I do not believe that we ought to use --
FEINSTEIN: Could you hold the microphone, it's just gone off.
PANETTA: I've got this, I've got it. I do not believe that, and as I said, under the executive order, I do not believe we ought to use renditions for the purpose of sending people to black sites and not providing the kind of oversight that I believe is necessary. Now, having said that, if we capture a high-value prisoner, I believe we have the right to hold that individual temporarily, to be able to debrief that individual, and then to make sure that that individual is properly incarcerated, so that we can maintain control over that individual. And I think that, frankly, I think that's provided for under the executive order.
Panetta further said of extraordinary renditions under the Bush administration:
PANETTA: I have not been officially briefed on any of the extraordinary renditions as to what actually took place. My understanding is that there were black sites. My understanding is we used those during that time. Some of these were permanent facilities. What took place with those individuals I don't have any direct evidence of. But obviously there were indications that those countries did not use the kind of, or meet the kind of, human values that we would extend to prisoners. So it's for those reasons that the president acted to prevent extraordinary renditions.
Moreover, as Media Matters for America has noted, investigative journalist Jane Mayer reported in the February 14, 2005, edition of The New Yorker that the "limited" rendition program under President Clinton expanded after September 11, 2001, "beyond recognition":
Rendition was originally carried out on a limited basis, but after September 11th, when President Bush declared a global war on terrorism, the program expanded beyond recognition -- becoming, according to a former C.I.A. official, "an abomination." What began as a program aimed at a small, discrete set of suspects -- people against whom there were outstanding foreign arrest warrants -- came to include a wide and ill-defined population that the Administration terms "illegal enemy combatants."
From the February 5 Senate Intelligence Committee hearings (video at 37:48):
BOND: Mr. Panetta, to clarify what you just said, the United States has sent individuals to other countries for torture -- that's news to me. Now, I understand that during President Clinton's term there were approximately 80 renditions of terror suspects that occurred during your watch as chief of staff on -- of the White House. An official from Human Rights Watch was quoted saying Clinton policies in practice meant torture. Do you have any comments on the renditions which occurred during your watch as chief of staff?
PANETTA: Well, I think you have to define what kind of renditions we're talking about. Obviously, extraordinary renditions where I think the situation where we took a prisoner and sent him to another country for questioning and often times that questioning took place under circumstances that did not meet our test for human values. Renditions have been a tool used by this government over the years. Returning individuals to countries of jurisdiction -- Carlos the Jackal was taken and returned to France under a rendition. Others have been -- there were prisoners that we captured abroad that were rendered back to this country for purposes of trial. I think those kinds of renditions are an appropriate tool. I do not believe that we ought to use --
FEINSTEIN: Could you hold the microphone, it's just gone off.
PANETTA: I've got this, I've got it. I do not believe that, and as I said, under the executive order, I do not believe we ought to use renditions for the purpose of sending people to black sites and not providing the kind of oversight that I believe is necessary. Now, having said that, if we capture a high-value prisoner, I believe we have the right to hold that individual temporarily, to be able to debrief that individual, and then to make sure that that individual is properly incarcerated, so that we can maintain control over that individual. And I think that, frankly, I think that's provided for under the executive order.
BOND: Are you -- to clarify further, are you saying that the government has sent people to other countries for torture, and what do you mean by that?
PANETTA: I have not been officially briefed on any of the extraordinary renditions as to what actually took place. My understanding is that there were black sites. My understanding is we used those during that time. Some of these were permanent facilities. What took place with those individuals I don't have any direct evidence of. But obviously there were indications that those countries did not use the kind of, or meet the kind of, human values that we would extend to prisoners. So it's for those reasons that the president acted to prevent extraordinary renditions.
BOND: Now, I would -- since you don't know about those, I would assume that would apply to the renditions in the '90s, when detainees were transferred to a third country, where they were executed. Does that qualify as torture?
PANETTA: Well, I think if in the renditions where we return an individual to the jurisdiction of another country, and then they exercise, you know, their right to try that individual and to prosecute him under their laws, I think that is an appropriate use of rendition.
