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: NYT
July 19, 2011
SÃO PAULO, Brazil — A new autopsy has determined that President Salvador Allende of Chile killed himself with an assault rifle, Chilean officials said Tuesday, dispelling doubts that have persisted for 37 years about the exact circumstances of his death, including whether troops storming the presidential palace had murdered him.The forensic analysis, overseen by a team of Chilean and international experts, did not find any evidence that others were involved in Mr. Allende’s death, concluding that the head injuries he sustained were consistent with bullets fired from a single AK-47 assault rifle.Even as leftist supporters like Fidel Castro declared that Mr. Allende died in a gun battle on Sept. 11, 1973, the day of the coup, his family members had long found credible the original autopsy and accounts of witnesses, including palace detectives and doctors, who said he had taken his own life before the military entered the palace....
Source: NYT
July 19, 2011
Even as schools aim to better prepare students for a global work force, fewer than one in three American students are proficient in geography, with most eighth graders unable to explain what causes earthquakes or accurately describe the American Southwest, according to a report released Tuesday morning.Over all, high school seniors demonstrated the least proficiency on a 2010 test, the National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as the nation’s geography report card, with 20 percent found to be proficient or better, compared with 27 percent of eighth graders and 21 percent of fourth graders.The average test score for 12th graders declined to 282 (on a scale of 500) from 284 in 2001 when the test was last given. It remained essentially unchanged for eighth graders during that period, though there were gains among the lowest-performing students. Fourth graders had the largest gains, with the average score rising to 213, up five points from 2001....
Source: Emory University
July 18, 2011
Emory University’s Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library (MARBL) has a new collecting focus: African Americans in sports. The collection brings to light the effect athletes and others in the sports world had on the civil rights movement and their struggle to be recognized for the impact of their achievements on society.Former NFL player Pellom McDaniels III, who is MARBL’s consultant curator for the collection, says many African American athletes were instrumental in the civil rights movement, including Muhammad Ali, Arthur Ashe, Jesse Owens, Jackie Robinson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Curt Flood, and 1968 Olympic track and field medalists Tommie Smith and John Carlos. McDaniels, who earned master’s and Ph.D. degrees in American studies from Emory’s Graduate Institute of Liberal Arts, is also an author and an assistant professor of history and American studies at the University of Missouri-Kansas City....
Source: The Australian
July 19, 2011
AS the relatives of Australian casualties gather in France today for the 95th anniversary of the battle of Fromelles, a German historian has called for a re-evaluation of the common perception that the Diggers suffered a wave of atrocities at the hands of their enemies. The Battle of Fromelles has long been seen as the darkest day in Australian military history, not just because it was the highest single day of casualties in the nation's history but also because of reports of German brutality.Tom Weber, a historian at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, said the Australian perception that the enemy had behaved badly in abusing prisoners and shooting some of the wounded was an exaggeration that might have grown up as an attempt "to make sense of the enormous sacrifices that Australia suffered".Dr Weber said he formed his "more balanced view" of the tragedy at Fromelles while researching his book Hitler's First War, which discredits the Nazi leader's World War I record....
Source: Lee White at the National Coalition for History
July 19, 2011
Legislation has been introduced in the House of Representatives to eliminate the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), the grant-making arm of the National Archives. H.R. 2531, the “Stop Wasting Archive Grants Act of 2011,” was introduced by Representative Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah).Chaffetz introduced a bill during the previous session of Congress to restrict the grant-making authority of the NHPRC. During an oversight hearing on the NHPRC in June 2010, Chaffetz attempted to discredit the witnesses from the historical and archival communities, and made numerous unsubstantiated claims about grants he alleged had received NHPRC funding in the past. He maintained that the NHPRC duplicates existing programs at the National Endowment for the Humanities.Last year, legislation to reauthorize the NHPRC at a $20 million level from fiscal year 2011 to fiscal year 2015, died in the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
Source: Lee White at the National Coalition for History
July 14, 2011
This week, the House Appropriations Committee approved (by a vote of 28-18) the fiscal year (FY) 2012 Interior, Environment and Related Agencies appropriations bill, which provides funding for the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), conservation and heritage programs National Park Service and the Smithsonian Institution.National Endowment for the HumanitiesThe Committee funded the NEH at $135 million, which represents a nearly $20 million cut from current year funding and $11 million less than the President’s FY12 request.The Committee did not support Administration’s proposal to discontinue the We the People program. We the People is a grant program designed to promote the teaching, study, and understanding of American history, culture, and democratic principles. Noting that, “We the People is a proven, cost-effective national grant program with broad geographic reach and bipartisan congressional support,” the Committee directed that it be sustained at no less than $4,750,000 in fiscal year 2012.
