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: BBC
Sep 9, 2009
In 2007, an Australian coroner found that they were executed by Indonesian special forces in the town of Balibo.
It is believed they were killed to stop them revealing details of an impending Indonesian invasion of East Timor.
Indonesia maintains the men were killed in crossfire. An official said Jakarta had no intention of reopening the case.
Source: History Today (UK)
Sep 9, 2009
Gladiators were mostly vegetarians and their diets consisted, above all, of barley and vegetables. They were neither too poor to buy meat nor staunch defenders of animal rights; instead, their carbohydrate-rich diets made them put on weight, which both protected them during fights and made them appear more spectacular, which pleased the crowds.
A 200-square-foot plot of land in the city of Ephesus (now in western Turkey), alongside the road that originally led from the city centre t
Source: The Daily Beast
Sep 9, 2009
Another knock against Dick Cheney: According to The Times of London, Cheney “nearly destroyed” Britain’s efforts to bring to justice three men plotting to blow up an airliner by ordering the early arrest of the plotters’ link man in Pakistan in 2006. Consequently, British police had to arrest their suspects before they had finished gathering evidence against them. “We believed the Americans had demanded the arrest and we were angry we had not been informed,” writes Andy Hayman, who briefed the m
Source: BBC
Sep 8, 2009
An ancient monument in Guernsey could be fenced off because of repeated anti-social behaviour.
The Culture and Leisure Department has applied for planning permission to put up a fence around the Cists in Circle at Sandy Hook in St Sampson.
It said fly-tipping, littering, fires and moving the stones had all been problems at the site for years, and were the reason for the application.
The site, which was excavated in 1912, dates from about 2,500 to 1,800 BC.
Source: ABC News
Sep 8, 2009
HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A very special discovery here in the Houston area has piqued the interest of archaeologists. A flood control project has uncovered evidence of an ancient culture.
Harris County Flood Control is not revealing where the find was made because they want to preserve the discovery as much as possible. In the opinion of archaeologists, it may prove to be valuable for the history of a people and an area.
Cypress Creek is one of many bayous that cut through Har
Source: Discovery Channel
Sep 8, 2009
A colossal statue of Apollo, the Greek god of the sun, light, music and poetry, has emerged from white calcified cliffs in southwestern Turkey, Italian archaeologists announced.
Colossal statues were very popular in antiquity, as evidenced by the lost giant statues of the Colossus of Rhodes and the Colossus of Nero. Most of them vanished long ago — their material re-used in other building projects.
"This colossal statue of Apollo is really a unique finding. Such st
Source: Nhan Dan
Sep 8, 2009
Vestiges of an ancient village dating back around 2,700 years, have been discovered in Van Ninh district, central coast Khanh Hoa province.
After one-month excavation in an area of 500 sq.m, archaeologists have found hundreds of objects which are believed to belong to the Sa Huynh Culture...
Source: foxnews
Sep 8, 2009
Using a dozen social networking sites to mobilize constituents opposed to big-government spending, the grassroots movement has taken on issues far beyond taxes to protest President Obama's sweeping agenda. And by all appearances, its efforts have not gone unnoticed.
They claim to be a grassroots movement, but critics call them astro-turf. In either case, the Tea Party movement is quickly shaking off its "greenness" to become a force that some coalition members contend is
Source: Deutsche Welle
Sep 8, 2009
The monument, which bears the inscription "Our Bundeswehr's Dead - For Peace, Justice and Freedom," is located near the headquarters of the defense ministry in Berlin. Some critics have said it should be located closer to Germany's parliament building - in a different part of the city - as the German army is officially the parliament's army.
"The soldiers would have picked out another place for their monument. They would have wanted it to be in a more prominent place,
Source: The Chronicle of Higher Education
Sep 8, 2009
The University of Wisconsin at Madison's Washburn Observatory, opened in 1881, will reopen Friday after a two-year, $2.5-million renovation that preserved the Italianate building's historic 15.6-inch refractor telescope while creating office and classroom space for a university honors program.