During the hearing, Bond stated that "during the Clinton administration there were approximately 80 renditions of terror suspects during your watch as chief of staff of the White House" and asked of Panetta: "Do you have any comments on the renditions which occurred during your watch as chief of staff?" Panetta responded: "Well, I think you have to define what kind of renditions we're talking about." He continued:
PANETTA: Obviously, extraordinary renditions where I think the situation where we took a prisoner and sent him to another country for questioning and often times that questioning took place under circumstances that did not meet our test for human values. Renditions have been a tool used by this government over the years. Returning individuals to countries of jurisdiction -- Carlos the Jackal was taken and returned to France under a rendition. Others have been -- there were prisoners that we captured abroad that were rendered back to this country for purposes of trial. I think those kinds of renditions are an appropriate tool. I do not believe that we ought to use --
FEINSTEIN: Could you hold the microphone, it's just gone off.
PANETTA: I've got this, I've got it. I do not believe that, and as I said, under the executive order, I do not believe we ought to use renditions for the purpose of sending people to black sites and not providing the kind of oversight that I believe is necessary. Now, having said that, if we capture a high-value prisoner, I believe we have the right to hold that individual temporarily, to be able to debrief that individual, and then to make sure that that individual is properly incarcerated, so that we can maintain control over that individual. And I think that, frankly, I think that's provided for under the executive order.
Panetta further said of extraordinary renditions under the Bush administration:
PANETTA: I have not been officially briefed on any of the extraordinary renditions as to what actually took place. My understanding is that there were black sites. My understanding is we used those during that time. Some of these were permanent facilities. What took place with those individuals I don't have any direct evidence of. But obviously there were indications that those countries did not use the kind of, or meet the kind of, human values that we would extend to prisoners. So it's for those reasons that the president acted to prevent extraordinary renditions.
Moreover, as Media Matters for America has noted, investigative journalist Jane Mayer reported in the February 14, 2005, edition of The New Yorker that the "limited" rendition program under President Clinton expanded after September 11, 2001, "beyond recognition":
Rendition was originally carried out on a limited basis, but after September 11th, when President Bush declared a global war on terrorism, the program expanded beyond recognition -- becoming, according to a former C.I.A. official, "an abomination." What began as a program aimed at a small, discrete set of suspects -- people against whom there were outstanding foreign arrest warrants -- came to include a wide and ill-defined population that the Administration terms "illegal enemy combatants."
From the February 5 Senate Intelligence Committee hearings (video at 37:48):
BOND: Mr. Panetta, to clarify what you just said, the United States has sent individuals to other countries for torture -- that's news to me. Now, I understand that during President Clinton's term there were approximately 80 renditions of terror suspects that occurred during your watch as chief of staff on -- of the White House. An official from Human Rights Watch was quoted saying Clinton policies in practice meant torture. Do you have any comments on the renditions which occurred during your watch as chief of staff?
PANETTA: Well, I think you have to define what kind of renditions we're talking about. Obviously, extraordinary renditions where I think the situation where we took a prisoner and sent him to another country for questioning and often times that questioning took place under circumstances that did not meet our test for human values. Renditions have been a tool used by this government over the years. Returning individuals to countries of jurisdiction -- Carlos the Jackal was taken and returned to France under a rendition. Others have been -- there were prisoners that we captured abroad that were rendered back to this country for purposes of trial. I think those kinds of renditions are an appropriate tool. I do not believe that we ought to use --
FEINSTEIN: Could you hold the microphone, it's just gone off.
PANETTA: I've got this, I've got it. I do not believe that, and as I said, under the executive order, I do not believe we ought to use renditions for the purpose of sending people to black sites and not providing the kind of oversight that I believe is necessary. Now, having said that, if we capture a high-value prisoner, I believe we have the right to hold that individual temporarily, to be able to debrief that individual, and then to make sure that that individual is properly incarcerated, so that we can maintain control over that individual. And I think that, frankly, I think that's provided for under the executive order.
BOND: Are you -- to clarify further, are you saying that the government has sent people to other countries for torture, and what do you mean by that?
