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: CNN
Mar 15, 2009
The Obama administration has endangered Americans and opened the country to further attack by reversing Bush administration anti-terrorism policies such as harsh interrogations of suspects, former Vice President Dick Cheney said Sunday.
Cheney told CNN's "State of the Union" that the Bush administration's "alternative" interrogation techniques were "absolutely essential" to preventing further assaults like the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and
Source: BBC
Mar 15, 2009
A letter carried by William Wallace when he was captured by English forces in 1305 should be returned to Scotland, a Nationalist MSP has claimed.
The document, known as the Safe Conduct, was written by the King of France and was supposed to guarantee Wallace safe passage to visit the Pope.
It is currently held at the National Archives in Surrey.
South of Scotland MSP Christine Grahame said it should be in the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.
Source: Times Online
Mar 15, 2009
Thousands of children suffering from illnesses linked to the Chernobyl nuclear disaster have been barred from coming to Britain on charity-funded holidays.
Alexander Lukashenko, the authoritarian president of Belarus who is often described as Europe’s last dictator, introduced the ban after a teenage girl on a charity trip to the United States expressed a wish to stay there.
Although she has since returned to Belarus, authorities in the former Soviet republic have hal
Source: Daily Mail (UK)
Mar 14, 2009
They are the nameless heroes buried in anonymous graves after the carnage of the Great War.
For nine decades their last resting place has been marked simply with the words 'Unknown Soldier' or 'Known Only Unto God'.
But thousands may soon be identified after the discovery of a vast forgotten archive.
For British families who know they have a relative who died in the 'war to end all wars', but have never been able to pinpoint their remains, the discovery
Source: http://www.thespectrum.com (Utah)
Mar 14, 2009
Dixie State College Board of Trustees members retired the school's former Rebel nickname and mascot Friday morning after a 5-4 vote.
Following an update on the college by president Stephen D. Nadauld and the introduction of student body present-elect, Dewey Denning, board members delved into their first action item on the agenda, the Dixie Rebel nickname and mascot.
"There have been some matters of advice that probably suggest that it would be wise that we just go
Source: AP
Mar 14, 2009
Old Sturbridge Village is bucking the bad economy.
The head of the living history museum says attendance jumped 32 percent in January and February, marking its best start in seven years.
Old Sturbridge Village had nearly 12,000 visitors during the first two months of 2009, compared to just under 9,000 in the same period a year ago.
President and CEO James Donahue speculates that many people in these difficult days have an interest in learning about "si
Source: http://www.expatica.com
Mar 14, 2009
A 94-year-old former German army officer sentenced to life in prison by an Italian military court for the deaths of four Italian civilians in August 1944 has been cleared on appeal, his lawyer said Friday.
Francesco Coran told the ANSA news agency that the military appeal court in Rome had quashed the sentence handed down against Hans Dietrich Michelsen, who was tried in his absence by a military tribunal in La Spezia in February last year.
Michelsen, then a 29-year-old
Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal
Mar 14, 2009
Nevada collector believes he has found a mid-1800s photographic image of Ulysses S. Grant, the Civil War general who went on to become the nation's 18th president.
A University of Nevada, Las Vegas archivist says the daguerreotype appears to be an authentic image of Grant, who served two terms as president from 1869 to 1877.
Collector Randall Spencer said he would prefer to sell the image to a historical institution for public display, but would consider selling it to
Source: BBC
Mar 14, 2009
The authorities in the Italian city of Verona - setting for the tale of the two lovers - say they want to foster its image as a centre for romance.
The Casa Di Giulietta (house of Juliet) is in the heart of Verona.
Folklore suggests it was once the home of the Cappello family - possibly the model for the Capulets in Shakespeare's fictional play, Romeo and Juliet.
Although some historians say there is scant evidence to back this up, the balcony on the 14t
Source: WaPo
Mar 14, 2009
Architectural detectives in Maryland will spend the next year studying ghost images that splotch the walls of one of the nation's most historic spaces in the hope that the clues will guide the restoration of the room to its appearance at the time of the nation's birth.
For years, a mysterious water leak had plagued the walls of the Old Senate Chamber in the Maryland State House, the nation's oldest continuously operative legislative building. The water was causing ugly bubbles in th
Source: Daily Mail
Mar 14, 2009
VIENNA In Austria's recent general election, nearly 30 per cent of voters backed extremist right-wing parties. Live visits the birthplace of Hitler to investigate how Fascism is once again threatening to erupt across Europe.
