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: Inside Higher Ed
Dec 19, 2007
In the 1970s and early 1980s, supporters rallied to create a federal holiday memorializing Martin Luther King Jr.’s leadership in the civil rights movement and his union activism. For many students today, those efforts have translated to King-themed activities and a respite from coursework one day a year.
As usual, Ohio State University has no intention of holding classes on Martin Luther King Jr. Day next year, when it will fall on Monday, January 21. But unique scheduling difficul
Source: AFP
Dec 18, 2007
India has its sacred cows, but in La Alberca, a Spanish village renowned for its juicy hams, an ancient Christian tradition has decreed that the chosen animal is a pig.
"Hello pig," the villagers call as they walk by the chosen animal wandering freely across a cobbled courtyard of the medieval village. One man stops to scratch the side of the hefty looking creature.
La Alberca, some 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the western town of Salamanca near the border w
Source: Haaretz
Dec 18, 2007
The Jews remaining in Russia and Ukraine are proud of their Jewish identity, but nearly half feel there is no need to identify with Zionism. They fear assimilation, but see nothing wrong with intermarriage. Most believe that what determines their Jewishness is their subjective feeling, not the fact that one of their parents was Jewish. These
are among the findings of a first-of-its-kind study conducted among the Jews of Russia and Ukraine over the last year by the Institute for Jewish St
Source: http://www.physorg.com
Dec 18, 2007
Time Magazine has named a study by Oxford researchers, using new dating techniques on a human skull to help find out where our most recent common ancestor came from, as one of the Top 10 Scientific Discoveries of the Year.
The skull was discovered more than 50 years ago near the town of Hofmeyr in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is thought to be 36,000 years old, according to a study published in the journal Science in January 2007. The finding by Oxford researchers in
Source: http://www.dailypress.com
Dec 18, 2007
Archaeologists at Historic Jamestowne have ended their 2007 excavation season after months of exploring one of the pioneering English fort's most complex and significant architectural features.
First uncovered in mid-2006, the sinking, dark-stained patch of soil originally looked like a nearby well so richly packed with artifacts that it had required a summer of digging. But as archaeologists probed deeper, the feature expanded dramatically in size, revealing at least three successi
Source: The Age
Dec 18, 2007
IT HAD TO HAPPEN. UNDER the tinsel, wrapping paper and cards, Christmas has become a subject of scholarly interest. This is not from a theological angle where Christians have written extensively since Victorian times on the importance of Christmas. Just why we celebrate the way we do is increasingly a matter of debate.
Determining the meaning of Christmas is not a new idea. After all, Stephen Law in his 2003 book, The Xmas Files: The Philosophy of Christmas, presented a feisty and e
Source: BBC
Dec 18, 2007
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has said the coffin of 19th Century revolutionary Simon Bolivar should be opened to find out how he died.
Speaking on the anniversary of his hero's death, Mr Chavez said an investigation was needed because some writings suggest he was murdered.
Most accounts maintain Bolivar died from tuberculosis in 1830.
One historian challenged Mr Chavez to produce a single piece of evidence to suggest foul play.
Source: Time
Dec 18, 2007
No one is born with a stare like Vladimir Putin's. The Russian President's pale blue eyes are so cool, so devoid of emotion that the stare must have begun as an affect, the gesture of someone who understood that power might be achieved by the suppression of ordinary needs, like blinking. The affect is now seamless, which makes talking to the Russian President not just exhausting but often chilling. It's a gaze that says, I'm in charge.
Source: AP
Dec 18, 2007
A 710-year-old copy of the declaration of human rights known as the Magna Carta — the version that became part of English law — was auctioned Tuesday for $21.3 million, a Sotheby's spokeswoman said.
The document, which had been expected to draw bids of $30 million or higher, was bought by David Rubenstein of The Carlyle Group, a private equity firm, the spokeswoman said.
Sotheby's vice chairman David Redden called the old but durable parchment "the most important
Source: Lee White at the website of the National Coalition for History (NCH)
Dec 18, 2007
On Monday, the House approved an omnibus funding package that incorporates the eleven fiscal year 2008 appropriations bills that have yet to be passed by Congress. The Democratic majority has released the breakdowns for the appropriations bills. What follows are the numbers as released by the Appropriations Committees for programs of interest to the historical and archival communities.
It is important to note that these are NOT the final appropriations numbers for these programs sin
Source: NYT
Dec 18, 2007
In the disease-scarred bones of a Homo erectus from Turkey, scientists have found evidence of a peril that human ancestors encountered in their migrations out of Africa: tuberculosis.
