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: Bennington Banner
Feb 19, 2010
It’s official: The Bennington Battlefield is on a list of proposed parks and historic sites that could be cut from the state budget.
The announcement, made by the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, includes a list of 41 parks and 14 historic sites to be closed outright, with service reductions to be made at 23 parks and one historic site.
Eileen Larrabee, a spokeswoman for the parks office, said that if the cuts are approved, it would save $6 million
Source: Stafford County Sun (VA)
Feb 19, 2010
An Orange County Circuit Court judge heard preliminary arguments earlier this month from national groups and local residents who oppose the planned 240,000-square-foot commercial development featuring a new Walmart on the Wilderness Battlefield in Orange.
The public meeting was held on Feb. 3.
Representatives from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Friends of Wilderness Battlefield and Orange residents are challenging the Orange County Board of Supervisors’
Source: BBC
Feb 19, 2010
The Spanish government says it will formally recognise one of the country's best-known poets as a victim of the dictatorship of Gen Francisco Franco.
It will present the family of the poet, Miguel Hernandez, with an official letter rehabilitating his memory.
Hernandez was imprisoned as a traitor 70 years ago for supporting the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War, and died in prison at the age of 31.
The family applied for his rehabilitation under a 2007
Source: BBC
Feb 19, 2010
Plans for a museum in Rudyard Kipling's Mumbai home commemorating the writer have been shelved following concerns that a memorial to the renowned imperialist and chronicler of the British Raj would be politically unpalatable. But is it time for Indians to reappraise him?
Nearly 75 years after his death, the poet and author Rudyard Kipling remains as celebrated and controversial as ever.
And now, plans to turn the house in Mumbai where he was born in 1865 into a museum
Source: The Register
Feb 19, 2010
EU nuke boffins say that mysterious bits of uranium found last year in a Dutch scrapyard originated in the Nazi nuclear-weapons programme of the 1940s.
Forensic nuke scientists at the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) traced the two pieces of metal - described as a cube and a plate - back to their exact origins and dates. Apparently both came from ores extracted at the "Joachimsthal" mine in what is now the Czech Republic, though the two are from different
Source: Telegraph (UK)
Feb 19, 2010
A South African flag which flew at Nelson Mandela's presidential inauguration is returning home after it was saved from being auctioned by a ''patriotic'' businessman.
The flag, signed by Mr Mandela and fellow South African presidents Thabo Mbeki and FW de Klerk, was flown at the landmark presidential inauguration in May 1994.
Bonhams, the auction house, had been due to auction it later this month. But the auction said on Thursday that it ha
Source: BBC
Feb 19, 2010
The three most devastating nights in Swansea's history have been retold in a DVD, which tells the story of the World War II blitz in the city - 69 years ago.
Up to 270 residents lost their lives between 19-21 February 1941, with hundreds more being injured or made homeless.
A collaboration between Swansea Museum and Create Solutions, a local project which works to turn around the career prospects of people dealing with mental health issues, has produced a documentary.
Source: BBC
Feb 19, 2010
Opposition parties have stepped up calls for the medical evidence behind the release of the Lockerbie bomber to be published in full.
The calls come six months after Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill freed terminally ill Abdelbaset al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds.
Labour and the Tories have again hit out at the decision to return Megrahi to Libya, calling it a grave error.
Source: BBC
Feb 19, 2010
A woman thought to be the last living World War I veteran in the UK is celebrating her 109th birthday.
A senior RAF officer visited retired waitress Florence Green at her home in King's Lynn, Norfolk, to present her with a cake and handwritten card.
Mrs Green joined the Women's RAF (WRAF) in September 1918 - two months before the Great War ended and six months after the RAF and WRAF were formed.
She served as a mess steward at Norfolk RAF bases in Marham
Source: Telegraph (UK)
Feb 19, 2010
The Queen has met prominent Australians to celebrate 100 years of diplomatic relations with the nation.
One hundred years ago Sir George Reid, a former prime minister, was appointed as Australia's first high commissioner to the UK - the nation's inaugural overseas post to represent their interests.
Today the role is filled by John Dauth, who served the Queen as an assistant press secretary for three years until 1980.
A new exhibition and complementary bo
Source: BBC
Feb 19, 2010
The true site of one of the most decisive battles in English history has been revealed.
