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: National Security Archive
Mar 13, 2009
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) today won the fifth annual Rosemary Award for the worst Freedom of Information Act performance by a federal agency. The FBI's reports to Congress show that the Bureau is unable to find any records in response to two-thirds of its incoming FOIA requests on average over the past four years, when the other major government agencies averaged only a 13% "no records" response to public requests.
Given annually during Sunshine Week by the
Source: Jeff Spurr in an email circulating on IraqiCrisis
Mar 13, 2009
Friends and colleagues,
There has been much comment of late concerning the controversy surrounding the hurried opening of the Iraq Museum. What has not been addressed is the hit that Iraqi cultural institutions' budgets have been taking of late due to government claims that falling oil revenues demand them. This is particularly clear in the case of the Iraq National Library and Archive, where the budget-exclusive of support for staff-was cut a horrifying 60%. To put this in persp
Source: CBS News
Mar 13, 2009
A University of South Carolina archaeologist is scanning the bottom of Charleston Harbor for Civil War artifacts, using a twin-outboard motor boat and a clutch of scientific equipment.
James Spirek of the South Carolina Institute for Archaeology and Anthropology has been on the water this week putting together the first comprehensive historical scan of the harbor bottom.
Source: IceNews (Iceland)
Mar 12, 2009
An important new find by a team of Swedish archaeologists indicates that the Finland-Sweden border area around the Torne River Valley was inhabited up to 11,000 years ago.
The discovery, located near Pajala in Sweden’s far north, is the oldest settlement to be found in the county of Norrbotten, according to archaeologist Olof Ostlund. “Now the pages in the National Encyclopaedia regarding inland ice can be torn out and burned,” said Ostlund.
The find was made during a r
Source: AP
Mar 12, 2009
NEW YORK — Two stolen ancient artifacts are being returned to Italy from New York City.
An Italian government representative is taking possession of them at a ceremony Wednesday. The artifacts are a Pompeii plaster wall painting and a Corinthian vase for mixing water and wine.
They were recovered by immigration and customs officials in June. Both items had been scheduled for auction in New York before they were discovered to have been stolen.
Immigration of
Source: Discovery News
Mar 12, 2009
Worn teeth, periodontal diseases, abscesses and cavities tormented the ancient Egyptians, according to the first systematic review of all studies performed on Egyptian mummies in the past 30 years.
After examining research of more than 3,000 mummies, anatomists and paleopathologists at the University of Zurich concluded that 18 percent of all mummies in case reports showed a nightmare array of dental diseases.
"Evidence of dental disorders is plentiful because usua
Source: BBC News
Mar 12, 2009
A strike by French museum workers has shut the Louvre and the Palace of Versailles - two of the most popular attractions for visitors to Paris.
The Musee d'Orsay, housing world-famous Impressionist paintings, is also shut.
The protest is over French government plans to trim the civil service by replacing only one in two retiring staff.
The Pompidou Centre, housing a rich collection of modern art, has been closed by the action since 23 November.
Source: The Local (Germany)
Mar 12, 2009
A pair of stone-age boats, thought to be the oldest in Europe, have been allowed to rot in a partially collapsed shed while the northern German regional archaeology authorities stood by broke and helpless, it emerged this week.
The two 7,000-year-old wooden boats and a third one thought to be around 6,000 years old, were hailed as a sensation when they were found during construction work on the Baltic coast near Stralsund in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern seven years ago.
But n
Source: BBC
Mar 12, 2009
The Taleban have confirmed that a former Guantanamo detainee has become their senior military commander in southern Afghanistan.
Taleban sources told the BBC that Mullah Abdullah Zakir had led the fight against British forces stationed in Helmand province.
They say he now leads the insurgency in that province and across the south.
Mullah Abdullah was held in Guantanamo until December 2007. He was then handed over to the Afghans and later released.
Source: Art Info (UK)
Mar 12, 2009
Italian archaeologists are outraged over a proposal to shift control of ancient sites to a new organization, the New York Times reports.