PANETTA: I have not been officially briefed on any of the extraordinary renditions as to what actually took place. My understanding is that there were black sites. My understanding is we used those during that time. Some of these were permanent facilities. What took place with those individuals I don't have any direct evidence of. But obviously there were indications that those countries did not use the kind of, or meet the kind of, human values that we would extend to prisoners. So it's for those reasons that the president acted to prevent extraordinary renditions.
BOND: Now, I would -- since you don't know about those, I would assume that would apply to the renditions in the '90s, when detainees were transferred to a third country, where they were executed. Does that qualify as torture?
PANETTA: Well, I think if in the renditions where we return an individual to the jurisdiction of another country, and then they exercise, you know, their right to try that individual and to prosecute him under their laws, I think that is an appropriate use of rendition.
Friday, February 6, 2009 - 23:24
SOURCE: Media Matters (liberal watchdog group) (2-5-09)
On the February 5 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends, while criticizing President Obama for saying that the economy is currently doing poorly, co-host Steve Doocy purported to contrast what Obama has said with President Franklin D. Roosevelt's famous statement that "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself." In fact, in the very speech in which Roosevelt made that remark, he noted the poor state of the economy at the time. After co-host Brian Kilmeade asserted, "I just don't understand the wisdom of doing this as the leader of the free world, running down the economy, and then wondering why we don't have consumer confidence," Doocy responded, "I'll tell you the impact is if you are worried about losing your job or you have lost your job, or you're having trouble making your house payments, you hear the president of the United States talk about stuff like that, it scares you a little bit." Doocy later said: "[L]ook back at FDR: 'We have nothing to fear but fear itself.' And what do we have now? It's kind of like, man, it's bad. It's bad."
In fact, in his March 1933 inaugural address, moments after saying "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself," Roosevelt said: "In such a spirit on my part and on yours, we face our common difficulties. They concern, thank God, only material things. Values have shrunk to fantastic levels; taxes have risen; our ability to pay has fallen; government of all kinds is faced by serious curtailment of income; the means of exchange are frozen in the currents of trade; the withered leaves of industrial enterprise lie on every side; farmers find no markets for their produce; and the savings of many years in thousands of families are gone." Roosevelt later added: "Only a foolish optimist can deny the dark realities of the moment."
From Roosevelt's March 4, 1933, inaugural address:
ROOSEVELT: I am certain that on this day, my fellow Americans expect that on my induction into the presidency, I will address them with a candor and a decision, which the present situation of our people impel. This is pre-eminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself -- nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror, which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life, a leadership of frankness and of vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people in peril, which is essential to victory. And I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days.
In such a spirit on my part and on yours, we face our common difficulties. They concern, thank God, only material things. Values have shrunk to fantastic levels; taxes have risen; our ability to pay has fallen; government of all kinds is faced by serious curtailment of income; the means of exchange are frozen in the currents of trade; the withered leaves of industrial enterprise lie on every side; farmers find no markets for their produce; and the savings of many years in thousands of families are gone.
More important, a host of unemployed citizens face the grim problem of existence and an equally great number toil with little return. Only a foolish optimist can deny the dark realities of the moment.
From the February 5 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends:
KILMEADE: But the other thing is, every time we put on anything from the White House or from Capitol Hill, they're always saying it's catastrophic consequences. Things are worse.
DOOCY: Bad.
KILMEADE: That this is the worst economy in all of our lifetimes -- Barack Obama was quoted as saying.
DOOCY: Right.
KILMEADE: I just don't understand the wisdom of doing this as the leader of the free world, running down the economy, and then wondering why we don't have consumer confidence.
DOOCY: I'll tell you the impact is if you are worried about losing your job or you have lost your job, or you're having trouble making your house payments, you hear the president of the United States talk about stuff like that, it scares you a little bit.
KILMEADE: How about this? If you own a deli and you say, well, things are only going to get worse, I'm going to let those two people go. In restaurants --
GRETCHEN CARLSON (co-host): How about looking at the political reason why he's saying that, though?
KILMEADE: But I just don't think that -- I know, but --
CARLSON: The political reason is because if there's any uptick at all, then it makes his administration look like they've done a fabulous job in fixing it. You know, by all accounts, the administration is not the only people saying that this is dire straits. Donald Trump says he's never seen it like this before. I know what you're saying. From a PR point of view --
KILMEADE: Yeah.
