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: Press Release
February 28, 2007
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA, (Feb. 28, 2007) - The Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia today announced the formation of the National War Powers Commission, a private bipartisan panel led by former Secretaries of State James A. Baker, III and Warren Christopher.
The Commission will examine how the Constitution allocates the powers of beginning, conducting, and ending war.
When armed conflict is looming, debates about separation of powers and the uncertainty t
Source: Christian Science Monitor
March 1, 2007
The makers of a new TV documentary claim to have uncovered the biggest archaeological story of the century –- the tomb of Jesus and Mary Magdalene. But several archaeologists and biblical scholars challenge the evidence. One calls it"much ado about nothing much."..."The tomb is a fact, the names are facts, the DNA relationship is a fact, the statistical studies are facts," insists [Toronto filmmaker Simcha] Jacobovici."There was enough to say it's time to bring this to the attention
Source: Washington Post
February 28, 2007
It is a strange and bittersweet victory, to finally know the names of one's slave ancestors and precisely who enslaved them. It is what Carolyn C. Rowe calls the "victorious feeling" that comes from documenting a family history once lost in silence and shame.
A former president of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, Rowe remembers well the excitement of her first discovery, back in 1990. In Burke County, N.C., she found a will that listed a young slave b
Source: AP
February 28, 2007
WARSAW, Poland -- The Jewish Claims Conference joined with Polish restitution organizations Wednesday to appeal for the return of private property seized in the country during World War II and under Communist rule.
Representatives of the Jewish conference, who met with Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski, hope for legislation similar to a 1997 law that provided for restitution of Jewish communal property, such as synagogues or cemeteries...
Miroslaw Szypowski, the head of
Source: Live Science
February 15, 2007
The number of children a woman in America has in her lifetime declined during the past two centuries, and it's not just because of the birth control pill.
Historians are closing in on the socio-economic and cultural factors in family downsizing, a trend also found in most of Western Europe.
"There are two reasons fertility rates can decline," said J. David Hacker, a SUNY Binghamton historian. "One explanation is that marriage declines. Not as many women g
Source: Reuters
February 28, 2007
JERUSALEM -- A team of experts from UNESCO toured on Wednesday an Israeli archaeological excavation that Muslims fear could damage Islam's holiest site in Jerusalem.
Israel says the dig, 50 meters (165 feet) from a religious compound known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif and to Jews as Temple Mount, will do no harm to the Dome of Rock and al-Aqsa mosques on the plaza, which overlooks Judaism's Western Wall.
Israeli archaeologists began what they called a "rescue e
Source: AP
February 28, 2007
TOKYO -- Declassified documents reveal that Japanese ultranationalists with ties to U.S. military intelligence plotted to overthrow the Japanese government and assassinate the prime minister in 1952.
The scheme —- which was abandoned —- was concocted by militarists and suspected war criminals who had worked for U.S. occupation authorities after World War II, according to CIA records reviewed by The Associated Press. The plotters wanted a right-wing government that would rearm Japan.
Source: Reuters
February 27, 2007
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- Saudis crowded to camel races and sword-dancing this week at a desert cultural festival that has come to reflect growing anxiety over national unity and the loss of tribal Arab identity to Western culture.
The Janadriyah began 22 years ago as a showcase for a Bedouin culture heritage of camels, tents, coffee pots and swords that seemed in danger of disappearing.
But as well as a jamboree of cultural affirmation, in recent years it has become an o
Source: Times (of London)
February 27, 2007
The seamanship of the Barbary pirates of North Africa was for two centuries as renowned as their cruelty as they plundered Mediterranean shipping lanes for slaves and treasure.
The key to their hit-and-run tactics was the fast getaway. They were able to sail far closer into the wind than the Europeans left trailing in their wake. The pirates ceased to be a problem after the French conquered their raiding base, Algiers, in 1830 —- and the secret of their crucial advantage was lost.
Source: The Age (Melbourne, Australia)
February 28, 2007
A historic native title land use agreement covering vast tracts of north-east NSW will be signed on Wednesday, adding weight to a Federal Court native title claim over the same area.
The NSW government deal also puts pressure on Queensland to reach a similar arrangement with the Githabul people.
Parts of the Githabul nation straddles the NSW and Queensland border near Mt Lindesay and covers more than 6,000 square kilometres.
