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: Telegraph (UK)
Sep 4, 2009
The Daily Manab Zamin reported that Armstrong, the first man to set foot on the Moon, had admitted at a news conference that the historic landing was part of an "elaborate hoax".
Neither they, nor The New Nation, which also ran the story, realised that The Onion, which also prints a parody newspaper, was not a genuine news site.
The story, which first ran in the US on Monday, said that Armstrong had been convinced by a conspiracy theorist that the Apollo 11
Source: Truthout
Sep 3, 2009
Washington - Presidential adviser Van Jones is resigning after coming under fire for signing a controversial petition regarding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks...
... The Jones controversy centers on a 2004 petition he signed on a Web site that said: "A call for immediate inquiry into evidence that suggests high-level government officials may have deliberately allowed the September 11 attacks to occur."
Source: USA Today
Sep 3, 2009
Archaeologists have long been puzzled by a 1-million-year pause between when early humans started making sophisticated hand axes with two-faced blades in Africa 1.5 million years ago and when the technology finally got to Europe.
But new research is showing that advanced Stone Age tools got to Europe close to the time they reached other sites outside of Africa.
In a letter published today in Nature, two archaeologists have shown that axes from southeastern Spain are fro
Source: Scotsman
Sep 3, 2009
THE archaeological dig that resulted in the discovery of the earliest representation of a human face and body ever found in Scotland is to be extended in the hope of unearthing more significant treasures.
Last month, archaeologists working on excavations at the Links of Noltland – one of Orkney's richest ancient sites – found a tiny sandstone figurine buried in the mud. The face and its lozenge-shaped body, measuring just 3.5 x 3cm, had been carved on Westray between 4,500 and 5,000
Source: Inter Press Service
Sep 3, 2009
WASHINGTON, Sep 3 (IPS) - In support of the official U.S. assertion that Iran is arming its sworn enemy, the Taliban, the head of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), Dennis Blair, has cited a statement by a Taliban commander last year attributing military success against NATO forces to Iranian military assistance.
But the Taliban commander's claim is contradicted by evidence from the U.S. Defence Department, Canadian forces in Afghanistan and the Taliban itse
Source: Politico
Sep 3, 2009
Pat Buchanan has received a lot of criticism recently for his column marking the 70th anniversary of the Nazi invasion of Poland, where the conservative pundit questions whether Hitler has gotten a bum rap.
By extension, MSNBC, where Buchanan is a commentator, has taken heat for promoting the column on its website. In the revisionist piece -- "Did Hitler Want War?" -- Buchanan argues that other countries, such as Poland, should be held responsible for the invasion, and lat
Source: Reuters
Sep 3, 2009
One of Guatemala's greatest ancient Mayan cities may have died out in a bloody battle atop a huge pyramid between a royal family and invaders from hundreds of miles away, archeologists say.
Researchers are carrying out DNA tests on blood samples from hundreds of spear tips and arrowheads dug up with bone fragments and smashed pottery at the summit of the El Tigre pyramid in the Mayan city of El Mirador, buried beneath jungle vegetation 5 miles (8 km) from Guatemala's border with Mex
Source: Sofia News Agency
Sep 3, 2009
The team of Bulgarian archaeologist, Professor Nikolay Ovcharov, has discovered relics of a medieval saint at the fortress of Perperikon in the Rhodoppe Mountains.
The remains of human bones were found inside one of two bronze crosses as the archaeologists were excavating two churches.
One of the crosses is larger and has an life-like image of the crucified Jesus Christ on its front, and an image of Virgin Mary praying on its back. It is dated back to 10-11th century.
Source: NYT
Sep 3, 2009
KWANGAMRI, South Korea — On a heavily forested hilltop behind this village, investigators are excavating the long-buried history of the South Korean men, women and children who cowered in a trench as their own country’s troops mowed them down during the Korean War.
It is a race against time. The investigators, from the country’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, are tapping into the memories of a dwindling number of survivors as they pursue their mission of examining some of mod
Source: NYT
Sep 3, 2009
TAWANG, India — This is perhaps the most militarized Buddhist enclave in the world.
Perched above 10,000 feet in the icy reaches of the eastern Himalayas, the town of Tawang is not only home to one of Tibetan Buddhism’s most sacred monasteries, but is also the site of a huge Indian military buildup. Convoys of army trucks haul howitzers along rutted mountain roads. Soldiers drill in muddy fields. Military bases appear every half-mile in the countryside, with watchtowers rising behin
Source: CNSNews.com
Sep 3, 2009
Newark, N.J. (AP) - Relatives of those killed on Flight 93 -- the jetliner that crashed as passengers wrestled with hijackers over Pennsylvania on Sept. 11, 2001 -- are honoring their loved ones with a cross-country motorcycle tribute ride.