CARLSON: -- he shouldn't be advocating it on a daily basis, but I think they're doing it so that the minute that it improves at all, let's hope it does, then they can say --
DOOCY: Well --
CARLSON: -- that they were responsible for the improvement.
DOOCY: And look back at FDR: "We have nothing to fear but fear itself." And what do we have now? It's kind of like, man, it's bad. It's bad.
In fact, in his March 1933 inaugural address, moments after saying "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself," Roosevelt said: "In such a spirit on my part and on yours, we face our common difficulties. They concern, thank God, only material things. Values have shrunk to fantastic levels; taxes have risen; our ability to pay has fallen; government of all kinds is faced by serious curtailment of income; the means of exchange are frozen in the currents of trade; the withered leaves of industrial enterprise lie on every side; farmers find no markets for their produce; and the savings of many years in thousands of families are gone." Roosevelt later added: "Only a foolish optimist can deny the dark realities of the moment."
From Roosevelt's March 4, 1933, inaugural address:
ROOSEVELT: I am certain that on this day, my fellow Americans expect that on my induction into the presidency, I will address them with a candor and a decision, which the present situation of our people impel. This is pre-eminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself -- nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror, which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life, a leadership of frankness and of vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people in peril, which is essential to victory. And I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days.
In such a spirit on my part and on yours, we face our common difficulties. They concern, thank God, only material things. Values have shrunk to fantastic levels; taxes have risen; our ability to pay has fallen; government of all kinds is faced by serious curtailment of income; the means of exchange are frozen in the currents of trade; the withered leaves of industrial enterprise lie on every side; farmers find no markets for their produce; and the savings of many years in thousands of families are gone.
More important, a host of unemployed citizens face the grim problem of existence and an equally great number toil with little return. Only a foolish optimist can deny the dark realities of the moment.
From the February 5 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends:
KILMEADE: But the other thing is, every time we put on anything from the White House or from Capitol Hill, they're always saying it's catastrophic consequences. Things are worse.
DOOCY: Bad.
KILMEADE: That this is the worst economy in all of our lifetimes -- Barack Obama was quoted as saying.
DOOCY: Right.
KILMEADE: I just don't understand the wisdom of doing this as the leader of the free world, running down the economy, and then wondering why we don't have consumer confidence.
DOOCY: I'll tell you the impact is if you are worried about losing your job or you have lost your job, or you're having trouble making your house payments, you hear the president of the United States talk about stuff like that, it scares you a little bit.
KILMEADE: How about this? If you own a deli and you say, well, things are only going to get worse, I'm going to let those two people go. In restaurants --
GRETCHEN CARLSON (co-host): How about looking at the political reason why he's saying that, though?
KILMEADE: But I just don't think that -- I know, but --
CARLSON: The political reason is because if there's any uptick at all, then it makes his administration look like they've done a fabulous job in fixing it. You know, by all accounts, the administration is not the only people saying that this is dire straits. Donald Trump says he's never seen it like this before. I know what you're saying. From a PR point of view --
KILMEADE: Yeah.
CARLSON: -- he shouldn't be advocating it on a daily basis, but I think they're doing it so that the minute that it improves at all, let's hope it does, then they can say --
DOOCY: Well --
CARLSON: -- that they were responsible for the improvement.
DOOCY: And look back at FDR: "We have nothing to fear but fear itself." And what do we have now? It's kind of like, man, it's bad. It's bad.
Thursday, February 5, 2009 - 22:39
Name of source: Chronicle of Higher Ed
SOURCE: Chronicle of Higher Ed (2-5-09)
Google today unveiled what could be the largest collection of digital books formatted for cellphones. The company took 1.5 million of the books it has scanned through its partnership with several major college libraries and prepped them for the small screen of iPhones or phones using Google’s Android operating system.
The collection only includes books that are in the public domain, so it highlights classics like Emma and This Side of Paradise.
The collection only includes books that are in the public domain, so it highlights classics like Emma and This Side of Paradise.
