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
Mar 16, 2006
Sure, Dwight Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan may have been presidents of the United States. But they would have been really influential if they had helped to break a racial barrier in professional sports.hat’s one way of interpreting a list of the “100 Most Influential Student-Athletes” released Wednesday by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, as part of its centennial celebration. The top five leans heavily toward leading African-American athletes who bec
Source: BBC News
Mar 16, 2006
The brainchild of the Northern Ireland Museums Council and the Nerve Centre in Londonderry, the site will feature World War II memorabilia which is held in Northern Ireland museums. It will be launched in the autumn, and will feature objects, reminiscences and war images.
The site is aimed at teachers and pupils studying the effects of the Second World War in Northern Ireland.
In addition to providing photographs and recordings of veterans reminis
Source: London Times
Mar 16, 2006
A furious debate has erupted in Dallas after a suggestion that the only memorial in the city commemorating John F. Kennedy should be torn down. His assassination in 1963 still evokes deep feelings of guilt.Despite the fact that the monument — a stark, empty, open-air concrete box — is widely considered a monstrosity, many people are afraid that public criticism would offend the memory of a man whose murder brought so much unwanted attention to the city.
But this
Source: Seatle Post-Intelligencer
Mar 16, 2006
President Andrew Jackson gave the order that started the Trail of Tears, the cruel removal of American Indians to west of the Mississippi River. Now Jackson's plantation home near Nashville, the Hermitage, has been named as an official site along the historical trail that commemorates the Trail of Tears.Hermitage Executive Director Patricia Leach said the recognition Wednesday opens a new chapter in Jacksonian history by acknowledging one the darkest periods in h
Source: NYT
Mar 16, 2006
On his third day of testimony in a London court yesterday, Dan Brown acknowledged "reworking" passages from another book for his best-selling novel "The Da Vinci Code," but rejected charges that he stole key ideas for his thriller, The Associated Press reported.He was testifying on behalf of his British publisher, Random House U.K., in a copyright infringement suit brought by two of the three authors of a 1982 nonfiction book, "The Holy Blood and the
Source: LAT
Mar 16, 2006
Los Angeles was home to an estimated 10,000 Chinese in the late 19th century -- almost all men who came to America to work on the railroads and ended up in desperate straits, crowded into a filthy Chinese ghetto near what is now Union Station. A recent discovery by a new generation of railway workers building the extension of the Gold Line commuter rail line through Boyle Heights has unearthed this dark but largely forgotten period in Los Angeles history.Last s
Source: Seattle Times
Mar 15, 2006
CINCINNATI -- A national museum commemorating the Underground Railroad is $5.5 million in the red just 18 months after opening, and officials said they will seek public money to continue operations.When the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center opened in August 2004 with an annual budget of more than $10 million, officials said they would rely on admissions, donations and grants. But the center's chief executive, John Pepper, said income has not met expect
Source: Baltimore Sun
Mar 15, 2006
Blazing a Trail Before Brown is a documentary in the works by seniors at Polytechnic Institute. The 10-minute film tells the story of the pioneering integration of their own school, developed primarily through interviews with people who experienced it.Although many Baltimoreans already know this groundbreaking local history, it also has significance nationally. When Poly admitted black students in September 1952, it was among the first - possibly the first - public hig
Source: Christian Science Monitor
Mar 15, 2006
Move over Bode. You may have competition you don't know about - among a sturdy skiing clan in northwest China. They are central Asians, Mongols, and Kazaks, living in the remote Altay mountains of Xinjiang province, where some claim skiing was first conceived.
Using curved planks whose design dates back 2,000 years, the Altaic peoples are formidable skiers. They might not win a medal on perfectly groomed Olympic trails. But they can break their own paths, track
Source: CNN
Mar 15, 2006
Sirhan Sirhan, who shot Robert F. Kennedy to death in 1968, was denied parole Wednesday for the 13th time since his conviction.Sirhan is "very hostile. He hates Americans. ... He continues to pose a risk to public safety," said state Board of Parole Hearings spokesman Tip Kindel.