Paleontologists examining small lesions etched inside the 500,000-year-old skull said this was the earliest known sign of a form of tuberculosis that attacks the meninges, the membranes surrounding the brain. Previously, the earliest physical traces of TB were only a few thousand years old, in mummies
Source: NYT
Dec 18, 2007
George Romney had big ideas for his youngest child.
In 1957, Mitt Romney, 10, with his father, George W. Romney, at their home in Detroit. More Photos >
Mitt Romney had already made millions as the founder of a giant buyout firm. But his father wanted Mitt to follow him into politics, convinced he could unseat Senator Edward M. Kennedy in Massachusetts.
“It was Mitt’s dad that kicked us over that one,” Ann Romney, Mitt Romney’s wife, recalled of the losing 19
Source: NYT
Dec 18, 2007
It is difficult to say which is more surprising: that the Newark Public Library owns prints by Picasso and Rauschenberg, a page of the Gutenberg Bible and a 1493 handwritten tome known as the Nuremberg Chronicles, or that William J. Dane, a dapper, refreshingly irreverent art scholar from New Hampshire, has been tending to this astounding collection for six decades.
Mr. Dane does not like to talk about his age, but it is worth noting that he was old enough to join the Army during Wo
Source: BBC
Dec 18, 2007
If they managed to survive plague and pestilence, medieval humans may have enjoyed healthier lifestyles than their descendants today, it has been claimed.
Their low-fat, vegetable-rich diet - washed down by weak ale - was far better for the heart than today's starchy, processed foods, one GP says.
And while they consumed more they burnt off calories in a workout of 12 hours' labour, Dr Roger Henderson concludes.
But the Shropshire GP accepts that life for even pr
Source: NYT
Dec 18, 2007
George Romney had big ideas for his youngest child.
In 1957, Mitt Romney, 10, with his father, George W. Romney, at their home in Detroit. More Photos >
Mitt Romney had already made millions as the founder of a giant buyout firm. But his father wanted Mitt to follow him into politics, convinced he could unseat Senator Edward M. Kennedy in Massachusetts.
“It was Mitt’s dad that kicked us over that one,” Ann Romney, Mitt Romney’s wife, recalled of the losing 19
Source: National Security Archive
Dec 18, 2007
The House of Representatives at 5:18 pm today unanimously passed the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) reform bill (S. 2488) that passed the Senate by unanimous consent on December 14. The bill aims to fix some of the most persistent problems in the FOIA system, including excessive delay, lack of responsiveness, and litigation gamesmanship by federal agencies. Following today’s approval by the House, the OPEN Government Act will be sent to the President's desk for approval.
“Our s
Source: AP
Dec 18, 2007
A 4,000-year-old clay tablet authorities suspect was smuggled illegally from Iraq was
pulled from eBay just minutes before the close of the online auction, authorities said Tuesday.
Criminal proceedings have been launched against the seller, identified only as a resident of
Zurich, officials said.
Source: Secrecy News, written by Steven Aftergood, is published by the Federation of American Scientists
Dec 18, 2007
The National Archives says it is exploring new methods to accelerate
the disclosure of records at Presidential libraries.Archivists "decided to undertake an in-house study in the spring of
2007 to review ways to achieve faster processing of Presidential
records," stated Emily Robison, acting director of the Clinton
Presidential Library, in an October 2 declaration that was filed in a
lawsuit brought against NARA by Judicial Watch."As a result of thi
Source: Secrecy News, written by Steven Aftergood, is published by the Federation of American Scientists
Dec 18, 2007
The U.S. intelligence community is reverting to old patterns of cold
war secrecy, warned the former Chairman of the National Intelligence
Council (NIC), to the detriment of U.S. intelligence."The reality that I see is an Intelligence Community that is retreating
into greater secrecy and old cultural habits, even in the short time
since I left the NIC in early 2005," said Amb. Robert L. Hutchings in
recent testimony."Try to get a CIA analyst to go on
Source: National Geographic News
Dec 17, 2007
A series of surprising discoveries has been made at the foot of Egypt's famous Temple of Amun at Karnak, archaeologists say.
The new finds include ancient ceremonial baths, a pharaoh's private entry ramp, and the remains of a massive wall built some 3,000 years ago to reinforce what was then the bank of the Nile River.
A host of other artifacts, including hundreds of bronze coins, has also been found. Together the discoveries are causing experts to reconsider the histor
