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)
September 29, 2009
The mighty Tyrannosaurus Rex may have succumbed to a fatal sore throat, scientists believe.
Researchers have found that the undisputed king of the dinosaurs may have been ferocious killer, but it was susceptible to a bacterial infection that stopped it eating.
They believe the illness, which is similar to one that continues to affect eagles and hawks today, was so severe it would have led to a painful death from starvation.
The findings emerged after sci
Source: Fox News
September 29, 2009
Matt Latimer, a former speechwriter for Bush, writes in his book, "Speechless: Tales of a White House Survivor," that administration officials politicized the award and decided not to give it to the Harry Potter author because of her repeated references to witchcraft -- despite the Bushes' vocal praise for her books.
The Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civil award, is awarded to individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to the security or na
Source: BBC
September 29, 2009
Harperley camp, near Crook, was turned into a tourist attraction in 2004, but the owners can no longer afford to complete its restoration.
The camp housed German and Italian prisoners in World War II and won ancient monument status after being bought by its present owners in 2001.
James and Lisa McLeod had hoped to turn it into a national visitor centre. It has gone on sale for £900,000.
Source: AP
September 28, 2009
An 89-year-old white supremacist charged with killing a security guard at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum has arrived at a North Carolina prison for an evaluation of whether he's competent to stand trial.
Earlier this month a judge ordered von Brunn to undergo the evaluation requested by his lawyer despite von Brunn's objections.
Von Brunn has been indicted on charges including first-degree murder in the June 10 death of Stephen T. Johns, who was black. Four of the c
Source: CNN
September 28, 2009
Sarah Palin's much-anticipated memoir now has a title and a new release date, two advisers to the former Alaska governor confirmed to CNN on Monday.
Palin's book will be called "Going Rogue: An American Life" — a reference to the anonymous criticism directed at Palin by aides to Republican presidential nominee John McCain during the final days of last year's presidential race.
After Palin strayed from the campaign playbook several times in October 2008, one Mc
Source: Daily Mail (UK)
September 29, 2009
To the RAF aircrews, the sight of the eastern German city ablaze looked like a terrifying vision of hell. As the vast stream of 796 four-engined Lancaster heavy bombers swept over Dresden on that night of February 14, 1945, almost 2,000 tons of explosives and incendiaries were dropped onto the inferno.
One Lancaster pilot recorded in his diary: 'The glow could be seen 50 miles away. The target area was almost like day. Down below, the town was a mass of flames, a pool of fire. It w
Source: National Parks Traveler
September 29, 2009
Thomas Edison's inventions changed the world, and starting on October 10th you'll be able to tour his laboratory complex at Thomas Edison National Historical Park in New Jersey. Key areas, including Edison’s private laboratory, original music recording studio and a photography studio will open to the public for the first time in the history of the site.
It would be hard for most Americans alive today to imagine life without recorded music, movies or electric lighting, and those are
Source: CNSNews.com
September 28, 2009
Stara Boleslav, Czech Republic (AP) - Pope Benedict XVI issued a call to holiness Monday as he wrapped up a three-day visit to the Czech Republic -- one of Europe's most secular nations -- with an open-air Mass for at least 40,000 faithful.
The 82-year-old pope told believers who packed a meadow in Stara Boleslav, 25 kilometers (15 miles) northeast of Prague, that they could learn from the country's patron saint, Wenceslas, who was murdered here by his pagan brother in 935 A.D.
Source: Daily Mail (UK)
September 28, 2009
He was a soldier in one of the most fanatical divisions in Hitler's war machine.
As a member of the SS, Heinrich Steinmeyer expected little mercy as he surrendered to British troops towards the end of the Second World War.
But instead, he says he was treated with humanity by both the troops who captured him and the guards at the Scottish prison camp where he was kept until the end of the war.
Sixty-five years later, Mr Steinmeyer has pledged to leave his
Source: BBC
September 28, 2009
The approval of plans to build near a monument to victims of the Babi Yar massacre, where 34,000 Jews were killed in 1941, had been widely criticised.
Proponents had said the Ukrainian capital needed more hotels for the 2012 European Football Championships.
Mayor Leonid Chernovetsky's decision was welcomed by the Israeli government.
