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: WaPo
July 27, 2010
Arlington National Cemetery officials knew more than five years ago that many burials did not match Arlington's maps and paper records, according to documents released Tuesday by a Senate subcommittee investigating millions of dollars in botched contracts overseen by the Army.
The Senate documents reveal that a contractor hired to test the accuracy of Arlington records told cemetery officials about the errors in 2005, but they were not corrected. The Senate investigators also found
Source: Bloomberg News
July 26, 2010
Archaeologists have uncovered for the first time in Israel fragments of a law code that resemble portions of the famous Code of Hammurabi.
The code was found on two fragments of a clay tablet, and is between 3,700 and 3,800 years old, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem said today in an e-mailed statement.
The discovery opens an interesting avenue for investigation of a connection between Biblical law and the Code of Hammurabi, according to Wayne Horowitz of the Hebrew
Source: NPR
July 25, 2010
In a 5-acre clearing in central New Jersey, half an hour south of Trenton, there's a hole about 6 feet deep and 15 feet across. Months ago, except for a few trees, the site was empty.
For decades, it was rumored to have been a stop on the Underground Railroad. Turns out it was. Now, Westampton Township has commissioned a geophysical survey and allowed Temple University archaeologists to do a thorough excavation. And they're finding that the freed and escaped slaves who made it here
Source: BBC
July 27, 2010
Vietnam has turned down a request to scatter the ashes of a French war veteran at the site of a battle which helped end colonial rule by France.
General Marcel Bigeard, one of France's most decorated soldiers, who died last month, reportedly asked to rejoin his fallen comrades.
But a Vietnamese official is quoted as saying this would "create a precedent".
The refusal is thought to be a reference to American soldiers who might request similar treat
Source: BBC
July 27, 2010
The former Cambodian Khmer Rouge prison chief Duch, who was convicted of crimes against humanity, will appeal against his sentence, his lawyer has said.
Duch, 67, whose full name is Kaing Guek Eav, was sentenced to 35 years in prison by a UN-backed court on Monday.
He was found guilty of overseeing the torture and execution of thousands of people at the notorious Tuol Sleng prison in Phnom Penh.
His lawyer gave no further details of the grounds for the appe
Source: BBC
July 27, 2010
The oldest theatre and largest chapel in Wales are among 24 historic buildings to be offered grants totalling almost £1m.
The money is being made available by the Welsh Assembly Government to carry out repairs and restoration.
Monmouth's Savoy Theatre will receive £39,300 towards repairs to the front elevation while Tabernacle Chapel in Morriston will benefit from £100,000.
Over £60,000 will go to Animal Wall in Cardiff, part of the castle complex.
Source: BBC
July 27, 2010
Trinidad and Tobago is marking the 20th anniversary of one of the bloodiest and confused periods in its history.
On 27 July 1990, more than 100 members of an Islamist radical group, Jamaat-al-Muslimeen, stormed parliament.
Everyone inside, including the prime minister, was held hostage for several days, as violence and looting erupted in the capital.
Twenty years on, the government has announced an inquiry into what provoked the coup attempt....
Source: AOL News
July 27, 2010
A California man who bought a collection of glass negatives at a garage sale says they have been authenticated as lost works of Ansel Adams, but the famed photographer's grandson isn't so sure.
After six months of study, experts concluded the 65 negatives were early works by Ansel Adams -- and worth at least $200 million, according to an attorney for Rick Norsigian, a Fresno man who bought them at a garage sale for $45.
The black-and-white images of Yosemite National P
Source: Telegraph (UK)
July 27, 2010
German language experts have launched a campaign against the hybrid "Denglish" which they claim is polluting culture through its growing use in advertising and television.
The advocacy groups are intensifying their fight against the use of a hybrid of the two languages, which has begun to encroach on everyday parlance.
As part of the campaign, the German Language Foundation called on Germans to find an alternative for the English term "fast food". T
Source: Telegraph (UK)
July 27, 2010
US Senators have postponed a hearing to investigate BP’s alleged role in the release of the Lockerbie bomber after the oil giant and British officials “stonewalled” requests for information.
The US Senate was forced to abandon this Thursday’s hearing after former ministers and senior BP executives refused to appear.
