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: Irish Times
Jun 30, 2012
NINETY YEARS ago this week, a 17-year-old Dublin boy peered through his Kodak folding brownie camera from his family home on Essex Quay, to capture smoke billowing from the Four Courts in the first act of the Civil War.Joe Rodgers’s image remained hidden among his vast collection of snaps for decades until his family found it and transferred it to a negative about 20 years ago.This lay in a box with old medals until it was recently digitised by his grandson, also named Joe Rodgers, a history student, who wanted to give it a public showing for the 90th anniversary. The photographer died in 1998....
Source: NYT
Jun 30, 2012
GALVESTON — Jack Johnson stood on a pedestal behind Old Central Cultural Center, ready to throw a left hook and then come back with a right.On the grounds surrounding the life-size bronze statue of Mr. Johnson, the first black heavyweight boxing champion, workers dug trenches in preparation for the opening of what will be Jack Johnson Park, Galveston’s latest effort to reclaim its most famous son since turning its back on him a century ago....Not until Jack Johnson Park has there been a concerted effort to lionize Mr. Johnson.“The city paid $150,000 to do this park” because some Galvestonians “want to apologize for what the city officials didn’t do back then,” Douglas W. Matthews, the coordinator of the project, said in a phone interview....
Source: Bend Bulletin
Jun 30, 2012
The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, the traditional birthplace of Christ, was added (along with the Pilgrimage Route) to UNESCO’s World Heritage List on Friday, a move that was celebrated by Palestinians who hailed it as a significant political and diplomatic achievement as much as a cultural one.Perhaps the biggest tourist attraction in the West Bank, the shrine is administered by the Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Armenian churches. It is run according to a 19th-century codex that assigns responsibilities for upkeep that are jealously guarded by each denomination.The move is not untainted by politics. The venerated church is in what is now a Palestinian-administered part of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. It was the first such site to be nominated since Palestine was granted full membership in UNESCO eight months ago. Israel and the United States lobbied strongly against the church’s listing. The vote was 13-6. The Palestinians argued that the church is in urgent need of repairs, particularly a leaky wooden roof. The church is also the site that Palestinian gunmen, clerics and civilians occupied in 2002, taking refuge as Israeli tanks and troops pushed into Bethlehem....
Source: NYT
Jun 30, 2012
BAMAKO, Mali (Reuters) — Islamist militants, wielding pickaxes, began destroying the mausoleums of Muslim saints in the northern city of Timbuktu on Saturday, witnesses said.The militants from the group Ansar Dine, which controls much of northern Mali, adhere to a strict version of Islamic law and consider the shrines of the local Sufi version of Islam idolatrous.Just days ago, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, or Unesco, put Timbuktu on its list of endangered world heritage sites, fearing damage to landmarks and cultural treasures in the wake of a coup that ousted Mali’s government in March....
Source: LAT
Jun 30, 2012
Yitzhak Shamir, the onetime underground Jewish fighter and long-serving Israeli prime minister whose unyielding belief in the right of Jews to all of the biblical Land of Israel often exasperated U.S. policymakers, has died. He was 96.
Source: AP
Jun 29, 2012
The construction of Julian Sellers' bungalow in St. Paul, Minn., was started in 1926 and finished in early 1927. The builder was a Swedish immigrant. The family who first lived there included a married couple, their 6-year-old daughter and the wife's mother.Sellers learned all this by sorting through building permits, tax records, city directories, maps, old newspapers on microfilm and more. A retired software engineer and a member of the Twin Cities Bungalow Club, he has chronicled the history of the structure, its environs and the people who lived in it. He even met that 6-year-old daughter when she was in her late 80s."It's fun to know that other families have lived here — children have grown up and been nurtured in this house," said Sellers. "Each family makes it their own and has their own life and experiences here. It's fun to get that feeling of continuity."...
