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: AP
Dec 24, 2009
Former President Jimmy Carter apologized for any words or deeds that may have upset the Jewish community in an open letter meant to improve an often-tense relationship.
He said he was offering an Al Het, a prayer said on Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement. It signifies a plea for forgiveness.
"We must not permit criticisms for improvement to stigmatize Israel," Carter said in the letter, which was first sent to JTA, a wire service for Jewish newspapers, a
Source: NYT
Dec 24, 2009
The partridge is a deal, and so is the pear tree, for the generous giver who wants to bestow the gifts listed in the song “The 12 Days of Christmas” on a beloved this season. But despite a tattered economy, the memorable mix of leaping lords, milking maids and a slew of fowl will cost slightly more this year.
At $21,465.56, the eclectic collection of goods and services is about 1.8 percent more expensive than a year ago, largely because of higher gold prices, according to PNC Wealth
Source: Times (UK)
Dec 24, 2009
After more than 20 years as president of the Communist Party Council and de facto sole ruler, Nicolae Ceausescu was killed by firing squad, with his wife, on December 25, 1989. A trial lasting two hours had found the couple guilty of war crimes and bankrupting the nation.
The Ceausescus had been held captive by the militia for three days after their capture on December 22, as they tried to flee a rally in Bucharest by helicopter. Despite widespread regional unrest, when protests bro
Source: Times (UK)
Dec 24, 2009
Christmas Day memories are made of this: a turkey dinner, exchanging gifts, watching television, family togetherness, peace on Earth and goodwill to all men. Dorin-Marian Cirlan’s abiding memory is of the Christmas Day he shot a dictator.
“I know what I would rather have been doing,” said Mr Cirlan, who was a member of the three-man squad that killed Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife, Elena, on December 25, 1989. “As a Christian it is a horrible thing to have to take someone’s life —
Source: Live Science
Dec 23, 2009
The ancient Mayans may have had enough engineering know-how to master running water, creating fountains and even toilets by controlling water pressure, scientists now suggest.
Perhaps the earliest known example of the intentional creation of water pressure was found on the island of Crete in a Minoan palace dating back to roughly 1400 BC. In the New World, the ability to generate water pressure was previously thought to have begun only with the arrival of the Spanish.
Source: Tampa Bay Online
Dec 23, 2009
A higher federal court will now hear the legal dispute over just who owns the richest sunken treasure ever found, either Tampa's Odyssey Marine, which found the treasure, or Spain, which claims it as a historic artifact.
In summer 2007, Odyssey located more than half a billion dollars in gold and silver coins on the floor of the Atlantic in a wreck ultimately identified, most likely, as the Mercedes warship, carrying freight from South America to Spain in the 18th century.
Source: National Geographic News
Dec 23, 2009
An ancient dwarf whale unearthed in southeastern Australia captured its prey by slurping up mouthfuls of mud, a new study says.
The fossil whale, thought to be between 25 and 28 million years old, hints that mud sucking might have been a precursor to the filter feeding used by today's baleen whales.
Many modern whale species use hair-like structures called baleen to filter tiny prey such as krill from seawater. Baleen species include the humpback, the minke, and the lar
Source: BBC
Dec 23, 2009
A Donegal pensioner has received an unexpected Christmas surprise after he uncovered letters he and his sisters sent to Santa almost 70 years ago.
Workmen replacing the chimney at Neil Doherty's family home in Buncrana discovered the letters stuck in the flue.
He was only five years of age when his sister Mona wrote the letter to Santa for him in 1941.
Source: BBC
Dec 23, 2009
The skipper of the Jewish immigrant ship the Exodus, which was refused entry to British-controlled Palestine in 1947, has died at the age of 86.
Israeli President Shimon Peres said the captain, Yitzhak (Ike) Aharonovitz, had made a unique contribution to the state of Israel.
The Exodus was carrying over 4,000 mostly Holocaust survivors when the ship was forced to return to Germany.
The incident sparked widespread sympathy for their plight.
Source: BBC
Dec 23, 2009
Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo has gone on trial in Beijing on charges of "inciting subversion of state power".
Mr Liu, a prominent government critic and veteran of the 1989 Tiananmen Square democracy protests, could be jailed for 15 years if convicted.
He has been in jail since 2008, after being arrested for writing a document calling for political reform in China.
The EU, US and rights groups say the trial is politically motivated and have calle
Source: Telegraph (UK)
Dec 23, 2009
Vatican officials tried to patch up a growing dispute with Jewish leaders by saying the decision to move wartime Pope Pius XII closer to sainthood was based on his "piety" not his "politics".