The NSW agreement, 10 years in t
Source: AP
February 28, 2007
LUBBOCK, Tex. -- Rancher Debbie Davis has no beef with cattlemen who want the Texas longhorns they raise to be, well, beefier.
Her passion, though, lies with preserving the pure longhorn breed that roamed Texas and other parts of the West during the mid-1800s.
``A true Texas longhorn is endangered right now,'' said Davis, president of the Cattlemen's Texas Longhorn Registry, which is striving to keep the bloodline of the longhorn as pure as possible.
The lo
Source: Independent
February 28, 2007
His name and reputation have been lost to history, but the skeleton of an executed English pirate is finally coming home. The likeness of the remains was captured for posterity by the artist Nicolaes Eliasz Pickenoy in a remarkable painting showing the work of the Guild of Surgeons in Amsterdam. [Image online
here.]
That work, The Osteology Lesson of Dr Sebastiaen Egbertsz
Source: AHA Blog
February 28, 2007
This weekend the Washington Post reported on a recent audit of Smithsonian Secretary Lawrence M. Small and its surprising results. The Post reports:
"Lawrence M. Small, the top official at the Smithsonian Institution, accumulated nearly $90,000 in unauthorized expenses from 2000 to 2005, including charges for chartered jet travel, his wife’s trip to Cambodia, hotel rooms, luxury car service, catered staff meals and expensive gifts, according to confidential findings by the Smit
Source: Press Release -- Chicago History Museum
February 28, 2007
The Chicago History Museum is pleased to announce that funding has been secured for a new American history wing scheduled to open in fall of 2009. The Tawani Foundation has committed $1 million to support this essential addition showcasing the Chicago History Museum's American history collection.
The new 5,270 square foot wing will be located on the first floor of the Museum adjacent to the visitor center. The wing will feature the story of America from the founders and leaders o
Source: Newark Star-Ledger
February 27, 2007
The historic Old Barracks Museum in Trenton, closed for the past two months for a lack of money, reopened to the public yesterday.
And now that it has, Richard Patterson, the director of the state-owned tourist attraction, is going to lay himself off for two months, effective April 1.
As director of the museum for the past 13 years, Patterson decided it should be shuttered for two months -- and its hourly employees laid off -- to cope with funding cuts. Now it's his tur
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer
February 28, 2007
Almost five years after controversy flared over the ignoring of George Washington's old slave quarters on Independence Mall, a designer for a memorial to those slaves and to the presidential house they lived in was announced yesterday.
Kelly/Maiello Architects & Planners of Philadelphia, selected by city and National Park Service officials - with substantial community and academic input - will now break ground this summer on the $5.2 million President's House memorial. An extens
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
February 28, 2007
Researchers studying Thomas Jefferson's Y chromosome have found it belongs to a lineage that is rare in Europe but common in the Middle East, raising the possibility that the third president of the United States had a Jewish ancestor many generations ago.No biological samples of Jefferson remain, but his Y chromosome, the genetic element that determines maleness, is assumed to be the same as that carried by living descendants of Field Jefferson, his paternal uncle. These rel
Source: BBC
February 28, 2007
Commemorative events are being held throughout the week as Taiwan marks the 60th anniversary of what is known as the "2/28 incident". The event was an uprising that began on 28 February 1947, sparked by the beating of a female vendor by authorities for selling untaxed cigarettes. Between 18,000 and 28,000 people are said to have been killed in riots and a subsequent crackdown.
Chiang Kai-shek, leader of the Kuomintang, or Chinese Nationalists - then ba
Source: Telegraph
February 28, 2007
Britain expressed its regret yesterday after Argentina rejected an invitation to a joint commemoration service in London to mark the 25th anniversary of the 1982 Falklands conflict.
Jorge Taiana, Argentina's foreign minister, rejected the invitation on Monday, about three months after it was presented to Argentina's embassy in London.
"They have given it the character of a victory celebration and, given that, we cannot take part," Mr Taiana said during a visit
Source: Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch
February 27, 2007
The Sons of Confederate Veterans, outraged that the Museum of the Confederacy might move out of Richmond, is offering to take over the management of the museum.
"Conditions at the museum have declined steadily for the past few years," said Frank Earnest, state commander of the 4,000-member Virginia Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. "The current administration has brought the situation to near crisis."...
[Museum President Waite] Rawls rel