Source: KARE 11 (MN)
Jun 29, 2012
ST. PAUL, Minn. - The U.S.-Dakota War of 1862 lasted six weeks.The Minnesota History Center has been intensely researching the topic for the better part of two years talking to dozens of direct descendents of settlers and native people who have spread out across the nation and into Canada. Researchers work will be on display beginning June 30."There aren't two sides to this story. This is like a mosaic," History Center Director Dan Spock said.This divisive war has been a very controversial topic for decades for hundreds of people on the home front in Minnesota. The Dakota Sioux hope to rewrite history hoping the story is told from beginning to end. Tribal historians have been trying to educate people on what happened that led up to the conflict and what happened to the native people afterwards....
Source: NYT
Jun 29, 2012
The “Star Trek” shuttle craft from the U.S.S. Enterprise sold Thursday at auction for more than $70,000 after a bidding war, the Associated Press reported....
Source: Fox News
Jun 29, 2012
In what is considered to be one of the most significant hieroglyphic discoveries in decades, archaeologists in Guatemala, announced the uncovering of panels reportedly showing the second-known reference to the Mayan 2012 "end date."The 1,300 year-old panels uncovered in Guatemala City, Guatemala, featured inscriptions showing a military victory visit to the city La Corona by the ruler of the Mayan city of Calakmul, Reuters reports."I was very amazed and amused yesterday to notice that that panel records the date of the end of the 13th baktun (20 cycles of the Mayan long count calendar), which for us is coming up in just a few months time in December of 2012," Dr. David Stuart of the University of Texas at Austin told Reuters....
Source: AP
Jun 29, 2012
A scruffy, young Steve Jobs worked at Atari before he founded Apple. "Pong," one of the world's first video games, was born there, as was "Centipede," a classic from the era of quarter-guzzling arcade machines. "Call of Duty" creator Activision was started by four of Atari's former game developers.The iconic video game company turns 40 years old this week, much slimmer these days as it tries to stay relevant in the age of "Angry Birds" and "Words With Friends."But Atari's influence on today's video games is pervasive.Although it wasn't the first company to make video games, Atari was the first to make a lasting impression on an entire generation. At arcades - or at video game bars such as Barcade in the trendy Williamsburg section of Brooklyn - nostalgic patrons still gather around such Atari classics as "Asteroids," "Joust" and "Centipede."The Atari 2600, launched in 1977, was the first video game console in millions of homes, long before the Nintendo Entertainment System (1985), Sony's PlayStation (1994) and Microsoft's Xbox (2001)....
Source: BBC magazine
Jun 29, 2012
The Olympics were strictly for men, as far as the athletics and combat sports were concerned.Women weren't even allowed to watch. However, women might compete in the equestrian events, but only by proxy as owners of the horses and chariots. The first woman victor on record was a Spartan princess.One reason for their exclusion, perhaps, was that the athletes, boxers and wrestlers all competed in the nude.The ancient Greek word for "to exercise" meant literally "to be stark naked". Our gymnastics words are derived from this cultural peculiarity of theirs, for which the explanation was probably ultimately religious...
Source: CS-Monitor
Jun 28, 2012
Japan and South Korea put on hold an intelligence sharing pact less than an hour before it was to be formally signed Friday, in a major embarrassment for both countries forced by a political outcry in Seoul.The military pact, the first between South Korea and Japan since World War II, had been seen as a breakthrough between two neighbors with a difficult history. Shortly before the signing was postponed, Japan's foreign minister had called the agreement a "historic event."he agreement caused an uproar in South Korea, which was ruled by Japan as a colony for several decades until the end of World War II in 1945. Critics say the government in Seoul, fearing a backlash from opponents who don't trust Japan, had pushed the pact through without allowing enough public debate....
Source: CS-Monitor
Jun 28, 2012
he Palestinians on Friday persuaded the U.N. cultural agency to list the Church of the Nativity — the place where Christians believe Jesus was born — as an endangered World Heritage site despite misgivings by churches in charge of the basilica.The Palestinians hailed the nod by UNESCO as a step forward in their quest for global recognition of an independent Palestine in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, captured by Israel in 1967.The centuries-old basilica is located in a part of the Israeli-occupied West Bank where the Palestinians have self-rule. UNESCO's decision was seen by them as validation of their rights to the territory....