Friday, February 6, 2009 - 23:13
SOURCE: Chronicle of Higher Ed (2-5-09)
The American Association of Public Opinion Research has censured a Johns Hopkins University professor for refusing to disclose “basic facts” about his controversial research that estimated the number of civilians who have died in Iraq since the 2003 invasion is hundreds of thousands more than most other estimates.
The association conducted an eight-month inquiry into results published by Gilbert Burnham in the October 2006 issue of The Lancet, a British medical journal, that estimated that 650,000 Iraqis had died as a result of the U.S.-led invasion.
The inquiry into Mr. Burnham’s work arose because of a complaint by one of the association’s members. But Mr. Burnham, who is not a member of the association, refused to cooperate. He wouldn’t disclose such information as the wording of questions he used in a survey of Iraqis, the instructions and explanations that were provided to respondents, and a summary of the outcomes for all households selected as potential participants in the survey, according to a statement released by the group.
“This violated the standards of science, seriously undermines open public debate on critical issues, and undermines the credibility of all survey and public-opinion research,” said Richard A. Kulka, the association’s president.
The Bloomberg School of Public Health at Hopkins said it was disappointed with the findings but pointed out that neither it nor Mr. Burnham are members of the association.
The association conducted an eight-month inquiry into results published by Gilbert Burnham in the October 2006 issue of The Lancet, a British medical journal, that estimated that 650,000 Iraqis had died as a result of the U.S.-led invasion.
The inquiry into Mr. Burnham’s work arose because of a complaint by one of the association’s members. But Mr. Burnham, who is not a member of the association, refused to cooperate. He wouldn’t disclose such information as the wording of questions he used in a survey of Iraqis, the instructions and explanations that were provided to respondents, and a summary of the outcomes for all households selected as potential participants in the survey, according to a statement released by the group.
“This violated the standards of science, seriously undermines open public debate on critical issues, and undermines the credibility of all survey and public-opinion research,” said Richard A. Kulka, the association’s president.
The Bloomberg School of Public Health at Hopkins said it was disappointed with the findings but pointed out that neither it nor Mr. Burnham are members of the association.
Thursday, February 5, 2009 - 20:38
Name of source: Foxnews
SOURCE: Foxnews (2-6-09)
Nazi hunters urged Egypt on Friday to come clean about how much it knew about a fugitive dubbed "Dr. Death," who reportedly lived here for decades until he died in 1992. But Egypt has long kept a strict silence about former Nazis reported to have taken refuge on its soil.
The discovery of Aribert Heim's secret life throws light on how the Arab world took in members of the Nazi regime after World War II, said Efraim Zuroff, head Nazi hunter at the Simon Wiesenthal Center. The region's role as a haven has gone little examined while researchers focused on the larger, better known influx of Nazis to Latin America.
A number of Nazis are believed to have been welcomed in the 1950s by the Egyptian regime of then-President Gamal Abdel-Nasser, who was locked in an intense rivalry with Israel that erupted into wars in 1956 and 1967. Nasser enlisted some Nazis to train Egypt's military or produce anti-Israel propaganda — and Israel feared they were involved in building a rocket program.
The Egyptian government has been silent since Heim's presence in Egypt was first reported by The New York Times and Germany's ZPF television Thursday. Government officials and several former Nasser-era officials approached by The Associated Press refused to comment on any aspect of the reports.
One current security official would say only that if Heim was in Egypt, he was let in under a previous government. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said Egypt would look into the reports.
The discovery of Aribert Heim's secret life throws light on how the Arab world took in members of the Nazi regime after World War II, said Efraim Zuroff, head Nazi hunter at the Simon Wiesenthal Center. The region's role as a haven has gone little examined while researchers focused on the larger, better known influx of Nazis to Latin America.
A number of Nazis are believed to have been welcomed in the 1950s by the Egyptian regime of then-President Gamal Abdel-Nasser, who was locked in an intense rivalry with Israel that erupted into wars in 1956 and 1967. Nasser enlisted some Nazis to train Egypt's military or produce anti-Israel propaganda — and Israel feared they were involved in building a rocket program.
