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: Times (UK)
Nov 17, 2007
Tony Blair has admitted for the first time that he ignored the pleas of his aides and ministers to deter President Bush from waging war on Iraq because he believed that America was doing the right thing. And he has acknowledged that he turned down a last-ditch offer from Mr Bush to pull Britain out of the conflict.
He has also revealed that he wishes he had published the full reports from the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) instead of the infamous September dossier about Saddam H
Source: NYT
Nov 17, 2007
Three organizations representing coin collectors and dealers have filed a lawsuit against the State Department demanding greater disclosure of how the government makes decisions on the import of ancient artifacts from abroad.
The suit, filed jointly on Thursday by the three groups in Federal District Court in Washington, asserts that the State Department violated the Freedom of Information Act when it failed to release documents that the coin collectors had sought concerning recent
Source: NYT
Nov 17, 2007
An Australian coroner concluded Friday that the Indonesian Army killed five Australia-based journalists at the beginning of its 1975 invasion of East Timor to prevent news of an Indonesian attack from reaching the outside world.
The inquiry found that the five journalists — Greg Shackleton and Tony Stewart of Australia, Brian Peters and Malcolm Rennie of Britain, and Gary Cunningham of New Zealand — were killed by Indonesian forces in the village of Balibo, nearly two months before
Source: BBC
Nov 17, 2007
On 17 November 1678 as he prepared to leave for mass from a local blacksmith, officials from the government arrested David Lewis who had items needed to carry out mass in his possession.
Just under a year later, on 27 August at Usk, he was executed after being condemned as a Roman Catholic priest who said mass.
He was one of 40 martyrs of the time and his sacrifice has never been forgotten by those at the abbey.
A plaque marking the spot is to be unveiled i
Source: WaPo
Nov 17, 2007
Move over Martha Stewart. You're getting some new competition from an old source: furniture and home decor products inspired by the collections of the Smithsonian Institution.
The Smithsonian Collection for the Home includes dining and bedroom sets, chandeliers, sinks and even fireplace accessories modeled after pieces and designs held by the world's largest museum and research complex.
"They all have a history," Peter Reid, of Smithsonian Business Ventures, s
Source: NYT
Nov 17, 2007
Step aside Moore and Taylor. Welcome Garcia and Rodriguez.
Smith remains the most common surname in the United States, according to a new analysis released yesterday by the Census Bureau. But for the first time, two Hispanic surnames — Garcia and Rodriguez — are among the top 10 most common in the nation, and Martinez nearly edged out Wilson for 10th place.
The number of Hispanics living in the United States grew by 58 percent in the 1990s to nearly 13 percent of the to
Source: Letter to the Editor of the NYT
Nov 17, 2007
To the Editor:
“A Spy’s Path: Iowa to A-Bomb to Kremlin Honor” (front page, Nov. 12), about a Soviet spy who helped steal atomic secrets during World War II, provides powerful evidence that our parents, Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, were wrongfully executed.
History students are taught that our father headed a conspiracy that stole “the secret” of the atom bomb (historians are uncertain about the role of our mother). Meanwhile, government officials sat on the story of the
Source: Baltimore Sun
Nov 17, 2007
In a small cemetery at Fort Meade, the base's installation commander and others will gather tomorrow in a section of 33 graves for a tradition of commemoration that dates back at least three decades.
But the fallen soldiers they will honor fought not for America, but against it. They were Germans fighting for the Nazis - and they were among thousands of Axis prisoners of war held in Maryland during World War II.
Source: Haaretz
Nov 16, 2007
The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg Thursday acquitted an Austrian journalist of "causing the suicide" of a German professor who claimed that the Jews declared war on Germany in 1933. The ruling was handed down in a complicated case involving freedom of speech, libel and anti-Semitism.
The court found in favor of veteran journalist Karl Pfeifer, ruling that Austrian courts failed to protect Pfeifer's good name. The court ordered the Austrian government to pay
Source: ABC
Nov 16, 2007
When Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast two years ago, the storm devastated 320 million trees.
Now the United States is suffering the worst forest catastrophe in its history, according to a new analysis by the journal Science.
Using satellite images, scientists found that more than 5 million acres of trees were destroyed across Mississippi and Alabama. Experts said it would take decades for the plant life to recover, and some areas may be permanently damaged.
Source: http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland
Nov 16, 2007
Ireland's historic experience of famine has inspired the country to help tackle global poverty, U2 frontman Bono said today.
