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: Lee White at the National Coalition for History
Oct 22, 2010
The National Archives recently launched DocsTeach.org, a new online tool for teaching with documents. DocsTeach combines primary source content with the interactive capabilities of the Internet.
“DocsTeach.org is a significant and welcome addition to our popular education programs,” said Archivist of the United States David S. Ferriero. “It will engage teachers and students in new ways and stir their interest in history through the use of original documents in the National Archives.
Source: Lee White at the National Coalition for History
Oct 22, 2010
The 2010 Secrecy Report Card was recently released by the watchdog group OpenTheGovernment.org. The report shows a continued decrease in most indicators of secrecy since the end of the Bush Administration and growing backlogs in the declassification system as old secrets move through the system. The report covers the first 9 months of President Obama’s Administration.
OpenTheGovernment.org is a coalition of more than 70 groups advocating for open government, including the National C
Source: Lee White at the National Coalition for History
Oct 22, 2010
National Park Service (NPS) Director Jon Jarvis and Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) Chairman Wayne Donaldson, recently announced $1.3 million in Preserve America grants to 22 projects in 16 states.
Among the projects funded are: King County Heritage Barn Guide, Seattle, WA; a Heritage Design Plan for Baltimore’s Carroll Park, Baltimore, MD; Austin Historical Survey Web Tool, Austin, TX; Edmonds Downtown Cultural Heritage Tour, Edmonds, WA; Montana Community Revitali
Source: Lee White at the National Coalition for History
Oct 22, 2010
The Library of Congress National Recording Preservation Board (NRPB) has released a major report detailing the state of sound-recording preservation and access. “The State of Recorded Sound Preservation in the United States: A National Legacy at Risk in the Digital Age,” outlines the issues that threaten the long-term survival of America’s sound-recording history.
The report identifies the public and private policy issues that strongly bear on whether the nation’s most culturally an
Source: Lee White at the National Coalition for History
Oct 22, 2010
In response to user requests, for the month of November, 2010, the National Archives at College Park, MD (Archives II) will undertake a pilot program to provide archival records retrieval service for textual records on Saturdays.
This pull service is only for records that have designated retrieval information, do not require screening for personal privacy and other sensitive information, and are housed in open, unclassified stack space. This pilot program is for the Textual Research
Source: BBC News
Oct 22, 2010
The elegant writing style of novelist Jane Austen may have been the work of her editor, an academic has claimed.
Professor Kathryn Sutherland of Oxford University reached her conclusion while studying 1,100 original handwritten pages of Austen's unpublished writings.
The manuscripts, she states, feature blots, crossing outs and "a powerful counter-grammatical way of writing".
She adds: "The polished punctuation and epigrammatic style we see i
Source: People's Daily (CN)
Oct 22, 2010
East China's Jiangxi Province will launch an underwater archaeological investigation in Poyang Lake next month, China's first such project in inland waters.
"This time, we will go into China's largest fresh-water lake to study its repository of underwater sites and artifacts," said Fan Changsheng, director of Jiangxi Provincial Institute of Archeology.
Archaeologists will start by identifying submerged indigenous sites, waterlogged ancient battlefields, and sh
Source: Slate
Oct 22, 2010
...Sort of. Anyone can write and publish a textbook, but before it gets handed out to public-school students, the book's content would have to be approved by several review committees. As long as the textbook is deemed to meet state-specified guidelines and cover the subject matter with accuracy and coherence, the author's pedigree can be of secondary importance....In general, the publisher hires a more distinguished scholar as the main editor, who oversees the project and has final say over the
Source: Haaretz
Oct 22, 2010
Hungarian survivors of the Holocaust and families of the victims sued the Republic of Hungary and its two rail companies in U.S. court on Thursday, accusing them of collaborating with the Nazis to exterminate Jews during World War Two.
The lawsuit accused the Hungarian government and rail companies of confiscating property of Jews and transporting them to ghettos and concentration camps where hundreds of thousands perished in Nazi-occupied Poland and Ukraine.
"The
Source: Telegraph (UK)
Oct 22, 2010
She is the great English novelist renowned for her polished prose, of whom it was once remarked: "Everything came finished from her pen."
Yet Jane Austen couldn't spell, had no grasp of punctuation and her writing betrayed an accent straight out of The Archers, according to an Oxford University academic.
Prof Kathryn Sutherland said analysis of Austen's handwritten letters and manuscripts reveal that her finished novels owed as much to the intervention of her
Source: Daily Mail (UK)
Oct 22, 2010
It has been enjoyed by royalty for centuries and is the only brand served at the Queen’s castles and palaces.
