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: Thaindian News
Feb 2, 2009
Archaeologists have found over 50 ancient rock engravings in Tonga, which may shed some light on the pre-Polynesian Lapita peoples who voyaged across the Pacific.
The petroglyphs, including stylised images of people and animals, were found emerging from beach sand at the northern end of Foa Island, late last year, the Matangi Tonga newspaper reported.
The site on Foa Island is an amazing piece of artwork, with over 50 engraved images. Having an average height of 20 to
Source: Foxnews
Feb 2, 2009
It was the National Security Agency that uncovered a 1973 plot to bomb New York City, a scheme since linked to a terrorist who is nearing release from prison, according to government documents and interviews.
Khalid Al-Jawary, a Black September terrorist, placed two car bombs along Fifth Avenue and one near Kennedy Airport. The attack was meant to coincide with Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir's arrival in the city. The bombs failed to detonate, and Al-Jawary quickly fled the count
Source: Scott Jaschik at the website of Inside Higher Ed
Feb 2, 2009
When Southern Methodist University decided to go ahead with plans to become the site not only of President George W. Bush’s presidential library, but also an affiliated policy center, some historians feared a distortion of the historical record. The Dallas Morning News reported that a recent addition to the Bush Presidential Center’s Web site isn’t doing anything to reassure scholars about even-handedness. To understand the “legacy” of the Bush administration, the center links to the Web site no
Source: AP
Feb 2, 2009
WASHINGTON – Chocolate for your sweetheart this Valentine's Day? Folks may be surprised to know how far back chocolate goes — perhaps 1,000 years in what is now the United States. Evidence of chocolate was been found in Pueblo Bonito in Chaco Canyon, N.M., the earliest indication of the tasty substance north of Mexico, Patricia L. Crown of the University of New Mexico and W. Jeffrey Hurst of the Hershey Center for Health and Nutrition report in Tuesday's issue of Proceedings of the National Acad
Source: AP
Feb 2, 2009
It's one of the most familiar Bible stories.
Saddened by the wickedness of man, God directs the righteous Noah to build an ark for his family and two of each species of animal.
Together, they ride the ark through 40 days and 40 nights of torrential rains that God unleashes upon the Earth. And when the waters subside, Noah and the animals return to land.
"That seems almost like a fairy story," said archaeologist Randall Price, who is director of L
Source: NPR
Feb 2, 2009
Skin has changed color in human lineages much faster than scientists had previously supposed, even without intermarriage, Jablonski says. Recent developments in comparative genomics allow scientists to sample the DNA in modern humans.
By creating genetic "clocks," scientists can make fairly careful guesses about when particular groups became the color they are today. And with the help of paleontologists and anthropologists, scientists can go further: They can wind the cloc
Source: Rasmussen Reports
Feb 2, 2009
Just 11% of U.S. voters think America should apologize to Iran for “crimes” against the Islamic country – one of the prerequisites demanded by the Iranian president before he will agree to meet with President Barack Obama.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 73% oppose such an apology.
Obama in an interview last week with al-Arabiya, a 24-hour Arabic language satellite network, offered to end nearly 30 years of bad relations with Iran if the Midd
Source: WaPo
Feb 2, 2009
This just in: Martha Washington was hot. Or at least hotter than we thought.
Our image of the mother of our country, vague and insubstantial as it is, is drawn from portraits painted after her death showing a frumpy, dumpy, plump old lady, a fussy jumble of needlework in her lap, wearing what could pass for a shower cap with pink sponge rollers rolled too tight underneath.
But today, 250 years after Martha and George tied the knot, a handful of historians are seeking to
Source: Breitbart
Feb 2, 2009
The US firm which announced discovery of one of the greatest British warships ever lost at sea said Monday it was seeking "immediate" permission to begin recovering artifacts to prevent further damage from trawler fishing and erosion.
Florida-based Odyssey Marine Exploration said it discovered the final resting place of the HMS Victory last year in the English Channel and notified the British Ministry of Defense as soon as the team concluded it was the man-of-war which san
Source: Times (UK)
Feb 2, 2009
Early in Henry VIII’s reign the Venetian Ambassador described him as “the handsomest potentate I ever set eyes on, with an extremely fine calf to his leg . . . and a round face so very beautiful that it would become a pretty woman”.
Six wives, one Reformation and a lot of feasting later, Henry had become, by the time of his death in 1547, larger than life.