Pope Pius XII has been condemned for not doing enough to prevent the Holocaust and his path to canonisation has sparked outcry.
Last week, Pope Benedict XVI signed a decree proclaiming the "heroic virtues" of Pope Pius – throwing the current Pontiff's
Source: AP
Dec 23, 2009
The Vatican said Tuesday that moving Pope Pius XII closer to sainthood is not a hostile act against Jews, even though the wartime pontiff has been criticized for not speaking out enough against the Holocaust.
A Vatican statement said Tuesday that the move should not be an obstacle to dialogue between Jews and the Catholic Church, and insisted Pope Benedict XVI has sentiments of "great friendship and respect" for the Jews.
The statement sought to quell the outr
Source: NYT
Dec 23, 2009
It was hard to know what was more shocking: the haplessness of the thieves who stole the “Arbeit Macht Frei” sign looming over Auschwitz, or the laxness of the security protecting this emblem of the Holocaust’s perversity and horror.
The thieves first tried to steal the sign, which means “Work Makes You Free,” last Thursday evening. But they lacked the right tools. Undetected, they drove to a hardware shop in the nearby town of Oswiecim and bought better tools. When they returned to
Source: LiveScience
Dec 23, 2009
The ancient Mayans may have had enough engineering know-how to master running water, creating fountains and even toilets by controlling water pressure, scientists now suggest.
Perhaps the earliest known example of the intentional creation of water pressure was found on the island of Crete in a Minoan palace dating back to roughly 1400 BC. In the New World, the ability to generate water pressure was previously thought to have begun only with the arrival of the Spanish.
S
Source: Guardian (UK)
Dec 23, 2009
Some will always believe that Tony Blair took the country to war in Iraq on a lie, but the most damning charge emerging from the Iraq war inquiry so far is that Britain went to war on a wing and a prayer. The main charges, after four weeks of cross examination, are that Britain had minimal influence over American diplomatic and military strategy, did not plan correctly for the aftermath of war, and utterly misconstrued post-war Iraqi society.
It is these charges as much as whether i
Source: Guardian (UK)
Dec 23, 2009
They were one of the world's most famous couples, who lived lives of power and glory – but who spent their last hours in despair and confusion. Now, more than 2,000 years since Antony and Cleopatra walked the earth, historians believe they may finally have solved the riddle of their last hours together.
A team of Greek marine archaeologists who have spent years conducting underwater excavations off the coast of Alexandria in Egypt have unearthed a giant granite threshold to a door t
Source: Deutsche Welle
Dec 23, 2009
A German court has ordered the release of a former member of the Baader-Meinhof Gang, a far-left militant group active in West Germany during the late 1970's and early 1980's. Verena Becker, 57, was arrested in August on suspicion of complicity in the killing of chief federal prosecutor Siegfried Buback and two other people on April 7th, 1977. Although she is set to be released, she still remains a suspect in connection with the murders.
"At the current stage of the investigat
Source: Telegraph (UK)
Dec 23, 2009
Cheery and chubby, Father Christmas towers over our annual festival. Yet St Nicholas, his Christian inspiration, was a far more intriguing character, says Alastair Sooke.
Nothing captures the commercialisation of Christmas quite as effectively as the history of Santa Claus. To illustrate the point, look at a wonderful 16th-century painting that hangs in Room 7 of the National Gallery in London. Most people who pass by it are unaware of its significance. But this panel, circa 1555-60
Source: Journalism Journeyman
Dec 22, 2009
Journalism has a long and storied tradition in the United States. Indeed, since the days before the U.S. was a country, journalism has flourished. Beginning with the first publication of a newspaper in the Colonies (Publick Occurrences both Foreighn and Domestick) in 1690, and continuing to this day with journalists appearing in broadcast format and on the Internet, journalism has been a huge part of America’s development. And journalists have always had some sort of influence. Here are 25 of th
Source: Time
Dec 22, 2009
It's hard to imagine any of Russia's current leaders getting a birthday party like the one thrown Monday at Moscow's Ismailovsky Hotel for the former despot, Josef Stalin. The grand hall was packed beyond capacity with more than 2,000 revelers — some of whom wept as patriotic poems were read. Famous actresses sang ballads with the backing of a full military orchestra. And towering over the stage was an enormous portrait of the birthday boy in his military regalia, adding an element of the surrea