But in a few days’ time, the final batch of Malvern Water will be bottled and its production plant in the town shut down.
Coca-Cola, the brand’s owner, said today that output was too low for it to keep the site open and it will be sold off for luxury housing. Seventeen workers face redundancy.
‘This is a great shock,’ said Paul Tuthill, chairman of
Source: CS Monitor
Oct 22, 2010
Condoleezza Rice, the former US Secretary of State, has just published a memoir, “Extraordinary, Ordinary People,” about growing up in the segregated South. She was interviewed by Olivia Ward of the Toronto Star this week, and this interview was made available to the Global Viewpoint Network....
Ward: Iraq is also a painful subject: 100,000 Iraqis dead, and 4,000 Americans. Do you have any regrets about the invasion?
Rice: I have absolutely no regret that we overthrew S
Source: Telegraph (UK)
Oct 22, 2010
A Chinese actor who is playing Chairman Mao in a forthcoming Chinese television drama has been accused of "blaspheming" the memory of the late dictator because he had taken British citizenship.
Zhang Tielin, 53, who studied for a master's degree at the National Film and Television School in Buckinghamshire in the late 1980s, was attacked on several Chinese internet forums as an inappropriate choice to play a revolutionary 'hero' like Mao Tse-tung.
The attack
Source: Yahoo News
Oct 22, 2010
Theodore Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, was even more prolific than we thought. The beloved author of "Cat in the Hat," "Green Eggs and Ham," and "Oh, the Places You'll Go" (a required gift for every college graduate) also penned the beginning of another book that never saw the light of day. The unfinished manuscript for "All Sorts of Sports" recently went up for auction and fetched an impressive sum.
The 19-page manuscript, in which a wis
Source: AP
Oct 22, 2010
Peruvian archaeologists have unearthed four perfectly preserved mummies at an ancient burial site in the capital city, Lima.
The mummies are more than 1000 years old and were found at the Huaca Pucllana - a pre Inca temple.
Due to its central location, tomb looters have been stealing all sorts of archaeological treasures from the temple for centuries....
Source: Telegraph (UK)
Oct 22, 2010
Mike Gardner, a council leader from Harrogate, has been photographed at a party dressed up as Adolf Hitler and performing the Nazi salute.
Tory councillor Mr Gardner has now been deselected after pictures of him at the fancy dress birthday bash were leaked onto the Internet via the social networking site, Facebook.
His colleagues in the Conservative party said his behaviour was "unacceptable" while Cllr Gardner claims he was the victim of a smear campaign...
Source: Irish Times
Oct 22, 2010
VOTING LINES will close at 10.30 tonight in RTÉ’s search to find the greatest person in the history of Ireland. The winner will be announced on the Late Late Show . The five figures in the running are Michael Collins, James Connolly, Bono, Mary Robinson and John Hume. They were selected in a public vote from a shortlist of 40 people whose names topped a survey by Ipsos/MRBI.
Over the past five weeks the figures have been profiled in TV documentaries. Former PD leader Michael McDowel
Source: Irish Times
Oct 22, 2010
VOTING LINES will close at 10.30 tonight in RTÉ’s search to find the greatest person in the history of Ireland. The winner will be announced on the Late Late Show . The five figures in the running are Michael Collins, James Connolly, Bono, Mary Robinson and John Hume. They were selected in a public vote from a shortlist of 40 people whose names topped a survey by Ipsos/MRBI.
Over the past five weeks the figures have been profiled in TV documentaries. Former PD leader Michael McDowel
Source: The Canadian Press
Oct 22, 2010
Ancient stone projectiles created miles from where the original rock was quarried highlight the intent of a monumental new exhibition on Native American Indians: to offer a hemispheric survey of tribes as dynamic interconnected societies.
"Infinity of Nations," opening Saturday, features 700 objects from South, Central and North America from ancient to modern times at the National Museum of the American Indian, New York.
The museum worked with 60 native histor
Source: AP
Oct 22, 2010
Two mass graves that may hold the remains of up to 2,000 Japanese soldiers have been discovered on the island of Iwo Jima, one of the bloodiest and most iconic battlesites of World War II, a report and officials said Friday.
A team of Japanese searchers has discovered 51 remains in two areas listed by the U.S. military after the war as enemy cemeteries, one of which could contain as many as 2,000 bodies, Japan's Kyodo news agency said Friday.
Officials at Japan's health