The Egyptian government has been silent since Heim's presence in Egypt was first reported by The New York Times and Germany's ZPF television Thursday. Government officials and several former Nasser-era officials approached by The Associated Press refused to comment on any aspect of the reports.
One current security official would say only that if Heim was in Egypt, he was let in under a previous government. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said Egypt would look into the reports.
Friday, February 6, 2009 - 21:27
SOURCE: Foxnews (2-6-09)
Confederate President Jefferson Davis, branded a traitor in his own country, is memorialized at statehouses across the South. But not in Mississippi, where he lived out his remaining days.
A bill to accept a statue of Davis from the Sons of Confederate Veterans is now the latest skirmish in the long battle over Confederate history, often fought on Southern Capitol lawns and rotundas.
The Sons of Confederate Veterans has been shopping for a home for the Davis statue for over a year. It was first offered to a Civil War history center in Richmond, Va., the former capital of the Confederacy. But the Confederate group later rescinded because the center wasn't sure where the statue would be placed.
The statue depicts Davis holding the hands of two children — his son and a black slave who was adopted by the Davis family.
A bill to accept a statue of Davis from the Sons of Confederate Veterans is now the latest skirmish in the long battle over Confederate history, often fought on Southern Capitol lawns and rotundas.
The Sons of Confederate Veterans has been shopping for a home for the Davis statue for over a year. It was first offered to a Civil War history center in Richmond, Va., the former capital of the Confederacy. But the Confederate group later rescinded because the center wasn't sure where the statue would be placed.
The statue depicts Davis holding the hands of two children — his son and a black slave who was adopted by the Davis family.
Friday, February 6, 2009 - 18:15
Name of source: ABC News
SOURCE: ABC News (2-6-09)
Bidders Aim to Grab Lincoln's 1864 Re-Election Victory Speech.
Thought to be one of his most important wartime speeches, his 1864 victory speech is terse -- just four pages -- but steady in the thoughtful optimism that the re-election inspired in him, that the nation could survive.
Since that time, America proved it could survive that and many other challenges. Lincoln's bold ideas never faded, nor did the four pages of that speech.
On Feb. 12, the bicentennial of Lincoln's birth, New York's famed auction house, Christie's, is auctioning off the original copy of Lincoln's speech that's estimated to fetch $3 million to $4 million.
Thought to be one of his most important wartime speeches, his 1864 victory speech is terse -- just four pages -- but steady in the thoughtful optimism that the re-election inspired in him, that the nation could survive.
Since that time, America proved it could survive that and many other challenges. Lincoln's bold ideas never faded, nor did the four pages of that speech.
On Feb. 12, the bicentennial of Lincoln's birth, New York's famed auction house, Christie's, is auctioning off the original copy of Lincoln's speech that's estimated to fetch $3 million to $4 million.
Friday, February 6, 2009 - 21:24
Name of source: Discovery Channel
SOURCE: Discovery Channel (2-5-09)
A rare mummified child from the early period of Egyptian history was discovered buried with a bright green amulet stone once believed to hold magical powers, according to a new study.
The finds help to explain why hieroglyphics and historical texts record that Egyptian children wore green eye makeup. It also adds to the growing body of evidence that ancient Egyptians thought color itself held sacred energy that could help or hurt individuals.
Lead author Raffaella Bianucci explained that the first Egyptian colored amulets occurred as early as the predynastic Badarian period, from 4500 to 3800 B.C. The recently analyzed child mummy, containing the remains of a 15- to 18-month-old toddler, dates to 4,700 years ago.
The finds help to explain why hieroglyphics and historical texts record that Egyptian children wore green eye makeup. It also adds to the growing body of evidence that ancient Egyptians thought color itself held sacred energy that could help or hurt individuals.
Lead author Raffaella Bianucci explained that the first Egyptian colored amulets occurred as early as the predynastic Badarian period, from 4500 to 3800 B.C. The recently analyzed child mummy, containing the remains of a 15- to 18-month-old toddler, dates to 4,700 years ago.