Sirhan did not attend the hearing at Corcoran State Prison or appoint a lawyer to represent him. His longtime attorney died last year after numerous failed attempts to g
Source: NYT
Mar 15, 2006
Acting on an accord reached last month, the Italian government is offering to lend the Metropolitan Museum of Art an array of artifacts recovered from graves in the ancient region of Etruria, in west-central Italy, to reciprocate for the Met's return of objects that Italy claims were illegally excavated from its soil.In exchange for a Laconian kylix, or ancient Greek drinking cup, that the Met is returning under the agreement, Italy is prepared to send a comparable six
Source: Yahoo News
Mar 15, 2006
Archaeologists in Bangladesh say they have uncovered part of a fortified citadel dating back to 450 B.C. that could have been a stopping off point along an ancient trade route. So far, a moat round the citadel has been uncovered along with parts of an ancient road at Wari, 85 km (53 miles) northeast of the capital Dhaka.
"The citadel and a raft of artifacts may help redefine history of India," said Sufi Mostafizur Rahman, head of the department o
Source: BBC News
Mar 15, 2006
Memorabilia from the ill-fated Titanic has continued to fascinate collectors around the world, even though it is not always in the best taste. Belfast City Council is looking for people who might have something suitable for a forthcoming Easter exhibition at the city hall, Titanic - An Image.
The whole story surrounding the ship has been a marketing phenomenon since the 1997 release of the Hollywood film, and Una Reilly of the Belfast Titanic Society said they
Source: NYT
Mar 15, 2006
A town near Cologne, Germany, has suspended an installation by a Spanish performance artist that resembles a gas chamber after Jewish leaders and Holocaust survivors complained, officials said. For the piece, "245 Cubic Meters," the artist, Santiago Sierra, hooked the exhaust pipes of six cars up to an old synagogue in Pulheim, flooding the interior with carbon monoxide. Visitors to the installation, which opened on Sunday, were outfitted with breathing masks, abov
Source: Reuters
Mar 15, 2006
Author Dan Brown conceded on Wednesday that some of the ideas he took from two historians who accuse him of plagiarism were essential to ``The Da Vinci Code,'' but said the bestseller had many other important themes too.On his third and final day in the witness box, the 41-year-old expressed frustration during a grueling session of cross-examination in the closely-watched copyright case at London's High Court.
Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh wrote a 1982
Source: Pan Armenian.Net
Mar 15, 2006
The U.S. Department of State refused to comment on the report of U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John Evans’ withdrawal. According to ANCA Executive Director Ara Hamparian, the State Department refrains from commenting on the report, according to which Evans is being forced from office based upon statements last year about the Armenian Genocide. Meanwhile, according to the information placed on the U.S. State Department’s website, Acting Spokesman Tom Casey stated, “U.S. Ambassad
Source: BBC
Mar 15, 2006
Authorities were faced with a dilemma: allowing a home burial could be seen as conceding Milosevic a measure of historical respect. But for the nationalist leader a foreign resting place would have been a final snub. It's a decision many governments have had to face. Repatriating or honouring the remains of leaders who die after being exiled or overthrown risks signalling the rehabilitation of their reputations - a worrying prospect for authorities keen not to re
Source: The Register
Mar 15, 2006
A distributed computing project has successfully cracked the second of three unbroken Enigma intercepts dating back to World War II. The naval codes resisted the best efforts of allied cryptographers but are beginning to fall to the combined forces of the net community, brought together by the M4 Project.The second message to yield to the M4 Project fell on 7 March. A translation reveals little more than a routine observation report.
Found nothing on
Source: LA Times
Mar 15, 2006
Los Angeles was home to an estimated 10,000 Chinese in the late 19th century — almost all men who came to America to work on the railroads and ended up in desperate straits, crowded into a filthy Chinese ghetto near what is now Union Station. A recent discovery by a new generation of railway workers building the extension of the Gold Line commuter rail line through Boyle Heights has unearthed this dark but largely forgotten period in Los Angeles history.Last summer, wo
Source: NYT
Mar 15, 2006
69 years ago his courtyard was filled with hundreds of Chinese seeking refuge from Japanese troops who were rampaging through the city, then China's capital. The invaders subjected Nanjing to a six-week reign of terror, killing large numbers of Chinese soldiers who had thrown down their weapons and murdering and raping thousands of civilians.
The property was the home of John Rabe, a Nazi Party member and employee of Siemens. In addition to sheltering people in his own compound, Mr.