Source: NYT
Jun 28, 2012
HAIFA, Israel — Estee Lieber was in a bit of a tizzy as she emerged from under the blow-dryer for the final walk-through on Thursday evening. “I don’t like it straight,” she complained, wearing a triple strand of pearls and her sash, while waiting to put on her velvety black dress slit up the side. “I’m not modern. In my eyes it’s not beautiful.”This was the first beauty pageant for Ms. Lieber, 74, who was born in Poland in 1937, was 5 when her father was killed by the Nazis in Germany, and 6 when her mother faced the same fate. It was the first time down the runway for all 14 finalists, in what was billed as the first-ever pageant of Holocaust survivors.They wore sensible shoes, and no swimsuits. Personal stories counted as much as poise....
Source: LA Times
Jun 28, 2012
Infuriated protesters shouted. Guards searched warily through bags. The whole thing might not have happened if not for a court injunction. But in Tokyo, the show went on, as Japanese visitors braved angry demonstrators and tight security to see photographs of Korean “comfort women.” The uproar over the black-and-white images taken by South Korean photographer Ahn Sehong in recent years underscores the sensitivity, decades later, concerning the plight of Korean women forced to serve the Japanese military as sex slaves during World War II. The women have repeatedly demanded that Japan punish the surviving members of the army responsible for the crime and pay government reparations for their suffering.Japan apologized two years ago for the wartime abuses, but some Japanese conservatives still deny there was an organized campaign of sexual slavery. Protesters deluged the Nikon company after it agreed to host the photographs in a Tokyo salon, prompting the company to cancel the show earlier this year.
Source: BBC News
Jun 28, 2012
A beauty pageant for Holocaust survivors has been held in Israel for the first time, stirring controversy.Fourteen women, aged 74 to 97, walked along a red carpet in the city of Haifa and described their personal sufferings from the Nazis during World War II.Hava Hershkovitz, 79, who had to flee her native Romania, was later crowned the winner of the pageant.Organisers said the contest was a celebration of life, but critics denounced it as offensive....
Source: Guardian (UK)
Jun 28, 2012
The day after she made one symbolic gesture –
Source: Huffington Post
Jun 28, 2012
According to new research, society's social networking obsession may not be exclusive to the 21st century.Now, researchers believe the concept can be traced back to the 16th and 17th centuries as part of the Italian Academies, where scholars created nicknames for themselves, developed emblems and mottos to form groups for information exchange.Renaissance specialists first came across the network while cataloging and researching for the project, "The Italian Academies 1525–1700: The first intellectual networks of early modern Europe' -- a joint four year research project between the British Library, Royal Holloway, University of London, and Reading University....
Source: NYT
Jun 28, 2012
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. surprised many on Thursday by providing the crucial fifth vote for upholding President Obama’s health care law. To those on the left who viewed him as an ideologue eager to pull the court rightward in a political fashion, this will now begin a re-examination of his style and legacy as it will for those on the right who considered the law unconstitutional and relied on him to make that point.Many scholars have said that Chief Justice Roberts sought to balance his own conservatism with his desire to build faith in the law and the nation’s legal institutions. But it was still striking to hear Mr. Roberts, who arrived on the court in 2005 appointed by George W. Bush, announce the upholding of the central legislative pillar of the Obama administration. He did arrive on the bench asserting the desire to restore the court’s reputation and reduce partisan rhetoric. But he was seen by many, at least on the left, as a right-winger more devoted to conservative politics than the purity of the law. That could change....Related LinksHNN Hot Topics: Health Care Reform
Source: NYT
Jun 27, 2012
Almost two million years after their last meals, two members of a prehuman species in southern Africa left traces in their teeth of what they had eaten then, as well as over a lifetime of foraging. Scientists were surprised to find that these hominins apparently lived almost exclusively on a diet of leaves, fruits, wood and bark.If you are what you eat, the new research and other recent studies suggest there was more diversity in the diets of early prehumans, both within and between species, than previously understood. And this could in part account for the recently recognized physical diversity among the long intermediate line of hominins belonging to the genus Australopithecus.The dietary pattern of the enigmatic species, Australopithecus sediba, discovered four years ago in the Malapa caves northwest of Johannesburg, was unexpected for several reasons. It contrasted sharply with available data for other hominins in the region and elsewhere in Africa; they mainly consumed grasses and sedges from the savanna....
