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
Aug 21, 2008
In a city where the mayor holds the same job his father once did,
politics can seem little different from the years of the legendary
Democratic Machine. But the faces of political privilege — long dominated
by white ethnic groups — have changed as powerful black politicians use
their clout to build new dynasties.
The next in a long line of successions has been set in motion by Illinois
Senate President Emil Jones, one of Barack Obama's first political
mentors, who in announcing his
Source: Susan Eisenhower in the National Interest
Aug 21, 2008
Hijacked by a relatively small few, the GOP of today bears no resemblance to Lincoln, Roosevelt or Eisenhower’s party, or many of the other Republican administrations that came after. In my grandparents’ time, the thrust of the party was rooted in: a respect for the constitution; the defense of civil liberties; a commitment to fiscal responsibility; the pursuit and stewardship of America’s interests abroad; the use of multilateral international engagement and “soft power”; the advancement of civ
Source: McClatchy
Aug 21, 2008
MANAGUA — Standing on the floor of the old national legislature where he and a group of Sandinista rebels sparked a national insurrection 30 years ago, legendary guerrilla leader Eden Pastora urges Nicaraguan youth to continue the revolution after he and his graying comrades have passed away.
''You need to be more revolutionary,'' Pastora, 71, told the packed audience of high-school students, as part of the government's weeklong commemoration of the assault on the National Palace. &
Source: http://www.turkishdailynews.com
Aug 21, 2008
History continues to be unearthed through excavations of the ancient city
of Pompeipolis, located in the western Black Sea city of Kastamonu.
Last year the excavations uncovered the Temple of Augustus, a Turkish
bath, a drainage system and the ruins of a villa from the late Roman
period. During the third-term excavations, which started a month ago,
archeologists have unearthed a mosaic and an iron furnace from the Roman
period, as well as a marketplace.
Professor Latife Summ
Source: BBC
Aug 21, 2008
August 1958 saw some of the worst rioting in British history in what is now one of London's most trendy and sought-after neighbourhoods. But 50 years ago the working-class area in west London, known as 'Notting Dale', was little more than a slum.
Newly arrived migrants from the Caribbean had settled in the Colville area alongside the white working-class, and it was an uncomfortable existence. 'Colour bars' saw black people turned away from pubs and consequently
Source: Christian Science Monitor
Aug 21, 2008
As the two big parties that govern America ready for their quadrennial conventions, the question on the minds of many political pros is … well, OK, it’s who the vice presidential picks will be. But they’re also wondering something else: What’s happened to the bounce?
Historically the hoopla and media attention of conventions give nominees a boost in the polls. But in 2004, President Bush got an unimpressive 2 percent bounce following the GOP week-long party. The comparable figure f
Source: Times (UK)
Aug 21, 2008
The Vatican has for the first time published the prayer the Knights Templar composed when "unjustly imprisoned", in which they appealed to the Virgin Mary to persuade "our enemies" to abandon "calumnies and lies" and revert to "truth and charity".
L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, said the prayer was further proof that the order, which was dissolved in the fourteenth century, was not heretical. The knights were innocent of the charg
Source: BBC History Magazine
Aug 21, 2008
Archaeologists have lifted the lid on Roman history in the North-East of England. I’m not punning for the sake of it: they have literally lifted the lid off two coffins that have been discovered on a building site in ewcastle. You can see a video of the actual event on the BBC News website . Given the parlous state of our summer you won’t be surprised to note that the coffin in question was brimful of muddy water once they craned the heavy stone top away. You might have thought that such an ingr
Source: New Zealand Herald
Aug 21, 2008
Saddam Hussein's private luxury train, equipped with chandeliers and Italian-made curtains, is being put into public service next month to help ease a train shortage, Iraqi rail officials said yesterday.
The 23-carriage French-built train was kept at a secret location for three decades and shielded from the widespread looting that followed the United States-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Starting next month, the train will ferry passengers between Baghdad and the souther
Source: Tehran Times
Aug 21, 2008
The Cultural Center of Khorramshahr Sacred Defense recently donated a dozen stamps to the Brest Fortress Defense Museum, Belarus.
Head of the center, Nader Daryaban, said that the stamps bear the images of Iranian martyrs and aim to transfer the concept and values of Iran’s Sacred Defense era (Iran-Iraq 1980-1988 war), the Persian service of IRNA reported.