Friday, February 6, 2009 - 21:23
Name of source: International Herald Tribune
SOURCE: International Herald Tribune (2-6-09)
German investigators said Thursday that they had independent information corroborating reports that the most-wanted Nazi fugitive in the world, the concentration camp doctor Aribert Heim, had died in Egypt in 1992.
Horst Haug, a spokesman for the police in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, said that the police had information "from the personal circle" of Heim, who would now be 94, indicating that he died of rectal cancer in Cairo. In a statement issued jointly by the state police and the regional court in Baden-Baden, Heim's last known address in Germany, officials said they would work with Egyptian authorities to try to locate and identify the remains of Heim, a fugitive and accused war criminal.
Citing witnesses, including Heim's son, Rüdiger, The New York Times and the German television station ZDF reported Wednesday that Heim had died in Cairo in 1992.
Haug said that the police's information came from a separate source and was received at the beginning of the week. He declined to reveal the source.
Heim, who was born in Austria, was accused of killing hundreds of people, mainly Jews, while working at a concentration camp in Austria, earning him the nickname Dr. Death. He fled Germany in 1962 just as a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Horst Haug, a spokesman for the police in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, said that the police had information "from the personal circle" of Heim, who would now be 94, indicating that he died of rectal cancer in Cairo. In a statement issued jointly by the state police and the regional court in Baden-Baden, Heim's last known address in Germany, officials said they would work with Egyptian authorities to try to locate and identify the remains of Heim, a fugitive and accused war criminal.
Citing witnesses, including Heim's son, Rüdiger, The New York Times and the German television station ZDF reported Wednesday that Heim had died in Cairo in 1992.
Haug said that the police's information came from a separate source and was received at the beginning of the week. He declined to reveal the source.
Heim, who was born in Austria, was accused of killing hundreds of people, mainly Jews, while working at a concentration camp in Austria, earning him the nickname Dr. Death. He fled Germany in 1962 just as a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Friday, February 6, 2009 - 09:32
Name of source: NBC News Video
SOURCE: NBC News Video (2-5-09)
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Friday, February 6, 2009 - 00:31
Name of source: CSMonitor
SOURCE: CSMonitor (2-6-09)
MUNICH - After unprecedented outcry in Pope Benedict XVI's home country of Germany by Roman Catholic and Jewish leaders worldwide, the Vatican this week clarified efforts to reconcile with an ultra-right-wing set of bishops excommunicated in 1988, one of whom denies that the Holocaust, or the Shoah, took the lives of 6 million Jews during Nazi rule here in World War II.
Bishop Richard Williamson of the hard-right St. Pius X Society "must absolutely, unequivocally and publicly distance himself" from statements denying the Shoah, stated the Holy See.
The Vatican has been in serious damage control for at least a week. German Chancellor Angela Merkel asked the Vatican Monday to clarify its position – amid some of the most open dissent and dismay by Catholic bishops in Europe under Pope Benedict, formerly Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.
The crisis underscores the difficulties the pope faces in his project of reestablishing traditional Christianity in Europe and rolling back the liberal influences of Vatican II inside Catholicism – in a world more diverse and secular, a religious landscape more ecumenical, a church divided over doctrine and approach, and papal authority seemingly more subject to outside opinion, as in this week's virtual censure of the pope by Ms. Merkel.
Bishop Richard Williamson of the hard-right St. Pius X Society "must absolutely, unequivocally and publicly distance himself" from statements denying the Shoah, stated the Holy See.
The Vatican has been in serious damage control for at least a week. German Chancellor Angela Merkel asked the Vatican Monday to clarify its position – amid some of the most open dissent and dismay by Catholic bishops in Europe under Pope Benedict, formerly Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.
The crisis underscores the difficulties the pope faces in his project of reestablishing traditional Christianity in Europe and rolling back the liberal influences of Vatican II inside Catholicism – in a world more diverse and secular, a religious landscape more ecumenical, a church divided over doctrine and approach, and papal authority seemingly more subject to outside opinion, as in this week's virtual censure of the pope by Ms. Merkel.
Thursday, February 5, 2009 - 22:39
Name of source: The Orion: The student-run newspaper of the journalism department at Chico State
The election of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States has become a landmark in both American and black history. With Obama's inauguration just a few weeks ago, the significance of Black History Month is especially prominent this year.