Bosworth, fought in 1485, which saw the death of Richard III, was believed to have taken place on Ambion Hill, near Sutton Cheney in Leicestershire.
But a study of original documents and archaeological survey of the area has now pinpointed a site in fields more than a mile to the south west.
A new trail will lead from the current visitor centre to the new location.
Source: BBC
Feb 19, 2010
A film about 19th Century French author Alexandre Dumas has sparked a row after a white actor was chosen to portray the novelist, who was of African origin.
The celebrated but fair-skinned screen star, Gerard Depardieu, had to darken his skin and wear a curly wig to play the part in L'Autre Dumas.
Critics argue the French movie industry has deliberately undermined the 19th Century novelist's ethnicity.
They say a mixed race actor should have been chosen t
Source: Telegraph (UK)
Feb 19, 2010
Pope Benedict XVI has approved Mary MacKillop as Australia's first saint.
The rebellious nun who was revered for her work with children is to become Australia's first Roman Catholic saint on October 17, the Pope said on Friday.
In December, Benedict recognised a miracle in which MacKillop apparently cured a woman of cancer, paving the way for the canonisation of a nun who is already a national icon in Australia.
MacKillop, who died in 1909, passed the firs
Source: Telegraph (UK)
Feb 19, 2010
Soviet-style plans to decorate Moscow with outdoor portraits of brutal dictator Josef Stalin have sparked fury among critics who say it is wrong to glorify a man responsible for the death of millions.
Up to ten prominent "information stands" featuring Stalin's portrait and information about his wartime role will spring up across the Russian capital ahead of May 9, he added. That is the date when Russia celebrates the Soviet Union's defeat of Nazi Germany and this year, th
Source: Telegraph (UK)
Feb 19, 2010
A remarkable archive of letters has thrown new light on the despair of British commanders during the American War of Independence.
Their downbeat perspective contrasts dramatically with the exhortations of George III and his ministers in London who come across as hopelessly out-of-touch and absurdly optimistic.
The documents, part of a collection that have been in private possession for more than two centuries, reveal a much gloomier analysis by British generals than
Source: CNN
Feb 19, 2010
The FBI announced that it has concluded its investigation into the 2001 anthrax mailings, saying Friday that a biodefense researcher carried out the attacks alone.
The anthrax letters killed five people and sickened 17 shortly after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The letters, filled with bacterial spores, were sent to Senate Democratic leaders and news organizations.
The investigation into the anthrax mailings, code-named "Amerithrax," was one of t
Source: CNN
Feb 19, 2010
Bush administration lawyers who wrote "torture" memos have been cleared of allegations of professional misconduct after a Justice Department internal investigation, which recommends no legal consequences for their actions.
The report by the Justice Department concludes the high-ranking lawyers who developed controversial legal guidance on waterboarding and other enhanced interrogation techniques may have exercised poor judgment, but not professional misconduct.
Source: WaPo
Feb 19, 2010
The memorial to Gen. Grant and his dashing soldiers would preside, burnished and restored, over a transformed Union Square at the West Front of the U.S. Capitol.
The dilapidated Sylvan Theater, the 1970s-vintage outdoor venue south of the Washington Monument, would be replaced with a multipurpose performance space that would serve food and souvenirs.
The under-used Constitution Gardens would be upgraded -- its lake reconstructed, its landscape rehabilitated.
Source: Toronto Star
Feb 19, 2010
John Babcock, Canada’s last World War I veteran, has died at the age of 109.A 16-year-old when he went in search of military glory, Babcock was the last of the 650,000 men and women Canada recruited to serve in the “war to end all wars.”Prime Minister Stephen Harper saluted Babcock Thursday, paying tribute to “Canada’s last living link to the Great War, which in so many ways marked our coming of age as a nation.”...Babcock’s death leaves behind two other known World War 1
Source: BBc News
Feb 19, 2010
The true site of one of the most decisive battles in English history has been revealed.
Bosworth, fought in 1485, which saw the death of Richard III, was believed to have taken place on Ambion Hill, near Sutton Cheney in Leicestershire.
But a study of original documents and archaeological survey of the area has now pinpointed a site in fields more than a mile to the south west.
A new trail will lead from the current visitor centre to the new location.