According to a new policy expected to be ratified by the Italian parliament tomorrow, a newly established civil protection committee will oversee restorations to the Colosseum, the Palatine Hill, and other ancient sites, and would be granted emergency powers, allowing it to avoid the usual bureaucratic obstacles when instituting changes. Many in t
Source: NYT
Mar 12, 2009
Gone from Tibet are the shackled slaves, the thumbscrews and the scorpion pits that awaited serfs who defied their masters. Gone, too, is the Dalai Lama, that “jackal clad in Buddhist monk’s robes,” who fled to India 50 years ago this week during an uprising that China claims was aimed at preserving his feudalistic rule.
With Tibet closed to foreign journalists and much of the region suddenly, and mysteriously, troubled by patchy phone and Internet service, the only way to get a gli
Source: NYT
Mar 12, 2009
With its pink-hued medieval churches, tree-lined city walls and a famously excellent regional cuisine, Lucca seems the perfect Tuscan city. But that charm is precisely what has made it the latest battleground in a tug of war between the romantic Italy of the popular imagination and the more complex reality.
Lucca’s center-right city council recently stirred much contention, and accusations of racism, by prohibiting new ethnic food restaurants from opening within its gorgeous histori
Source: NYT
Mar 12, 2009
Warning that Governors Island may be forced to shut down for lack of money, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has proposed that the city take control of the former military base so that the state can focus on other projects.
The city and the state have jointly run the 172-acre island in the middle of New York Harbor since 2003, seeking to develop it as a unique recreational, historic and artistic destination 800 yards south of Lower Manhattan. But Gov. David A. Paterson did not put any mon
Source: NYT
Mar 12, 2009
After the 9/11 terror attacks, thousands of people faced a weighty and uncomfortable decision. Congress had created a special fund to compensate survivors and victims’ families, but said that those who received compensation from it could not sue airlines or airport security firms, among other entities.
People with claims had to decide whether to accept an early, assured payment from the fund or take their chances in the courts, possibly facing legal hardball tactics, delays and the
Source: AP
Mar 12, 2009
SEATTLE — A Romanian national has admitted trying to sell a stolen bookmark that reportedly was given to Adolf Hitler by his mistress after the Nazis lost a key battle in World War II.
Christian Popescu, 37, of suburban Kenmore, who emigrated to the area about 12 years ago from Constanta, Romania, pleaded guilty Thursday in U.S. District Court to the sale or receipt of stolen goods.
The 18-carat gold bookmark, engraved with a portrait of Hitler, an imperial eagle and a
Source: HNN Staff summary of Lee White's reports at the website of the National Coalition for History (NCH)
Mar 12, 2009
It's known for its billions in earmarks. But the appropriations bill just signed by President Obama will be remembered by people in the humanities for its generous expenditures.
These headlines from the National Coalition for History tell the story:
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) will receive its highest level of funding in recent years under
Source: WaPo
Mar 12, 2009
For a curator, Clark Evans proved himself to be a shrewd political analyst as he dissected the election results yesterday in a lecture at the Library of Congress.
"That was an historic election," he said. "The country had had its fill," he continued, of a "failed president, and here's this man of the people, a much more democratic image being projected for a presidential candidate." The candidate was "very pragmatic" and, when necessary, "
Source: TheDailyBeast.com
Mar 12, 2009
President Obama may be popular with the public, but economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal give him and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner failing grades for their efforts to revive the economy. A majority of the 49 economists polled told surveyors they were dissatisfied with the Obama team’s economic policies; on average, they gave him a grade of 59 out of 100, while Geithner got just 51. (Fed chief Ben Bernanke, meanwhile, scored a respectable 71.) The Journal does cast a somewhat suspici
Source: WCBD-TV (Charleston, SC)
Mar 12, 2009
Members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans want Berkeley County Schools to have the day off May 11 to observe Confederate Memorial Day.
The local chapter of SCV known as General Ellison Capers Camp 1212 says for the past 2 years the schools should have been given a day off but were not. Confederate Memorial Day falls on May 10 and according to South Carolina guidelines should be observed like other legal holidays. That means if it’s on a Saturday like 2007 it should be observed on
Source: Reuters
Mar 12, 2009
Archeologists have uncovered carved stucco panels depicting cosmic monsters, gods and serpents in Guatemala's northern jungle that are the oldest known depictions of a famous Mayan creation myth.
The newly discovered panels, both 26 feet long and stacked on top of each other, were created around 300 BC and show scenes from the core Mayan mythology, the Popol Vuh.
It took investigators three months to uncover the carvings while excavating El Mirador, the biggest ancient