"Everything changed with the last election," said Nicholas Smith, a recording arts major. "There is no reason why a black person can't be president. The opportunity is there - it's been there - but now it's more accessible."
Much of Smith's knowledge of black history comes from his parents, he said. His mother was a black student in an all-white high school in Los Angeles, and his father was born in the South, at a time when the "n-word" was written on his birth certificate.
Growing up, Smith's mother made her children memorize Martin Luther King Jr. speeches, Smith said.
"I never got all of 'I Have a Dream' memorized," he said. "I did get the good parts, though I've forgotten most of it now."
"Everything changed with the last election," said Nicholas Smith, a recording arts major. "There is no reason why a black person can't be president. The opportunity is there - it's been there - but now it's more accessible."
Much of Smith's knowledge of black history comes from his parents, he said. His mother was a black student in an all-white high school in Los Angeles, and his father was born in the South, at a time when the "n-word" was written on his birth certificate.
Growing up, Smith's mother made her children memorize Martin Luther King Jr. speeches, Smith said.
"I never got all of 'I Have a Dream' memorized," he said. "I did get the good parts, though I've forgotten most of it now."
Thursday, February 5, 2009 - 19:33
Name of source: Inquirer
SOURCE: Inquirer (2-4-09)
The Department of Justice (DoJ) has skeletons though not in the closet but in its compound.
Skeletal remains were dug up about at a construction site inside the DoJ compound, said Edgar Jalata, the justice department’s administrative aide
DoJ Information Chief Alex Lactao tried to provide a possible explanation, saying the area was an execution site during World War II.
The skeletal remains will be turned over to the National Bureau of Investigation.
Skeletal remains were dug up about at a construction site inside the DoJ compound, said Edgar Jalata, the justice department’s administrative aide
DoJ Information Chief Alex Lactao tried to provide a possible explanation, saying the area was an execution site during World War II.
The skeletal remains will be turned over to the National Bureau of Investigation.
Thursday, February 5, 2009 - 15:02
Name of source: Guardian (UK)
SOURCE: Guardian (UK) (2-5-09)
Knut Hamsun, the Nobel prize-winning Norwegian author who fell from grace for supporting the Nazi occupation of Norway, is to be put on a commemorative coin by his homeland's central bank.
The coin is the first to celebrate Hamsun, a Norwegian national hero until his sympathy for the Nazi party emerged. "NORWEGIANS! Throw down your rifles and go home again," he wrote in a newspaper article after the Nazis arrived in Norway in 1940. "The Germans are fighting for us all, and will crush the English tyranny over us and over all neutrals." His post-war trial for treason was ended after two psychiatrists ruled he was suffering from "permanently impaired mental faculties", but he was sentenced to the loss of his property, put under psychiatric observation, and died in 1952 in poverty.
The coin's issue, to mark the 150th anniversary of Hamsun's birth, comes seven years after a ferocious debate over naming an Oslo street after the author, an idea which was eventually dropped after public outrage. The coin shows a reproduction of Hamsun's notes for his masterpiece Markens Grøde (Growth of the Soil), along with his features, which are partially visible through the text, and his signature.
The coin is the first to celebrate Hamsun, a Norwegian national hero until his sympathy for the Nazi party emerged. "NORWEGIANS! Throw down your rifles and go home again," he wrote in a newspaper article after the Nazis arrived in Norway in 1940. "The Germans are fighting for us all, and will crush the English tyranny over us and over all neutrals." His post-war trial for treason was ended after two psychiatrists ruled he was suffering from "permanently impaired mental faculties", but he was sentenced to the loss of his property, put under psychiatric observation, and died in 1952 in poverty.
The coin's issue, to mark the 150th anniversary of Hamsun's birth, comes seven years after a ferocious debate over naming an Oslo street after the author, an idea which was eventually dropped after public outrage. The coin shows a reproduction of Hamsun's notes for his masterpiece Markens Grøde (Growth of the Soil), along with his features, which are partially visible through the text, and his signature.
Thursday, February 5, 2009 - 14:52
