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: AFP
May 5, 2008
A new building boom is sweeping Germany -- royal palaces destroyed during or after World War II that are set to rise again.
Planning is underway to rebuild long-destroyed palaces in Berlin, Hanover and Potsdam; a former royal hunting lodge in the west could also rise again soon; a palace in Dresden is nearing completion and last year, the exterior of a Braunschweig palace was completed.
After World War II, many German cities rebuilt damaged and destroyed palaces and his
Source: AP
May 2, 2008
The Turkish gunman who shot and wounded Pope John Paul II is applying for Polish citizenship because he wants to live in the country of the late pontiff, whom he called his "spiritual brother."
But the Polish Foreign Ministry said the chances of Mehmet Ali Agca getting citizenship are "minimal" since he hasn't provided any "good service" to John Paul's mostly Catholic homeland.
Agca also wants to be transferred to a prison in Poland to serv
Source: BBC
May 6, 2008
One of the Vikings' most important trading centres has been discovered in Ireland.
The settlement at Woodstown in County Waterford is estimated to be about 1,200 years old.
It was discovered during archaeological excavations for a road by-pass for Waterford city, which was founded by the Vikings.
The Irish government said the settlement was one of the most important early Viking age trading centres discovered in the country.
Source: BBC
May 5, 2008
France has reopened a labyrinth of medieval quarries under the northern town of Arras which the British army converted into an underground hideout for 24,000 soldiers during World War I. The BBC's Emma Jane Kirby went to investigate.
Eighteen metres (60ft) underground and immediately I'm cold, slightly unnerved by the dimness of the light and very uncomfortable as the chalky ceilings constantly drip freezing water on my head.
Although these secret caves were a huge step
Source: The Trail (WaPo blog)
May 5, 2008
After sitting on the story for nearly eight years, Arianna Huffington said this afternoon that John McCain told her soon after the 2000 election that he did not vote for George W. Bush.
The private conversation took place at a Los Angeles dinner party, she said, and the senator's wife Cindy said she didn't vote for Bush either. The liberal blogger, who posted the account on her website today, said McCain's declaration came after a tirade in which he criticized Bush's tactics against
Source: LAT
May 5, 2008
Five years after his retirement, ex-firefighter Tom Bramell still likes to visit Station No. 6 for old times' sake, whistling in amazement at all the changes -- the strange faces and slick high-tech engines.
But one thing remains exactly the same, and it's what Bramell misses the most about his firefighting days. The sturdy little object hangs from the ceiling in the firehouse's engine bay, emitting its familiar faint orange glow.
He calls it the long-lived lightbulb of
Source: Times (UK)
May 5, 2008
“History will be kind to me for I intend to write it,” quipped Sir Winston Churchill. For a man remembered as a towering statesmen his prediction has proved overwhelmingly true - although not in Dundee.
This week, in a symbolic moment, the city where Churchill spent 15 years as an MP before being cast by voters into political wilderness will begin its reconciliation by unveiling its first memorial to Britain's most celebrated leader.
The small bronze plaque, just 70cm b
Source: http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com
May 2, 2008
As governments, Jewish communities and Israeli embassies across Europe prepare to celebrate Israel’s 60th birthday, a cadre of Israel critics is making a push to be heard.
Muslim organizations across Europe are expected to mark the day as the anniversary of the Nakba — the Arabic term meaning “catastrophe” commonly used to refer to Israel’s independence and subsequent displacement of Palestinian Arabs.
“We expect some kind of demonstration in every European capital,” sa
Source: http://www.newarkadvocate.com
May 5, 2008
Trying to preserve the Union during a tumultuous time in history, several prominent local men conspired and manufactured artifacts to support an emerging anti-slavery theory.
Known as Newark's Holy Stones, the artifacts later were proven to be fake. But two local men have done extensive research to discover the reasons behind the conspiracy.
Brad Lepper, an Ohio Historical Society archaeologist, first learned of the pair of hand-carved stones found in the Newark area in
Source: http://www.independent.ie
May 3, 2008
ENVIRONMENT Minister Dick Roche knew a month ago that the site of a possible pre-historic 'temple' had been unearthed on the route of the controversial M3 motorway.