The rock legend is part of the Government's Hunger Task Force, which was set up last year and met for the second time this afternoon in University College Cork (UCC).
It was established to examine how Ireland can help combat world hunger, particularly in Africa.
The singer, who has become as famous for his aid work as his music, said
Source: http://www.wgal.com (CLICK HERE TO SEE THE PICTURE.)
Nov 16, 2007
Abraham Lincoln photos are rare -- especially those from the day of the Gettysburg Address. For years, only one such photo was thought to exist, but now that may not be the case.
"I think it's absolutely staggering to see something like this that was in a sense hidden in plain sight," said Lincoln author Harold Holzer.
Holzer thinks the image of a person in one of only two known photographs taken at Gettysburg on the day of Lincoln's address looks like Lincoln
Source: Lee White at the website of the National Coalition for History (NCH)
Nov 16, 2007
This week, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee marked up a bill (H.R. 390) directing the National Archives to create an electronically searchable database of historic records of servitude, emancipation, and post-Civil War reconstruction contained within federal agencies for genealogical and historical research and to assist in the preservation of these records.
The legislation requires the National Historical Publications and Records Commission to provide
Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Nov 16, 2007
On Oct. 22, 1816, a 14-year-old girl named Lucy took her first steps to freedom in Pittsburgh.
Born on the freedom side of the Gradual Abolition Act of 1780, Lucy was entitled to the expectation of manumission that eluded all other blacks born before March 1, 1780.
All Lucy or a sponsor had to do was scrounge up the necessary cash and goodwill to make it happen. Freedom was a pen stroke away.
We don't know whether Lucy personally made the trip to the Allegh
Source: Fox News
Nov 16, 2007
Seven decades was not enough time to separate an 88-year-old Chicago man from his past.
The Justice Department announced Thursday plans to deport Osyp "Joe" Firishchak, who they claim lied about his role in Nazi-occupied Poland during World War II to win passage to the United States.
The government claims Firishchak was a member of the Nazi-controlled Ukrainian Auxiliary Police, which helped kill 100,000 people in a Jewish ghetto. It also claims Firishchak gua
Source: Telegraph (UK)
Nov 16, 2007
One of the Cold War's most baffling mysteries has been solved after an elderly Russian man admitted to slitting the throat of British frogman fifty years ago.
Commander Lionel "Buster" Crabb disappeared while spying on a Soviet warship in 1956.
The vessel was en route to Portsmouth Harbour, bringing Soviet leaders to Britain for talks.
At the time, the Navy feared that Cdr Crabb had drowned in the nearby Stokes Bay.
But several month
Source: BBC
Nov 16, 2007
The 40th anniversary of a visit by one of the world's best-known civil rights leaders to Tyneside is being marked a special ceremony.
In 1967, Newcastle University became the only UK university to honour Dr Martin Luther King Jnr in his lifetime.
Dr King travelled to Tyneside in November that year to receive an honorary Doctor of Civil Law degree.
A memorial lecture will be delivered to mark the historic event, which was captured on film at the time.
Source: AP
Nov 16, 2007
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Here's a sobering thought: Hundreds of bottles of Jack Daniel's whiskey, some of it almost 100 years old, may be unceremoniously poured down a drain because authorities suspect it was being sold by someone without a license.
Officials seized 2,400 bottles late last month during warehouse raids in Nashville and Lynchburg, the southern Tennessee town where the whiskey is distilled.
"Punish the person, not the whiskey," said an outraged Kyle M
Source: AP
Nov 16, 2007
The City of Harrisburg collected $1.35 million last weekend from an auction of more than 750 Western history collectibles. Mayor Stephen R. Reed said in a statement Wednesday that results of the two-day auction in Dallas met expectations. The items were intended for an Old West Museum envisioned by Mr. Reed. But with the city in debt, the City Council scratched the idea. Officials are trying to pay off a $7.2 million loan taken out to fill a budget shortfall last year.
Source: Press Release--University of Texas
Nov 15, 2007
Challenging the idea that racism education could be harmful to students, a new study from The University of Texas at Austin found the results of learning about historical racism are primarily positive. The study appears in the November/December issue of the journal Child Development.
Psychologists Rebecca Bigler and Julie Milligan Hughes found white children who received history lessons about discrimination against famous African Americans had significantly more positive attitudes t