The renovation, overseen by Isthmus Architecture, involved making the building's basement and main level accessible to people with disabilities, according to a university news release. But the
Source: The Daily Beast
Sep 8, 2009
Not surprising, but shocking still: The Bush administration tried to soften the language on a treaty that punished “enforced disappearances” between 2003 and 2006, so that officers at the CIA’s secret prisons would not be prosecuted, The Washington Post reports. Documents reveal that in 2004, the administration sought to limit prohibitions on those who placed detainees outside of legal protections. The documents, which were released last week in response to a Freedom of Information Act made by A
Source: The Wall Street Journal
Sep 8, 2009
Bob Dole, a venerable 86 years old now, was back in the Washington limelight over the weekend, appearing on ABC TV to dispense counsel on a bipartisan approach to health care, popping up in newspapers explaining how to cut a deal, even suggesting Gen. David Petraeus as a presidential possibility.
But his most heartfelt weekend activity took place elsewhere, out of sight of Washington politicos and devoid of any potential for gain or notoriety. It came under a brilliant Saturday-morn
Source: telegraph.co.uk
Sep 8, 2009
Researchers claim that the Pendragon apple, which has been grown in England since the 12th century, contains higher levels of plant chemicals linked to health benefits - including reducing inflammation and lowering blood sugar - than other varieties.
The apple came top in a test of 12 organic and three normally grown apples, beating rivals such as Golden Delicious, Royal Gala and Cox...
... The compounds are disappearing from many people’s diet because of modern farmin
Source: The Telegraph
Sep 8, 2009
The 15 mint condition black and white and colour drawings, which could be worth up to $20,000 (£12,000) each, were in the middle of hundreds of files gathered in over a century of Blackpool Illuminations.
Altogether the files have been valued at £500,000 for insurance purposes, but it is thought the original Disney drawings alone could fetch up to £180,000 altogether should they be auctioned off.
The material is now being catalogued and will be archived for future publi
Source: BBC
Sep 8, 2009
A former Bosnian Serb leader convicted of crimes against humanity in the Bosnian war has been sent to the UK to serve his 20-year sentence.
Momcilo Krajisnik, 64, was jailed for the deportation, forcible transfer and persecution of non-Serbs in the war.
A 27-year term was cut when convictions for murder, extermination and persecution were overturned on appeal.
Source: BBC
Sep 8, 2009
A senior Libyan diplomat has said there was "surprise" that the issue of compensation for victims of the IRA has been raised again.
Speaking on Al-Jazeera TV Abd al-Ati al-Ubaydi said the British government had been told some time ago that it "was not open for discussion."
He said "domestic political pressures" on Gordon Brown had led to the compensation issue being raised again.
Source: AP
Sep 8, 2009
Germany's parliament unanimously passed a blanket measure Tuesday overturning Nazi-era verdicts convicting people of treason, nearly 65 years after the end of World War II.
Treason convictions carried the death penalty and were handed down in Nazi Germany for any act deemed harmful to the nation or helpful to the enemy. Under that umbrella, people were convicted of treason for political resistance, aiding Jews, helping prisoners of war, selling products on the black market and score
Source: Foxnews
Sep 8, 2009
President Obama's speech to school children Tuesday has received a lot of attention. As we've reported President George H.W. Bush delivered a similar speech to students back in 1991. But the Washington Examiner reports the complaints leading up to Obama's speech were relatively muted compared to the outrage 18 years ago.
Back then, some Democrats not only denounced Bush's speech, but even launched congressional hearings into the matter and asked the Government Accountability Office
Source: AP
Sep 8, 2009
Dutch Prince Willem-Alexander and his wife, Princess Maxima, got a rousing welcome from West Point cadets as they visited the U.S. Military Academy for the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson's voyage.
The royal couple headed up the Hudson River after Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Mayor Michael Bloomberg welcomed them to Manhattan.
Tuesday's festivities included NATO vessels, Dutch barges and a replica of Hudson's ship, the Half Moon. A Dutch naval ship of
Source: Foxnews
Sep 8, 2009
Yale University wiped a forthcoming book clean of controversial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, fearing the images would cause another outbreak of violence.
Yale University Press, which the Ivy League school owns, removed the 12 caricatures from the book "The Cartoons That Shook the World" by Brandeis University professor Jytte Klausen — which is scheduled to be released next week.
A Danish newspaper originally published the cartoons, including one depicting