The National Roads Authority alerted his department early last month that a pagan site - the size of three football pitches - dating from 3,500 BC had been discovered at Lismullen, Co Meath. It had not shown up in initial surveys.
Experts believe that the find could be one of the most significant archaeolo
Source: http://www.independent.ie
May 4, 2008
Priceless archaeological treasures are being "left exposed in open-air sites" because the National Museum of Ireland has accumulated so many artifacts that it has no place to store them.
An unanticipated consequence of the massive road-building programme is that archaeology is one of the State's largest growth industries.
Source: http://www.eveningsun.com
May 4, 2008
Marilynn Phillips says she is "cautiously optimistic" about the response of the National Park Service to her concerns about the accessibility of the new Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center.
In fact, the disabilities-rights activist said she may hold off on filing a complaint with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission if the matter is addressed soon by park officials.
Phillips visited the newly opened center last week and said she
Source: http://www.centredaily.com
May 4, 2008
For decades, visitors willing to shell out a few extra dollars at Gettysburg National Military Park could be entertained - or bored - watching an electric light display showing troop movements in that pivotal Civil War battle.
With the opening of a new museum and visitor center that offers a bigger "wow" factor for the park's nearly 2 million yearly visitors, the National Park Service has decided that its 1960s-era electric battlefield map has outlived its usefulness.
Source: LiveScience
May 5, 2008
The Dust Bowl drought of the 1930s was arguably one of the worst environmental disasters of the 20th century. New computer simulations reveal the whipped-up dust is what made the drought so severe.
Scientists have known that poor land use and natural atmospheric conditions led to the rip-roaring dust storms in the Great Plains in the 1930s. Climate models in the past few years also have revealed the effect of sea surface temperatures on the Dust Bowl.
"What is new
Source: AP
May 4, 2008
The 130-acre property was exactly what Michel Guite and his family wanted: an old Vermont farm with mountain views, rolling hills and meadows.
There was, however, one wrinkle: The property included a small family cemetery — with the grave of a War of 1812 veteran — surrounded by a fence on a scenic knoll.
His proposal to move the graveyard so he can build a house and barn has set off protests. The town has passed a resolution aimed at blocking the move, a descendant of
Source: NYT
May 4, 2008
BLACK liberation theology was a radical movement born of a competitive time.
By the mid-1960s, the horns of Jericho seemed about to sound for the traditional black church in the United States. Martin Luther King Jr. was yielding to Malcolm X. Young black preachers embraced the Nation of Islam and black intellectuals sought warmth in the secular and Marxist-tinged fire of the black power movement.
As a young, black and decidedly liberal theologian, James H. Cone saw his
Source: NYT
May 4, 2008
AS this historic Democratic primary season enters its next grueling phase, the party has become embroiled in a conflict between antagonists who would seem better cast as allies. Senator Barack Obama is a black candidate who has built his career on de-emphasizing race, while Senator Hillary Clinton is a white liberal who has been sensitive to minorities, and the issues facing them, during her long years of political activism.
And yet, in contest after contest, particularly in large s
Source: Reuters
May 3, 2008
British police have discovered forged documents were planted in the National Archives alleging top Nazi Heinrich Himmler was murdered on Winston Churchill's orders, the Public Record Office said on Saturday.
The investigation identified 29 forgeries that had been slipped into 12 files after 2000. The office said it would introduce improved security measures, including cameras in research areas, to ensure there is no repeat of the forgery.
Forensic examination revealed l
Source: AP
May 4, 2008
Documents released Monday show how the British government tried to send thousands of Palestine-bound Jewish survivors of the Nazi genocide back to postwar Germany without inflaming world opinion.
Could it be done? The answer was no. It was just two years after the end of the war and the world was outraged by the systematic murder of 6 million Jews by the Nazis in what became known as the Holocaust.
Despite the best efforts of early spin doctors to portray the move in th
Source: AFP
May 4, 2008
A new, simplified family tree of
humanity has dealt a blow to those who contend that
the enigmatic hominids known as Neanderthals
intermingled with our forebears.
Neanderthals were a separate species to Homo sapiens,
as anatomically modern humans are known, rather than
offshoots of the same species, the new organigram
published Sunday by the journal Nature declares.
The method, invented by evolutionary analysts in
Argentina, marks a break with the conventional
technique by w