“The stamps bear images of the commanders including Mohammad-Ali Jahan-Ara, Abdorreza Musavi, Behruz Moradi, Ahma
Source: The Times
Aug 21, 2008
The Vatican has for the first time published the prayer the Knights Templar composed when "unjustly imprisoned", in which they appealed to the Virgin Mary to persuade "our enemies" to abandon "calumnies and lies" and revert to "truth and charity".
L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, said the prayer was further proof that the order, which was dissolved in the fourteenth century, was not heretical. The knights were innocent of the char
Source: NYT blog
Aug 21, 2008
Back when Jimmy Carter was running for president in 1976, his brother Billy had a tendency to mouth off and act so colorfully that a reporter suggested to him that, well, perhaps he was a little strange. “Look,” Billy replied, “my Mama was a 70-year-old Peace Corps volunteer in India, one of my sisters goes all over the world as a holy-roller preacher, my oldest sister spends half her time on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle and my brother thinks he’s going to be president of the United States. Whic
Source: HNN Staff
Aug 21, 2008
A website drawing some attention has been established to build public opposition to Wal-Mart's plan to construct a new store adjacent to Civil War battlefields in Virginia.
Readers coming to the website, http://www.civilwar.org/walmart08, are told:
Walmart is planning on building a 141,000 sq. ft. Superstore next to the Wilderness and Chancellorsville Battlefields. Do you want to see the historical significance of both of these battlefields marred forever by more paveme
Source: International Herald Tribune
Aug 21, 2008
Kneeling on the dining room floor, Evan Lattimer sliced open a cardboard box and braced herself for what might be inside: a lock of human hair, a half-smoked cigar, an arcane torture device, perhaps? Her face broke into a smile as she peeled away the bubble wrap: a dinosaur egg.
"You just never knew with Dad," she said.
When her father, John Lattimer, died in May 2007 at the age of 92, Evan Lattimer knew her inheritance would include more than the family tea s
Source: NYT
Aug 21, 2008
Fires in the 47-story office tower at the edge of the World Trade Center site undermined floor beams and critical structural columns, federal investigators concluded Thursday, as they attempted to curb still-rampant speculation that explosives or fuel fires were responsible for the building’s collapse of Sept. 11, 2001.
The long-delayed report by engineers here at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in suburban Washington is intended to solve one of still lingering ce
Source: Bloomberg News
Aug 21, 2008
Le Van Lua, the first North Vietnamese that Lieutenant Commander John McCain encountered in 1967, says he greeted the American aviator with the biggest kitchen knife he could find. He'd like to welcome McCain back as president of the United States.
He isn't alone. Former prisoner of war McCain has some unlikely supporters in Vietnam, a country he bombed 23 times. Like Le, many Vietnamese are cheering for the self-confessed ``air pirate,'' absolving McCain-the-bomber and embracing th
Source: Independent
Aug 21, 2008
An exiled teacher of Kim Jong-il has revealed how he first met an 'ordinary' student who turned into the monster that rid Pyongyang of the disabled – and ordered his entire family killed.
###
It seemed an ordinary moment, repeated in thousands of schools worldwide. On one side, a shy boy "with puffy, red cheeks" who stammered through a translation test in the principal's office. On the other, a tutor hired by the boy's father to put him through his paces.
Source: Vlad Jecan in a special report for HNN
Aug 21, 2008
[Vlad Jecan is a science journalist and can be contacted via his personal website http://www.vladjecan.com.]
Archaeologists digging at the ancient site of Sagalassos, in Turkey, found a huge marble head of Faustina the Elder, wife of Emperor Antoninus Pius.
Initially, archaeologists have correlated the finding to Vibia Sabina. She was forced at the age of 14 to marry Hadrian and died in 136-137 AD. This assumption was eventually ab
Source: Independent
Aug 21, 2008
It is a detail of the already exotic life story of Barack Obama that his campaign was not intending to highlight to voters at the Democratic Convention in Denver next week: the circumstances
Source: DailyPress.com
Aug 21, 2008
Gov. Timothy M. Kaine on Tuesday approved a broad reuse plan that will allow Fort Monroe to become a combination tourist destination, park, and community of homes, offices and retail businesses.
An 18-member Fort Monroe Federal Area Development Authority has worked with consultants on the delicate act of preserving the post, which is a nationally registered landmark, while coming up with a plan to have it bring in enough revenue to pay for maintenance, restoration and improvements.