Just how large, and when, has long been a source of speculation, but research by the Royal Armouries in Leeds has
Source: Lee White at the website of the National Coalition for History (NCH)
Feb 1, 2009
On the day the presidential records bill passed (January 7, 2009), the House of Representatives approved H.R. 36, the “Presidential Library Donation Reform Act of 2009,” by a vote of 388-31. H.R. 36 requires organizations fundraising for presidential libraries to disclose their donations while the president is in office and during the period before the federal government has taken possession of the library.
Since it is unlikely the bill will be passed by January 20, 2009, the disclo
Source: MSNBC
Feb 1, 2009
Click on the SOURCE link to view an interactive Black History Month display.
Source: The Jakarta Globe
Feb 1, 2009
A sarcophagus, or stone coffin, estimated to be up to 2,500 years old has been found in Bali’s Gianyar district, a local archaeologist said on Monday.
Wayan Suantika, the head of the Denpasar Archeology Agency, told the Jakarta Globe that the sarcophagus had been found on Saturday in Keramas village by Muksin Riadi, a brick maker, while he was digging for brick-making material. It was found 1.5 meters below the surface.
Wayan said the size of the sarcophagus suggests th
Source: Telegraph (UK)
Feb 1, 2009
Paintings looted by Hitler's right hand man Hermann Goering have been documented for the first time.
The prominent Nazi collected some of the world's most important pieces of art to adorn the walls of his country retreat near Berlin.
Now photographs of every painting possessed by Goering will be published in April in a book that is expected to become an essential research tool museums around the globe.
Researchers also hope the catalogue will help reunite
Source: Charlotte Observer
Feb 1, 2009
Mint Hill resident Dan Oke is taking special care of a piece of history he knows doesn't belong to him. And he's working to return it to its rightful owner.
Oke has a 20-by-30-inch, white silk Japanese flag with a bright red circle in the middle.
He discovered it among other mementos while cleaning out his late father's garage.
When his father passed away in 1999, he found himself with a Japanese flag that had black writing all over it, a few holes he think
Source: http://www.vancouversun.com
Feb 1, 2009
Black History Month Commemorative Stamps Stamps honouring two eminent Afro-Canadians will be unveiled tonight at a special fundraising event at the Vancouver Playhouse.
Rosemary Brown (1930-2003), a Jamaican immigrant, had a distinguished political career after being the first black woman elected to public office in Canada. She won a seat in the British Columbia legislature for the New Democratic Party in 1972.
Abraham Doras Shadd (1801-1882) was a prominent anti-slaver
Source: Newark Advocate
Feb 1, 2009
The Civil War flag that was brandished by the 42nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry is wrapped tightly around its pole. It's a delicate task to unfurl the almost 150-year-old banner without it crumbling.
Yet, the humidity-raising chamber used to loosen the material consists of a homemade aluminum frame covered with a plastic-like film. It was built with parts from Lowe's that cost less than $500. The work is being done in a warehouse and in a homemade chamber instead of with state-of-the-art
Source: Hartford Courant
Feb 1, 2009
Norwich officials are renewing the search for whoever stole a large portrait of Abraham Lincoln from the entrance of Norwich Ckty Hall about 15 years ago.
The picture has been missing since 1994, when someone cut it from its large Victorian frame and left with it in the middle of the night.
The case was assigned to the detective division, but police came up empty with every lead they followed.
Part of the difficulty, authorities say, is that they could no
Source: The Hindu
Feb 1, 2009
Archaeologists cleaning a drain to flush out rainwater from an explored part of the ancient Indus Valley city of Moenjodaro have been pleasantly surprised to come across artefacts and other objects of much cultural value at the World Heritage site.
Well-defined structures of old drains were discovered along with certain old artefacts during the digging, which was necessitated to prevent rainwater stagnating at the world heritage site.
An object called an "elliptic
Source: IHT
Feb 1, 2009
Ordered to bury 16 bodies in the dead of night in 1978, a wary young army officer did his best to remember the location, quietly counting the paces from the unmarked mass grave to the roadside.
He gathered from his fellow soldiers that they had just buried Afghanistan's first president, Sardar Mohammad Daoud Khan, and his family. His assassination, during a Communist coup in those tumultuous days, precipitated three decades of war in Afghanistan, a succession of conflicts that are s