Source: Lee White at the National Coalition for History
July 14, 2011
A proposed new rule published for comment by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) last week would establish updated new procedures for the declassification of historical records containing national security information.These changes include establishing procedures for the automatic declassification of records in NARA’s legal custody and revising requirements for reclassification of information to meet the provisions of Executive Order 13526.Public comments on the proposed NARA rule are due by September 6, 2011.For an in-depth look at the proposed rule, click here to read analysis provided by Steven Aftergood at his Secrecy News blog.
Source: Lee White at the National Coalition for History
July 14, 2011
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar recently announced $26.7 million in grants from the Historic Preservation Fund to the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. territories, and three independent Pacific island nations.The Historic Preservation Fund (HPF) is supported by revenue from federal oil leases on the Outer Continental Shelf. The National Park Service administers the fund on behalf of the Secretary of the Interior and uses the majority of appropriated funds to distribute matching grants to State and Tribal Historic Preservation Officers.States officials use the grants to fund preservation projects, such as survey and inventory, National Register nominations, preservation education, architectural planning, historic structure reports, community preservation plans, and bricks-and-mortar repair to buildings.Ten percent of each state’s allocation must be sub-granted to Certified Local Governments – city and county governments certified by the National Park Service and the state as having made a local commitment to historic preservation. These funds are spent on local projects, with selection decisions made at the state level.
Source: Lee White at the National Coalition for History
July 14, 2011
Marc Pachter, former director of the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, has been appointed Acting Director of the National Museum of American History, effective Aug. 15. He will replace Brent D. Glass, who announced that he was leaving the directorship in August and retiring from Smithsonian at the end of the year.Pachter was with the Portrait Gallery for 33 years, beginning as a chief historian in 1974 and serving as director from 2000 until his retirement in 2007. He held a number of positions at the Gallery and at the Smithsonian when he served as chair of the Institution’s 150th anniversary celebration in 1996 and as a deputy assistant secretary for external affairs. Pachter retired in October 2007, one year after the National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum, which share the same historic building, reopened after an extensive six-year renovation.“We are happy to welcome Marc back home to the Smithsonian,” said Richard Kurin, Under Secretary for History, Art and Culture. “Marc was always an asset to the Institution as a museum director, scholar, author and interviewer. He knows the Institution so well and even served as acting director of American History once before. In 2001-02, he filled in while we searched for a new director at the same time he continued as director of the Portrait Gallery.”
Source: Lee White at the National Coalition for History
July 14, 2011
From July 11-31, 2011, the National Archives is displaying newly declassified documents from 1918 detailing German secret ink formulas. The oldest newly declassified documents held by the National Archives, these materials were released April 19, 2011, by the National Archives National Declassification Center in coordination with the Central Intelligence Agency, as part of the President’s ongoing Open Government initiative.The display, which is free and open to the public, is in the East Rotunda Gallery of the National Archives Building in Washington, DC.For 95 years, the documents on display were national security classified material and unavailable to the public. Believed to have been the oldest documents still classified by the United States, they detail German secret ink formulas developed during World War I. One formula – written in French with translation – is described in this June 14, 1918 Office of Naval Intelligence document. The invisible ink’s ingredients – compressed or powdered aspirin mixed with “pure water” – and the method of causing it to appear are provided.
Source: WaPo
July 15, 2011
LONDON — Queen Elizabeth II has unveiled a monument to hundreds of mathematicians and cryptographers who worked in secret during World War II to crack Nazi Germany’s communications codes.The monarch and her husband visited Bletchley Park northwest of London, former home of the top-secret Code and Cypher School, whose staff cracked Adolf Hitler’s supposedly unbreakable codes....
Source: BBC News
July 17, 2011
A village in Greece is at at the centre of an international legal battle in a fight for reparations for a World War ll Nazi massacre.Residents in Distomo won a court case in Italy, but the German government is worried it will set a precedent and has appealed to the International Court of Justice in the Hague.Malcolm Brabant in Greece spoke to Carsten Gerick from the Republic Attorneys' Association.