Those shunning invitations included Jack Straw, the former Justice Secretary, and Tony Hayward, the outgoing chief executive of BP.
The Brit
Source: Fox News
July 27, 2010
President Obama will make history as the first sitting president on a daytime talk show when he visits with the ladies of "The View." But he'll be missing out on another historic occasion -- the Boy Scouts' Jamboree marking the group's 100th anniversary, right in the president's backyard.
The Jamboree kicked off this week at Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia, where organizers had invited the president to speak to the 45,000 scouts in attendance. All three of Obama's predecessors
Source: AP
July 27, 2010
It seemed too good to be true: The discovery of a new painting by Caravaggio during the celebrations marking the 400th anniversary of his death. It turns out, it probably was.
Scholars unveiling the painting Tuesday concurred that the "Martyrdom of St. Lawrence" did not look like a Caravaggio, but rather like the work of one or more of his followers. This week, the Vatican newspaper, which first suggested the canvas could be the work of Caravaggio, shot down its own report
Source: CNN
July 27, 2010
Former Bosnian leader Ejup Ganic will not be extradited to Serbia, a British court ruled Tuesday, setting him free.
Ganic called the extradition request "a textbook example of abuse," accusing the Serbian government of trying to "undermine the judiciary in this country."
The extradition request was politically motivated, Justice Timothy Workman found in throwing it out....
Source: CNN
July 27, 2010
Cuba's Fidel Castro on Tuesday said he would publish a new book in August on the fighting more than 50 years ago between his ragtag rebels and the 10,000-strong army under former dictator Fulgencio Batista.
In an essay published Tuesday on the state-run website, www.cubadebate.cu, Castro said the book will be called "The Strategic Victory."
Castro said the 25 chapters contain photos, maps and illustrations of the weapons
Source: Guardian (UK)
July 26, 2010
It's another chapter in the now familiar story of China's economic embrace of Africa. Except that this one begins nearly 600 years ago.
A team of 11 Chinese archaeologists will arrive in Kenya tomorrow to begin the search for an ancient shipwreck and other evidence of commerce with China dating back to the early 15th century. The three-year, £2m joint project will centre around the tourist towns of Lamu and Malindi and should shed light on a largely unknown part of both countries' h
Source: AHA Blog
July 21, 2010
Digital Humanities AwardsOn July 20, 2010, the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft or DFG) announced they have awarded $1.67 million to five international digital humanities projects.
The NEH/DFG Enriching Digital Collections Grants support collaborations between U.S. and German scholars to develop digitization projects that will benefit research in the humanities. Each project was sponsored jointly by an Am
Source: AHA Blog
July 20, 2010
The AHA welcomes the Construction History Society of America as its newest Affiliated Society.
Our new affiliate has the following statement of purpose:
The Construction History Society of America is dedicated to the study of the history and evolution of all aspects of the built environment—its creation, maintenance, and management. It is a forum for scholars and professionals in the field to share, meet, and exchange ideas and research. Membership is open to a wide
Source: WaPo
July 26, 2010
Cyclists, tourists and the occasional jogger stood out in the sea of Boy Scout troops wearing tan shirts, green shorts and thick green-and-red socks -- some rolled hastily down to their ankles. Spectators lined the sizzling sidewalks along Constitution Avenue in clusters wherever they could find shade.
The troops and accompanying bands were all smiles and appeared to be unaffected by the heat as they marched to celebrate the group's 100th anniversary.
The Grand Centenn
Source: Fox News
July 26, 2010
A strip of land on Africa's southern coast became a last refuge for the band of early humans who survived an ice age that wiped out the species elsewhere, scientists maintained Sunday.
The land, referred to by researchers as "the garden of Eden," may have been the only part of Africa to remain continuously habitable during the ice age that began about 195,000 years ago.
Scientists' excavations showed how a combination of rich vegetation on land and nutrient-la
Source: NYT
July 27, 2010
Seth Mydans' dispatches from Cambodia on Monday (“A Verdict Is Due in the First Trial of a Major Khmer Rouge Figure”) and Tuesday (“Prison Term for Khmer Rouge Jailer Leaves many Dissatisfied") relayed the surprisingly lenient verdict in Cambodia of the Khmer Rouge jailer and killer known as “Duch.” They were unsparing and graphic, but strangely incomplete....
