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: CNN
Jan 19, 2006
For the 57th straight year, a mystery man paid tribute to Edgar Allan Poe by placing roses and a bottle of cognac on the writer's grave to mark his January 19 birthday.
Some of the 25 spectators drawn to a tiny, locked graveyard in downtown Baltimore for the ceremony climbed over the walls of the site and were "running all over the place trying to find out how the guy gets in," according to Jeff Jerome, the most faithful viewer of the event.
Source: Newsletter of the American Revolution Round Table
Jan 19, 2006
Last November, in front of the Ontario County Court House in Canandigua, NY, a group of Americans celebrated the 211th anniversary of a treaty that few people know about. It was signed by Timothy Pickering, agent for the United States, President George Washington and 50 chiefs and warriors of the Iroquois Confederacy. The treaty marked a shift from the language of conquest to the language of diplomacy and mutual recognition. After the Revolution, the American government regarded the four Iroquoi
Source: Newsletter of the American Revolution Round Table
Jan 19, 2006
In 2002 the Onondaga Historical Association decided to put its attic in order. They hired archivist Phil McCray, a pro from Cornell. After 2 1/2 years, he announced the job was done, and revealed his big surprise: four pages of a paper entitled: "The 1775 General Association for the Rights and Liberties of America." It is considered New York's declaration of independence from England. McCray found this precious document in a grocery box. Most people thought it had been destroyed in a f
Source: Guardian
Jan 19, 2006
Three years after Iraq's ancient treasures were first stolen and smashed, the cradle of civilisation is still being looted. It's a catastrophe, says former arts minister Mark Fisher.The media joined archaeologists in condemning President Bush and the US. Eleanor Robson, a council member of the British School of Archaeology in Iraq, compared the US under President Bush to the Mongol hordes, and the destruction of the museum's collection to that of the librar
Source: BBC News
Jan 19, 2006
Namibia's Herero community is seeking reparations from Germany for the suffering experienced during colonial rule.
The Herero say that German policy at the time amounted to genocide.
Many Herero who rebelled, became prisoners of war. Starvation and torture were widespread. Of an estimated 65,000 Herero, only 15,000 survived.
Source: UPI
Jan 19, 2006
The German parliament Thursday decided to rid Berlin of one of its last communist remnants, the Palace of the Republic. The Bundestag, the lower house of parliament, voted to tear down the roughly 30-year-old rectangular building, which housed the communist East German parliament during the height of the Cold War. The demolition is expected to begin at the end of the month despite continuing opposition from several East Germans, including celebrities such as writer Gu
Source: Scotsman
Jan 19, 2006
IT looks like nothing more than an old rock. Standing alone near the end of the runway at Edinburgh Airport, the Cat Stane barely warrants a second glance from the few people that ever walk past it. But the remains of what appears to be a Latin inscription, just visible beneath the moss, offer a tantalising clue to the flurry of interest it has generated. The rough rock, which stands 4ft high, dates back more than a thousand years - and may be the final resting p
Source: Tennessean
Jan 19, 2006
The Nashville recording studio where Elvis Presley cut the RCA hit Heartbreak Hotel, the King's first breakout hit, is being torn down to make way for that unmistakable sign of urban progress: A parking lot.The studio, wedged between Broadway and Demonbreun at 1525 McGavock St. and purchased by auto-dealership magnate Lee Beaman in 1999, was the longtime home of the United Methodist Television, Radio and Film Commission.
Its most recent occupants of
Source: Washington Times
Jan 19, 2006
On most afternoons, veterans from Israel's 1948 war of independence can be found around a table at a cafe in central Tel Aviv.
They are contemporaries of Ariel Sharon, the lionized Israeli prime minister who lies in a coma after suffering a massive stroke.
For them, the end of Mr. Sharon's political career also signals something of a swan song for their generation, which came to Israel in the shadow of two world wars and then fought for the country's birth and
Source: Dyersburg, TN State Gazette
Jan 19, 2006
The Tennessee Civil War Sourcebook, a new tool for historians, students or anyone interested in the Civil War, is now available at www.tennessee.civilwarsourcebook.com. The sourcebook chronicles the military, economic, social and political history associated with the Civil War in Tennessee. Information in the sourcebook comes from diaries, period newspapers, official Civil War records, ship deck logs, letters and hist
Source: Find Law/AP
Jan 19, 2006
A former congressman, a Harvard historian, and a retired UCLA professor have quit the advisory board of a conservative alumni group at the University of California, Los Angeles, after learning it is offering students money to supply tapes and notes exposing professors who allegedly express left-wing political views.