President Shimon Peres praised him for "having taken this just and important decision which preserves the memory of th
Source: Daily Mail (UK)
September 28, 2009
Adolf Hitler may not have shot himself dead and perhaps did not even die in his bunker, it emerged yesterday.
A skull fragment believed for decades to be the Nazi leader’s has turned out to be that of a woman under 40 after DNA analysis.
Scientists and historians had long thought it to be conclusive proof that Hitler shot himself in the head after taking a cyanide pill on 30 April 1945 rather than face the ignominy of capture.
Source: NYT
September 25, 2009
The White House diaries of former President Jimmy Carter, right, will be published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in October 2010, Jeff Seroy, a spokesman for the publishing house, said on Friday. While the diaries, covering Mr. Carter’s term from January 1977 to January 1981, amount to about 5,000 pages, the book will be about 512 pages of selections from the diaries and photographs. They will include Mr. Carter’s commentary and observations about the people and places that informed his presidenc
Source: NYT
September 26, 2009
SEOUL, South Korea — After first applying for a reunion with his North Korean family more than two decades ago, Kim Ki-sung, an 82-year-old South Korean, never gave up. This month, he applied again and beat the long odds to win one of only 100 slots available for a three-day family reunion that began in a North Korean resort on Saturday.
For Mr. Kim, the reunion brought some sad news. On Saturday, he learned that his wife, whom he last saw in January 1951 during the Korean War, died
Source: Yahoo News
September 26, 2009
LIMA, Peru – Former President Alberto Fujimori, who already faces the prospect of spending the rest of his life in prison, pleaded guilty on Monday to authorizing illegal wiretaps and bribes of politicians, journalists and businessmen.
Fujimori, 71 and ailing, appeared to sleep during chief prosecutor Jose Pelaez's accusation, but stirred at the close of the session to say three words to the presiding judge: "Sir, I agree."
Pelaez requested an eight-year sente
Source: The Wall Street Journal
September 29, 2009
PHILADELPHIA -- Dan McSweeney has a few ideas for saving the United States.
That would be the SS United States -- the fastest ocean liner in the world. Bigger than the Titanic and fast enough to water-ski behind, she's a steamship so sophisticated, her capabilities remained a Cold War secret for decades.
She transported royalty and starlets. Her crew served frog legs in first class. Before the dawn of the jet age, the SS United States was the Concorde of her era.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
September 29, 2009
Hundreds of school buildings across the U.S. have caulk around windows and doors containing potentially cancer-causing PCBs, the Environmental Protection Agency said.
The danger to students is uncertain, and EPA doesn't know for sure how many schools could be affected. But the agency is telling schools that they should test old caulk and remove it if PCBs turn up in significant amounts.
EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said PCBs remain in schools and many other buildings
Source: CNN
September 28, 2009
WASHINGTON (CNN) — President Barack Obama will travel this week to Copenhagen, Denmark, to make a big push for the 2016 summer Olympic Games in Chicago, the White House said Monday.
Obama will join First Lady Michelle Obama and other administration officials in pitching Chicago to the International Olympic Committee on October 2, spokesman Robert Gibbs said.
No other U.S. president has ever attended an IOC meeting...
... The United States has hosted four Su
Source: BBC
September 28, 2009
Couples in China's biggest provincial municipality will not be allowed to divorce during celebrations of 60 years of communist rule.
But weddings will go ahead in Chongqing during the eight-day holiday beginning on Thursday, according to China Daily.
Officers at marriage registration centres said they could not cope with the high demand for weddings and also issue divorces.
Seven out of 10 districts told the newspaper they would not process them.
Source: Chron (The Houston Chronicle)
September 28, 2009
AUSTIN — Texas schoolchildren should know how God and religion greatly influenced the country's Founding Fathers more than 230 years ago, say some of the experts reviewing the state's social studies curriculum.
It is a viewpoint that troubles others who worry that a controlling majority of conservatives on the State Board of Education may go too far in pushing Christianity in public schools.
To characterize the origins of this country as a Christian nation would be wron
Source: CNSNews.com
September 28, 2009
The government is prosecuting only about one out of four of those charged in connection with terrorism, according to a study that suggests federal agencies don't agree on who is a terrorist.
People charged with terrorism often go free because the evidence wasn't strong enough to bring them to trial, says the study by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a data research group at Syracuse University.
Since 2002, the percentage of terrorism cases that federal pr
