This page features brief excerpts of 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.
Source: AP
August 16, 2010
This month, a troupe of 100 musicians, dancers, acrobats and robed actors is performing an Ottoman-style spectacle near Topkapi Palace, once home to the sultans. An exhibition of Ottoman poetry is on display at Istanbul's international airport. Ottoman cuisine, a fusion of flavors from old imperial lands, is in vogue.
It's quite a turnaround. For most of the last century, Turks were told to look askance at the Ottoman Empire. Nostalgia for the 1453 conquest of Constantinople and oth
Source: Guardian (UK)
August 16, 2010
Unpublished letters and diaries from List regiment soldiers portray Hitler as a loner, an object of ridicule and 'a rear area pig'.
Adolf Hitler's rabid antisemitism and virulent nationalism were not directly prompted by his experiences on the western front in the first world war, historical research suggests.
Unpublished letters and a diary written by veterans of Hitler's wartime regiment are among newly unearthed documents that challenge previous notions about how the
Source: BBC
August 13, 2010
An Indian entrepreneur is relaunching the famous East India Company with the opening of a luxury food store in London on Saturday.
The event takes place on the same day that - more than 135 years ago - the company was dissolved.
At the height of its power, the East India Company controlled large parts of India with its own armed forces.
But it was disbanded after soldiers of the company's own army rose in revolt against the British in 1857.
A t
Source: BBC
August 16, 2010
A postcard sent from South Africa in 1957 has finally reached its destination in Dorset.
Staff at Monkton Wyld Court education centre, near Bridport, are now trying to trace its intended recipient.
The addressee, "J.C. Belsey", may have been a student, teacher or staff member when the building housed a boarding school.
Now a sustainable living education centre, Monkton Wyld Court was a mixed boarding school housing about 36 students at the time th
Source: BBC
August 16, 2010
A US Senator investigating the 2009 release of the Lockerbie bomber has asked whistleblowers to step forward.
Sen Robert Menendez issued a public plea for people with inside knowledge of talks between BP and Libyan and British authorities to speak up.
Some US lawmakers suspect that BP had lobbied for the bomber's release, suggesting that it aided the energy giant's oil exploration in Libya.
The inquiry comes amid US anger over the BP oil spill in Louisiana
Source: Telegraph (UK)
August 16, 2010
Elvis Presley fans from around the world have flocked to Graceland for the annual late night procession past the king of rock 'n' roll's grave.
Presley died at his Graceland mansion Aug 16, 1977. The procession is the highlight of a week-long series of fan club meetings, film screenings and Elvis impersonator contests. Elvis purchased the 13-acre Graceland property in 1957 for $100,000.
Dozens of multi-colored but empty chairs lined the walls of Graceland on Sunday aft
Source: Telegraph (UK)
August 16, 2010
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said it would be 'a sad day for America' if opponents successfully thwart plans for a mosque at Ground Zero.
Mr Bloomberg has been a constant supporter of the plan to built an Islamic centre and mosque two blocks from where the World Trade Center stood.
On Friday, President Barack Obama also backed the right for the developers to build a mosque there....
Source: CNN
August 16, 2010
The city of Florence and the Italian government are embroiled in a dispute -- again -- over who owns one of the world's most famous statues, Michelangelo's David.
The issue has been simmering for years. The Florence mayor's office said the debate began in the early 1990, and the city's various mayors have brought it up from time to time.
While tourism brings money to Florence, it also brings a lot of costs, such as cleaning and security, said the press officer. The mayo
Source: The Truth About Cars
August 16, 2010
Archives are the foundation of historical research. Without access to primary material—be it documents, photographs, financial statements, engineering or test reports—historians lack the building blocks necessary to write the chronicles that inform our understanding of the past and illuminate the future. To their credit, America’s automakers have gone to great lengths and expense to preserve and protect the historical documents which chronicle and define their existence. Until recently. As Chrys
Source: NYT
August 16, 2010
For decades jazz cognoscenti have talked reverently of “the Savory Collection.” Recorded from radio broadcasts in the late 1930s by an audio engineer named William Savory, it was known to include extended live performances by some of the most honored names in jazz — but only a handful of people had ever heard even the smallest fraction of that music, adding to its mystique.