Source: Daily Mail (UK)
July 18, 2011
The number of descendants of the first humans to leave Africa shrank to little more than 1,000 before expanding rapidly, a study has revealed.Scientists discovered the population of the ancestors of modern Asian and European people dwindled to just 1,200 who were 'actively reproducing'.They also found that African populations crashed to around 5,700 people....
Source: Yahoo News
July 14, 2011
...Meet John Rolczynski: The Grand Forks, N.D., resident has been trying to tell his legislators that an error in the state's founding document means that technically, North Dakota is not a state....Here's the story: Back in 1889, North Dakota was carved out of the Dakota Territory and admitted to the Union at the same time as South Dakota. Or so everyone thought.But the state founders who drafted the constitution left out the key requirement that the governor and other top officials take an oath of office, putting the state constitution in conflict with the federal one. So Rolczynski has been arguing for the last 16 years that the omission made the state illegitimate....
Source: IOL News
July 15, 2011
Five Saddam-era officials, including two of the late dictator's half-brothers, will be executed within a month after being handed over to Iraqi authorities by the US military, an official said on Friday.The group, transferred to Iraqi custody on Thursday morning, were among 206 high-value detainees still being held by American forces ahead of a US military pullout due by the end of the year.“We received the final 206 Iraqi prisoners being held by US forces, including five senior officials from the former regime,” said justice ministry spokesman Haidar al-Saadi. “They (the five officials) will be executed within one month.“They include Watban Ibrahim Hassan and Sabawi Ibrahim al-Tikriti,” two half-brothers of former dictator Saddam Hussein....
Source: CNN.com
July 15, 2011
Los Angeles (CNN) -- Democratic California Gov. Jerry Brown said Thursday he had signed a bill that will require public schools in the state to teach students about the contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans.The bill, believed to be the first of its kind in the nation, will also require teachers to provide instruction on the role of people with disabilities."History should be honest," Brown said in a statement."This bill revises existing laws that prohibit discrimination in education and ensures that the important contributions of Americans from all backgrounds and walks of life are included in our history books. It represents an important step forward for our state, and I thank Senator Leno for his hard work on this historic legislation."
Source: National Catholic Register
July 14, 2011
DENVER (CNA) — An expert on Pope Pius XII says new discoveries show that the Jewish community strongly supported the Holy Father for his stand against anti-Semitism and support for Jewish rights during World War II.Researcher William Doino outlined evidence that he says makes it clear the late Pope “wanted to break down walls of anti-Jewish prejudice, not erect them.”Doino shared his findings exclusively with CNA, pointing to magazine articles from the 1930s that feature Jewish-American veterans lauding Pius XII for his deep respect for the Jewish community and their customs.In April of 1939, just one month after Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli was elected Pope, the U.S. Jewish Veteran magazine called the new Pope’s leadership “a source of great satisfaction to Jews.”...
Source: AFP
July 13, 2011
JERUSALEM — Israel has approved the start of work on a controversial Museum of Tolerance that will be built on the site of an old Muslim cemetery in Jerusalem, a spokeswoman said on Wednesday.The project, organised by the Nazi-hunting Simon Wiesenthal Centre, was the subject of a lengthy legal battle, with Palestinians and some Israeli supporters arguing the museum would desecrate the burial site.Israel's courts rejected the argument, saying the site was deconsecrated decades ago, and the project has received planning approval from local authorities despite the protests....
Source: Daily Mail (UK)
July 15, 2011
Osama bin Laden was planning a terrorist outrage to mark the 10th anniversary of 9/11 with Barack Obama number one on his hit list.The former leader of Al Qaeda wanted to shoot down the U.S. President’s jet Air Force One during a trip abroad.He also wanted to murder General David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, and was still obsessed with using planes to carry out terror attacks.The terror chief had already begun putting a team of militants together for the attack, according to communications seized by Navy Seals from his Pakistani lair.
Source: Daily Mail (UK)
July 13, 2011
German nuclear experts believe they have found nuclear waste from Hitler’s secret atom bomb programme in a crumbling mine near Hanover.More than 126,000 barrels of nuclear material lie rotting over 2,000 feet below ground in an old salt mine. Rumour has it that the remains of nuclear scientists who worked on the Nazi programme are also there, their irradiated bodies burned in secret by S.S. men sworn to secrecy.A statement by a boss of the Asse II nuclear fuel dump, just discovered in an archive, said how in 1967 'our association sank radioactive wastes from the last war, uranium waste, from the preparation of the German atom bomb'....
