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: NYT
Apr 4, 2011
DURHAM, N.C. — His name is not on any campus buildings. His only portrait is stored in a locked closet. And after his scandal-driven downfall, Richard M. Nixon was so stigmatized here at Duke University — where he earned a law degree — that the faculty rejected a proposal to house his presidential library.
But last week, the Duke community took a small, uncharacteristic step toward embracing its most infamous graduate — by performing a play about him. “Tricky Dick,” a musical writt
Source: NYT
Apr 4, 2011
BEIJING — At the elaborately renovated National Museum of China in Tiananmen Square, visitors interested in the recent history of the world’s fastest rising power can gaze at the cowboy hat that Deng Xiaoping once wore when he visited the United States, or admire the bullhorn that President Hu Jintao used to exhort people to overcome hardship after the Sichuan earthquake in 2008.
But if their interests run to the Cultural Revolution that tore the country apart from 1966 to 1976 and
Source: Murfreesboro Post
Apr 3, 2011
The most famous soldier of World War I, Tennessee born and bred Sgt. Alvin C. York, was a reluctant fighter and a humble hero. Yet most Volunteer State residents might be surprised to know his most personal legacy was a commitment to education.
And while the school he built in Jamestown, Tenn., York Institute, has been saved from demolition, the struggle to preserve and restore the structure remains an uphill battle.
Rev. George Edward York, the 87-year-old son of Sgt.
Source: CNN
Apr 3, 2011
Attorney General Eric Holder announced Monday that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other 9/11 terror suspects will face a military trial at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba.
The decision is a sharp reversal for the Obama administration, which wanted the terror suspects to have federal civilian trials.
Besides Mohammed, the other suspects to face charges of participating in the 9/11 plot are Walid bin Attash, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali and Musta
Source: CNN
Apr 3, 2011
A group of 9/11 victims' family members are up in arms over a plan to house the unidentified remains of those who died at ground zero in the lower level of the museum being built to honor the tragedy.
Critics are against storing the remains underground and claim they were never consulted about the decision of where to build a repository. The plan calls for a repository and laboratory controlled by the city medical examiner to be built on the ground floor of the National September 11
Source: NYT
Apr 3, 2011
STANTON, Ky. — Nearly two decades after fleeing her native Croatia, the squat, hardworking woman known as Issabell Basic lived a quiet life in this small town, firing up her Jeep Cherokee each day for the 25-minute commute to her job making Hot Pockets....
Emphysema kept her close to the series of homes she shared with Steve Loman and his wife, Lucy, whom she called “Sis.” The Lomans, in turn, describe Ms. Basic, 51, as a “big-hearted” person — the kind who would not buy something f
Source: USA Today
Apr 3, 2011
The image of a "Jester god," a symbol of royalty among the ancient Maya, may have done just the trick. Some archaeologists suggest its discovery has helped identify the oldest known burial site for a Maya ruler.
The ancient Maya filled Central America with pyramid-dotted cities prior to a drawn-out abandonment of such sites around 850 A.D., one of archaeology's most storied mysteries. The unexpected find from the archaeological site of K'o (Kuh-OH) in modern-day Guatemala,
Source: LA Times
Apr 3, 2011
...As oral historians gathered to kick off the Southwest Oral History Assn.'s Conference in Little Tokyo, the story-keepers, one by one, came clean: They needed help entering the modern age.
Oral history is an ancient tradition of capturing and passing on life stories and experiences. But many of the collected words of genocide survivors, civil rights activists, war veterans and ordinary people with extraordinary pasts have yet to find their way to broad audiences.
Most
Source: AP
Apr 3, 2011
Many modern armies have struggled with how to battle an enemy who uses human shields, perhaps none more so than Israel.
So Israeli leaders were especially pleased Sunday after an admission by Richard Goldstone — a Jewish U.N. investigator who became persona non grata in the Jewish state — that war crimes accusations contained in his report on Israel's offensive in Gaza two years ago should be reconsidered.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged the United Nations to nu
Source: BBC News
Apr 2, 2011
While the role of the Home Guard during World War II has been widely celebrated, very little is known of their counterparts in the Auxiliary Units, who would have been Britain's last line of defence in the event of a Nazi invasion.
The units, dubbed "Churchill's Secret Army", were set up to relay vital information about enemy movements and help mount counter-attacks as Britain braced itself for occupation.