After 70 years that wait has now ended. This year the National Jazz Museum in Harlem acquired the entire set o
Source: WaPo
August 15, 2010
Shadows danced on the faces of Elvis Presley fans as they carried candles and walked silently by his grave during a Sunday night vigil at Graceland, marking the 33rd anniversary of the American icon's death.
Thousands of Elvis admirers from around the world flocked to Graceland to attend the annual candlelight vigil and procession, which runs into the morning hours. Presley died at age 42 at his Graceland mansion on Aug. 16, 1977. Memorials started the following year.
E
Source: Salon
August 16, 2010
Steven Schwarzman is one of the richest men in America. The chairman and cofounder of the Blackstone Group, one of the largest private equity funds in the world, enjoys a net worth estimated at around $8 billion. It's fair to say that if key elements of the Obama tax agenda become reality, Schwarzman will be forking over a lot more money to the federal government.
Which naturally puts Schwarzman in the same position as a European country in the 1930s about to be overrun by panzer ta
Source: Live Science
August 13, 2010
Following in the footsteps of Howard Carter and Abbot and Costello, a specialized robot will penetrate deeper into the Great Pyramid of Giza than ever before. The robot, part of a years-long exploration called the Djedi Project, will explore a shaft inaccessible to a previous robot, unlocking a room that has remain sealed for 4,500 years.
The robot explorer, built by researchers at the Leeds University, England, in collaboration with French aviation company Dessault and British robo
Source: Jakarta Post (Indonesia)
August 14, 2010
Precious historic collections from the 8th and 9th centuries — ranging from gold jewelry, gold plates and statues — have vanished from Sonobudoyo Museum in Yogyakarta.
Yogyakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Atang Heradi said Friday his office was investigating Tuesday night’s theft at the museum and had questioned four museum officials, including head curator Martono.
“This case is a challenge for the police. We will thoroughly investigate this case,” he said.
Eighty-seven
Source: Fox News
August 16, 2010
The grave site for an 1860s Army hero awarded the Medal of Honor is now a popular Ventura dog park with poop soiling what veterans say should be sacred ground.
"Talk to any veteran, he will tell you it is a terrible thing. It's disrespectful," said retired Marine Sgt. Craig "Gunny" Donor, who served two tours in Vietnam and is bent on getting the soldier's remains moved.
Pvt. James Sumner, who was awarded the nation's highest military honor for galla
Source: Daily Mail (UK)
August 15, 2010
One of our most accomplished scriptwriters was initially thrilled to discover his $200 vintage Longines watch was worth £50,000. The catch? He is Jewish – and a secret swastika inside proved it once belonged to Hitler's right-hand man . . .
Working for a Hollywood studio should carry a warning: Comedy can seriously damage your health. It certainly damaged mine when, in 1985, I was employed as a house writer at Paramount Studios on a new television comedy series.
There w
Source: AP
August 15, 2010
A cancer expert who said Lockerbie bomber Abdel Baset al-Megrahi had only three months to live before his release from prison was quoted Sunday as saying he should have been more cautious about the prisoner's chances of survival.
Al-Megrahi was released on compassionate grounds from a Scottish prison in August 2009, and allowed to return home to Libya, where he continues to be treated for prostate cancer.
Three other experts provided an opinion for the Libyan government
Source: BBC
August 15, 2010
...The world's attention to Myanmar has focused largely on pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her struggle with the junta that has held her under house arrest for 18 years in Yangon, formerly Rangoon.
Mentioned mostly parenthetically is the relentless war to eradicate a 60-year-old insurgency among the Karen, the country's second largest ethnic minority, by cutting it off from the general population. Although the regime denies it, the U.N. and international human rights group
Source: BBC
August 15, 2010
Ministers in Japan's new centre-left government have stayed away from a controversial shrine on the 65th anniversary of the end of World War II.
It is the first time an entire cabinet has not attended ceremonies at the Yasukuni shrine in at least 25 years.
Government ministers paying respects at the Tokyo shrine, which honours Japan's war dead, including war criminals, have in the past angered Japan's neighbours.
The new DPJ-led government had promised to b
Source: BBC
August 13, 2010
A judge has awarded a US exhibition company $110m for salvaging artefacts from the wreck of the RMS Titanic.
The US federal judge ruled that RMS Titanic Inc, which displays the artefacts in museums across the world, is entitled to their full market value.
The court will decide whether to grant the company ownership of the objects or sell them and give it the proceeds....