The flight originated in New Jersey and was bound for northern California when it was hijacked by members of the al-Qaida terrorist group.
The motorcycle caravan will retrace the flight's intended path. It leaves Newark Liberty Inter
Source: CNSNews.com
Sep 3, 2009
Boston (AP) - The Archdiocese of Boston's Cardinal Sean O'Malley has defended his decision to preside over the funeral Mass for Sen. Edward Kennedy, whose support for abortion rights clashed with Catholic teachings.
O'Malley wrote on his blog Wednesday he strongly disagrees with his critics. He notes Kennedy had written to Pope Benedict XVI to acknowledge his failure to always be a faithful Catholic and ask for prayers as he faced brain cancer.
Source: BBC
Sep 3, 2009
An artist in Dundee has created a 3D image of one of Scotland's most notorious killers.
Bijan Moghbel's project saw him produce a computerised depiction of the face of William Burke, the 19th Century killer and partner of William Hare.
The pair are thought to have killed more than a dozen people before selling their bodies on for medical research.
The face was created using Burke's death mask. He was hanged in 1829 after Hare testified against him in cour
Source: BBC
Sep 3, 2009
At his living room table, 92-year-old Rochus Misch shows me some of his old photo albums. Private pictures he had taken more than 60 years ago. There are colour images of Mr Misch in an SS uniform at Adolf Hitler's home in the Alps, snapshots of Hitler staring at rabbits, and photos of Hitler's mistress and future wife Eva Braun.
For five years, SS Oberscharfuehrer Rochus Misch had been part of Adolf Hitler's inner circle, as a bodyguard, a courier and telephone operator to the Fueh
Source: The Daily Beast
Sep 3, 2009
What would Hippocrates say about torture? Doctors and psychologists who monitored the CIA's alleged "enhanced interrogation" techniques may have come close to or committed illegal human experimentation, according to a report by nonprofit Physicians for Human Rights. The PHR report, based on a 2004 CIA investigation into its own practices that was published two weeks ago under legal pressure, argues that doctors who actively monitored the CIA's techniques for effectiveness were using pr
Source: New York Post
Sep 3, 2009
While Coney Island's future remains murky, a group of local commercial divers are bringing a piece of its glorious past back to the surface.
The divers discovered a massive brass bell that was rung in bygone days at the old Dreamland Park whenever passengers left or arrived by steamboat at its once-bustling amusement pier.
They plan to tow the 500-pound bell -- which sank to the ocean floor with the rest of the grand iron pier during the great 1911 Dreamland fire -- to
Source: CNN
Sep 3, 2009
Former "Manson Family" member Susan Atkins, who stabbed actress Sharon Tate to death more than 40 years ago and now is terminally ill, was denied parole Wednesday, prison officials said.
The parole hearing was the 13th for Atkins, 61, who is battling terminal brain cancer. Held at the Central California Women's Facility in Chowchilla, California, the hearing stretched to more than nine hours.
The panel set another hearing for Atkins in three years, said Michel
Source: Taegan Goddard's Political Wire
Sep 3, 2009
Contrary to assertions made by David Brooks, President Obama has had the second greatest rate of decline in approval, reports Charles Franklin.
"Clinton did worse, falling at a monthly rate of 2.3 points. If you look back to the first figure, you see that Clinton fell faster and further, but then rebounded a bit at the end of the summer, making his net change a little smaller (-14) but his overall rate of decline a bit steeper. Obama's chart shows two phases, an initial shallo
Source: Vanity Fair
Sep 3, 2009
Within months of J.F.K.’s death, the president’s widow asked William Manchester to write the authorized account of the assassination. He felt he couldn’t refuse her. Two years later, nearly broken by the task, Manchester found himself fighting a bitter, headline-making battle with Jackie and Bobby Kennedy over the finished book. The author chronicles the toll Manchester’s 1967 best-seller, The Death of a President, exacted—physically, emotionally, and financially—before it all but disappeare
Source: Daily Mail (UK)
Sep 3, 2009
Britain has been accused of 'bare-faced lies' over the Lockerbie bomber's release which will damage its special relationship with the US for years.
Gordon Brown faced a backlash at home and abroad after it was confirmed that the Libyans had been told privately that he did not want Abdelbaset Al Megrahi to die in jail.
And the Foreign Office was accused of tearing up a 'cast-iron' promise given to the Americans and the United Nations a decade ago that the terrorist - r