Now Forestry Commission Wales has unearthed a bunker w
Source: Telegraph (UK)
Apr 2, 2011
Terry Jones, the radical pastor who oversaw the burning of a Koran in his Florida church last month after a mock court hearing, may put the Islamic prophet Mohammed on trial in his next 'day of judgement', he told The Sunday Telegraph.
Such an inflammatory move would almost certainly trigger further violent protests in the Muslim world. But Mr Jones struck an unapologetic stance, insisting that his actions bore no responsibility for the murders in Mazar-i-Sharif.
The
Source: Telegraph (UK)
Apr 2, 2011
A set of X-rays of the Royal family's teeth have been withdrawn from an auction following a request from the Royal household.
The images of the Queen's teeth, as well as those of her mother and father, King George VI, were taken between 1942 and 1946. They were found by Alastair Sealy in a house he bought in Surrey.
The property was packed full of items hoarded by the previous owner, a dental nurse called Betty Jacques, deceased....
Source: AP
Apr 2, 2011
A British man whose daughter died in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over the Scottish town of Lockerbie says former Libyan Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa may be able to shed new light on the attack.
Jim Swire noted Saturday that Koussa had not been accused in Britain of playing any role in the Lockerbie bombing but could help Scottish investigators look again at the conviction of Abdel Baset al-Megrahi.
Koussa defected to Britain from Libya last week. Scottish pr
Source: Daily Mail (UK)
Apr 1, 2011
A former British soldier and prisoner of war has recalled the horror he felt after swapping uniforms with a Dutch Jew - and breaking into Auschwitz.
Denis Avey, 92, was captured during the Second World War and sent to the IG Farben plant, known as Auschwitz III, where the deadly gas was produced.
But when Mr Avey was told about the mass killings and smelled the horrendous stench from nearby crematoriums he vowed to witness the atrocities for himself.
The br
Source: Science News
Apr 1, 2011
A rising tide lifts all boats, but in a surprising twist, ascending sea levels launched a flotilla of rafts or canoes on voyages from China to Taiwan around 5,000 years ago, a new study suggests.
At a time when rice farming dominated in other regions, the inundation of the Fuzhou Basin in southeastern China starting about 9,000 years ago led to the creation of a maritime culture that eventually took to the seas, says a team led by archaeologist Barry Rolett of the University of Hawa
Source: CNN
Apr 1, 2011
Former President George W. Bush is worried the U.S. might pull out of Afghanistan too early to the detriment of that country's women.
In an interview with Fox News that aired Thursday, Bush warned that Afghan women will "suffer" should the Obama administration decide to downscale troop levels there.
Bush's comments came the same day he and former first lady Laura Bush kicked off a two-day conference at Southern Methodist University focusing on women's ri
Source: LA Times
Apr 1, 2011
Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina dreamed for years of putting a cultural center and museum on the historic old plaza near Olvera Street downtown. If only she and the rest of the project's planners had taken as long to research the site.
Last year, as the work got under way, a crew disturbed the eternal sleep of those buried in L.A.'s first Catholic cemetery.
In all, some 118 remains were dug up and carted away before community protests brought the digging to
Source: BBC
Apr 1, 2011
Poland is postponing moves to partially compensate families who lost property during the upheavals of Nazi occupation and communism.
Poland's chief rabbi, Michael Schudrich, criticised the government's decision to suspend work on a law designed to address the historical property claims of Jews and other Polish citizens.
Earlier this month the Polish treasury ministry announced it had completed work on a compensation bill but it would not be sent to parliament because it
Source: BBC
Apr 1, 2011
Scots artist Frank To has opened a new exhibition in Edinburgh of paintings inspired by medieval plague doctors.
The strange costumed figures, who wore long pointed masks, would have been a familiar, but unwelcome, sight on the streets of Scotland in the middle ages.
As part of the show, he will be dressing up as a plague doctor in public places.
The Human Condition, featuring 22 paintings at the Leith Gallery, finishes on 30 April.
A plague do
Source: Telegraph (UK)
Apr 1, 2011
An eight-hour series envisaged as an epic portrayal of President John F Kennedy, his wife Jackie and their life in Camelot will be shown on an obscure cable channel this weekend amid scathing reviews.
With Greg Kinnear as Mr Kennedy, Katie Holmes as his First Lady and a budget of $30 million, expectations had been high. Now, it is widely considered a disaster on the eve of its airing on the ReelzChannel beginning on Sunday.
The History Channel decided to drop the seri