Former Rep. James Rogan, a Republican who served two terms, sent an e-mail Wednesday to Andrew Jones, head of the Bruin Alumni Association, saying he didn't want his nam
Source: CNN
Jan 18, 2006
Copenhagen's National Gallery has said two of its paintings that were previously believed to be fake Rembrandts were actual works by the Dutch master.Once again, the press gets it wrong. There is a huge difference between a "fake" (something designed to deceive), a work "in the style of" (artists have tried out other artists' styles for centuries), and a work by one of the artist's students or followers. You can safely bet that nine times out of ten
Source: NYT
Jan 18, 2006
Listen more kindly to the New York Irishmen who assure you that the blood of early Irish kings flows in their veins. At least 2 percent of the time, they are telling the truth, according to a new genetic survey.
The survey not only bolsters the bragging rights of some Irishmen claiming a proud heritage but also provides evidence of the existence of Niall of the Nine Hostages, an Irish high king of the fifth century A.D. regarded by some historians as more legend than real.
Source: NYT
Jan 18, 2006
Sen. Barack Obama and other black Democrats are defending Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's description of the House of Representatives as a ''plantation.'' First lady Laura Bush says Clinton's remark was ''ridiculous.''
Clinton, D-N.Y., a potential presidential candidate for 2008, did not retreat from the ''plantation'' remark, telling reporters the term accurately describes the ''top-down'' way the GOP runs Congress.First lady Laura Bush, en route home
Source: Israel National News
Jan 18, 2006
There will be a meeting tonight in Washington DC to discuss the US Holocaust Memorial Museum's failure to document the role Islamic groups played in the Holocaust, as well as the Museum's silence in response to recent Holocaust denials and anti-Semitic remarks attributed to Muslim leaders. The gathering is sponsored by the International Society for Sephardic Progress (ISFSP), Holocaust Museum Watch (hmwatch.org), AMCHA - The Coalition for Jewish Concerns, and other groups.
About 25
Source: Romanesko
Jan 18, 2006
David Simon says if we agree to the definition of plagiarism implied in both Baltimore City Paper’s coverage of the Michael Olesker flap and the Baltimore Sun’s response, then perhaps every rewrite man is a plagiarist. "So, too, for reporters who routinely write stories using morgue clippings for background, or who work to catch up on a competitor’s reportage and err by not independently confirming every single detail. So, too, for every columnist who ever used reported material -- either h
Source: LAT
Jan 18, 2006
A fledgling alumni group headed by a former campus Republican leader is offering students payments of up to $100 per class to provide information on instructors who are "abusive, one-sided or off-topic" in advocating political ideologies.
The year-old Bruin Alumni Assn. says its
"Exposing UCLA's Radical Professors" initiative takes aim at faculty "actively proselytizing their extreme views in the classroom, whether or not the commentary is relevant t
Source: UPI
Jan 18, 2006
A survey by geneticist Daniel Bradley finds about 2 percent of men who say they have the blood of early Irish kings are telling the truth.
Bradley and colleagues at Trinity College in Dublin found 20 percent of men in northwestern Ireland carry a distinctive genetic signature on their Y chromosomes, possibly inherited from Niall of the Nine Hostages -- a 5th century A.D. king who some historians have regarded as more myth than fact, The New York Times reported Wednesday.
Source: AP
Jan 18, 2006
The traditional Winchester rifles carried by pioneers, movie stars and Wild West lawmen will be discontinued in March, a Belgian manufacturer said Wednesday, confirming the end of an American icon that became known as "The Gun that Won the West."Once the U.S. Repeating Arms plant closes March 31, the only new rifles carrying the famous Winchester name will be the modern, high-end models produced in Belgium, Japan and Portugal. The older mode
Source: CNN
Jan 18, 2006
A UCLA alumni group is offering students up to $100 per class to supply tapes and notes exposing professors who allegedly express extreme left-wing political views at the University of California, Los Angeles.
One of the professors calls it McCarthyism.The year-old Bruin Alumni Association says it is concerned about professors who use lecture time to press positions against President Bush, the military and multinational corporations, amon