From all over Austria, people are here to pay their respects to their fallen hero. But the solemnity of the occasion is cut with tension. Beyond the crowd of about 300, armed police are in attendance. They keep a respectful distance but the rasping bark of Alsa
Source: AP
Mar 14, 2009
A saga that began in the cauldron of California's counterculture and took a dramatic turn in a quiet middle class neighborhood in Minnesota is about to come to an end.
Sara Jane Olson, a 1970s radical who became a fugitive after attempting to kill Los Angeles police officers and participating in a deadly bank robbery near Sacramento, is scheduled to be released from a California prison next week.
Her bid for freedom after serving seven years is not ending quietly.
Source: Foxnews
Mar 14, 2009
On Wednesday, President Obama signed a law that bans federal funding of any research that leads to the destruction of human embryos just two days after lifting Bush-era restraints on it.
President Obama may have abolished contentious Bush-era restraints on federal funding of stem cell research on Monday, but a legislative obstacle still remains for scientists seeking more money.
A spending bill that Obama signed on Wednesday explicitly bans federal funding of any "
Source: BBC
Mar 14, 2009
More than 200 people have attended the funeral and burial in north Kent of an unknown teenage girl who was decapitated about 700 years ago.
Her remains were found by an archaeologist on unconsecrated ground next to Hoo St Werburgh Parish Church, near Rochester.
Her head had been placed by her side, suggesting she may have committed suicide or been executed for a crime.
Her body has now been reburied in the church's main graveyard.
The girl
Source: Times Online (UK)
Mar 14, 2009
Forensic experts believe they have identified the skeleton of the queen’s younger sister, murdered over 2,000 years ago.
Archeologists and forensic experts believe they have identified the skeleton of Cleopatra’s younger sister, murdered more than 2,000 years ago on the orders of the Egyptian queen.
The remains of Princess Arsinöe, put to death in 41BC on the orders of Cleopatra and her Roman lover Mark Antony to eliminate her as a rival, are the first relics of the Pt
Source: Email to HNN from George L. Vogt, OHS Executive Director
Mar 14, 2009
Contrary to many statements on blogs and in emails, the library is not closing forever. At the request of the staff, we closed it for a few weeks so that the departing staff could finish various projects and clear backlogs. We are reopening soon, and the executive committee's action yesterday to allow some deficit spending, will ensure access to all types of collections, not just photos, reference, and film. We should know within the week what the schedule of hours will be, and I believe they ma
Source: BBC News
Mar 14, 2009
A Scottish expert has uncovered a medieval document suggesting negative attitudes towards Robin Hood.
The story of how Robin and his men stole from the rich to give to the poor has long been part of English folklore.
However, Julian Luxford of St Andrews University found a dissenting voice in a Latin inscription from about 1460 in a manuscript owned by Eton College.
The previously unknown chronicle entry says Robin"infested" parts of England with" continuous robberies".
Dr Luxford, an ex
Source: Politico
Mar 14, 2009
Former President George W. Bush is preparing for one final struggle against the odds: raising $300 million for a presidential library, museum and policy institute at a time when dollars are tight and skepticism about his presidency runs high.
The former president and first lady have already begun holding small private dinners to persuade wealthy friends to invest in a monument and incubator based on the values and events of his presidency. By this fall, he’ll be armed with architect
Source: WaPo
Mar 14, 2009
In his inaugural address, President Obama proclaimed "an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics."
It hasn't taken long for the recriminations to return -- or for the Obama administration to begin talking about the unwelcome "inheritance" of its predecessor.
Over the past month, Obama has reminded the public at every turn that he is facing problems "
Source: BBC
Mar 14, 2009
The names of people who were killed in the German blitz of Clydebank during World War II have been inscribed on a memorial in the town.
Bronze castings, carrying the names, were unveiled at the Blitz Memorial in Old Dalnottar Cemetery.
Hundreds of Luftwaffe bombers took part in waves of attacks on local shipyards and munitions factories on the evenings of 13 and 14 March, 1941.
When the blitz was over, 528 people were dead and the town lay in ruins.
